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Your patients belonging to a racial or ethnic minority, and those with the lowest annual incomes, may be less likely than others to adopt personal health records (PHRs), according to the results of research, titled ?The digital divide in adoption and use of a [PHR],? published in the March 28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

Where does your group stand in transitioning to the new Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Version 5010 electronic standards? If you?re like the majority of respondents to a recent Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) survey, it?s facing significant challenges in this effort.

A well-designed automated patient identification and outreach program can motivate those who have gaps in care to have their treatment needs addressed, according to a peer-reviewed paper published in Population Health Management.

Are you or any of your patients among the 5 million people who, according to a new white paper from accounting firm Kaufman, Rossin & Co., have been affected in the 166 incidents of data breaches since September 2009?

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer wants the obese and smokers to pay a $50 fee to enroll in the state?s Medicaid program.

Your older patients with low health literacy are likely to be in worse health and face a higher risk of death, concludes a new report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service?s (HHS) Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

If you?re seeing fewer patients, it might be because the high costs of health insurance and healthcare are causing more Americans to go without care, according to a new study.

Learn alternatives to IRAs to invest for retirement.

Medical malpractice reform, also called tort reform, needs to be on the front burner of healthcare reform.

Physicians traditionally have allowed insurance companies to dictate the terms of their contracts.

An effective growth strategy for your medical practice should begin with a comprehensive review of the practice's business plan.

Determine how to be appropriately compensated for combination of services provided.

A doctor's sick note always has been regarded as a serious document.

Although legislatures in six states are considering bills allowing psychologists to prescribe psychotropic medications, physician groups say that it's a bad idea.

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission urged lawmakers to boost physician pay by 1% in 2012, despite a rate cut set to take effect the same year.

Know how to protect your financials from a malpractice lawsuit.

A spree of specialty- and hospital-based practice acquisitions in 2010 by national corporations such as IPC and Mednax may have some physicians wondering whether the days of publicly traded practice management companies, similar to those in the 1980s and 1990s, will return.

Going cash-only in your practice means getting out of the insurance-billing business and collecting from patients.

Stress is a constant presence in the workplace and never more than in economic times such as these.

In a physician practice, front-office staff members are often treated as the least necessary employees. These employees, however, meet and greet patients, schedule their visits, collect co-payments, and field phone calls.

For the second year in a row, the number of U.S. medical school seniors who will train as family medicine residents has increased, according to results released by the National Resident Matching Program.

Insurance paperwork and patients who don't follow instructions lead the list of your frustrations, according to a new survey.

Know whether it is permissible through HIPAA to keep copies of patients' records.

Primary care practices wishing to become a patient-centered medical home face a growing number of organizations offering accreditation, each with its own set of standards and guidelines.

Practicing medicine, as any other job in the field, can become boring. Worse yet, it can lead to burnout.

Have you considered using scientific principles to improve the financial position of your practice?

Learn how to handle patients who run up large balances and then switch physicians.

Letters discuss patients' cell phone usage and malpractice.