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An innovative new program is providing abbreviated medical education to New York judges so that they can quickly dispose of frivolous malpractice suits and speed settlements of others. The ?judge-directed negotiations? concept, which began in the Bronx and is being expanded with a $3 million grant, offers some significant benefits to physicians facing the ordeal of a lawsuit.

Diagnostic issues are most likely to get you sued in the outpatient setting, according to a new analysis of reports to the National Practitioner Data Bank. The analysis published in JAMA also noted that the number of paid malpractice claims originating in the outpatient setting is catching up to the inpatient setting, but that the mean payments remain much higher for inpatient claims.

Are the days of solo and small physician practices numbered? Very likely for most practices, according to two recent surveys that indicate the trend of hospitals employing physicians is continuing unabated and raising new issues for all parties. Make sure you know how to protect your interests in negotiations with a future hospital employer.

If you aren?t e-prescribing today, you?re facing a 1% cut in Medicare Part B payments next year and a 1.5% penalty in 2013?but there?s still time to squeeze in the required 10 e-scripts before June 30 if you act quickly. With days to go before the deadline, use these tips to implement what you have or choose an e-prescribing program you can start using right away.

When patients request copies of their electronic health records from your practice, the clock starts ticking. This Q&A gives you the new information on the minimum information required and how quickly you must provide it. Also find out why you soon may have to inform patients when their health information is viewed.

Location, location, location doesn?t just apply to real estate; it also is a factor in how Medicare calculates payments to your practice. But how accurate and consistent is that process? Not very, according to a recent Institute of Medicine Report. Find out what the IOM recommended and what they?re proposing to improve accuracy.

Likely coming to a state near you: Medical malpractice reform. Why have malpractice case filings dropped more than 45%?nearly 70% in Philadelphia?since two significant rule changes implemented by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court? And what has been the effect of a Texas proposition that put a cap on noneconomic damages in medical malpractice claims?

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) wants to publicize data about the care you?re providing as a primary care physician so that consumers and business could compare your cost and quality to other providers. The claims data would be derived from both Medicare and private sector insurers. Find out more while there?s still time to influence the final rule.

Recent congressional testimony makes it clear: The government?s health IT initiative will stand or fall on the ability of small practices to adopt EHRs and demonstrate meaningful use. The problem is that small practices, where nearly 60% of office-based physicians work, face significant financial, administrative, and legal barriers to technology implementation. What is being done to solve the problem?

People who are medically vulnerable who enroll in high-deductible health plans are at no more risk for cutting back on needed healthcare than other people who enroll in the plans.

Medicare patients in whom severe chronic illness was diagnosed in 2007 were less likely to die in a hospital than in 2003 and were more likely to receive hospice care, according to a new report.

Communication between hospital emergency departments and the doctors who provide the care is insufficient, according to new data.

Physicians seeking to become partners or shareholders in their medical practices frequently confront physician practice owners, employers, administrators, medical practice consultants, recruiters and brokers with the demand that "they want a position where they can have some control."

Important lessons in the life of a physician often come in a whisper. But one must have ears to hear.

A decade ago, a risk management consultant in Washington State predicted that "within the next few years all clinicians will be routinely using email as a communications tool in patient care."

When 34 very diverse primary care physicians join together into a single group, some differences of opinion and varying styles of practice are bound to occur.

How do you bill for a pharmacist's service in a patient-centered medical home?

The certificate of need process required to open a new medical facility has evolved into an arena where providers complete service-line dominance and market share, according to a new study.

Understand whether meaningful use and e-prescribing incentives are based only on Medicare Part B patients.

The Medicare Trustees Report released in May shows that Medicare will remain solvent longer than expected prior to passage of the Patient Protection and Affordability Care Act, but challenges remain for the long term.

Membership in the American Academy of Family Physicians has reached 100,300 physicians and medical students nationwide.

Jim Van Steen is one of those patients who comes along rarely in a doctor's career: an ordinary man who faced extraordinary challenges with wisdom and humor.

Learn how disability insurance market has evolved.

Letters discuss reimbursement, malpractice reform, and bureaucracy.

A bill introduced recently by Sen. Jay Rockefeller would require physicians and other healthcare providers seeking to obtain or renew a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration registration number to complete CME related to responsible opioid prescribing practices.

Determine whether it's a good idea to add an automated phone attendant to help front office staff.

The author describes letting go as his wife passed away, and how he picked up the pieces in the wake of her loss.

Learn whether to notify CMS if a partner leaves a practice.