Legal

Proponents of lower payments for primary care providers argue that work requiring less mental challenge and stress should pay less. The problem with that “relative value” position is that, according to a recent study, overall work intensity actually is quite similar across medical specialties. Find out why researchers believe the instruments currently used to measure physician work intensity are flawed.

Here’s a straightforward way for Congress' Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction to save $62.4 billion over 10 years without cutting payments to healthcare providers: Institute meaningful medical liability reform. That was what the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American College of Physicians and more than 90 other state and specialty medical societies told the so-called “supercommittee.” Read on to see the specific recommendations.

Who are you going to hire to help implement and maintain your increasingly sophisticated electronic health record systems over the next few years? Depending on where you live, that could be a real challenge, according to the American Health Information Management Association. The group warns that, in many parts of the country, no one will be available without concerted training and incentives. Find out what's being done to increase the supply of trained professionals for practices such as yours.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has finalized the rules for the federal e-prescribing incentive program.

The Federal Trade Commission is levelling sharp criticism at pharmaceutical manufacturers for what it calls sweetheart deals with manufacturers that delay the introduction of low-cost generic drugs.

Florida officials are cracking down on the illegal sale of prescription drugs.

As part of its anti-fraud campaign, Medicare will ask about 750,000 physicians and more than 1.4 million healthcare professionals to revalidate their enrollment records by 2013.

A federal incentive isn't the only reason to adopt meaningful use of electronic health records. A new study found significant improvement in diabetes treatment when practices used EHRs instead of paper records. Read more to see how patients measured up in the digital practices.

The Medicare sustainable growth rate formula remains in place, despite efforts by numerous physicians and their associations to get it repealed during negotiations over raising the nation's debt ceiling.

What you may not know is that the 2010 tax law provides a means for doctors and other professionals to protect their assets from creditors or malpractice claims without incurring negative estate tax implications.

Major healthcare organizations are lining up against proposed changes to federal privacy rules that would make it easier for patients to see who has viewed their medical records.

The incentives driving electronic health record adoption could be affected if health information technology falls victim to cuts by the Congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction. Here?s what the experts have to say.

The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) is urging a new congressional ?supercommittee? to repeal the despised Sustainable Growth Rate formula and stipulate a reimbursement system for the next 3 to 5 years that will give primary care physicians a 3% higher payment rate. Read on to find out why AAFP argues that spending more healthcare dollars on primary care will likely save money in the long run.

Does medical liability reform help you financially, regardless of whether or not you?re ever sued? The experience in Texas suggests that the answer is Yes. Since tort reform was passed in 2003, insurance rates have dropped an average of 27% for all physicians. Read more to find out about other ways physicians have benefitted.

If you failed to meet the June 30 electronic prescribing deadline, you've got an extra month to avoid a cut in next year's Medicare payment. Here?s more information on the exemptions and how you might qualify.

Remote locations make adopting electronic health records a unique challenge for rural physician practices. The government has recognized that and is earmarking specific funds for those initiatives. See if you qualify for those grants and loans.

One reason for an empty waiting room is the ailing economy, according to a recent report. Monthly indices compiled by Standard & Poor suggest that office-based physicians may see a drop in patient visits, if they haven't already. Economic analysts also found that revenues for treating Medicare patients were at their lowest annual growth rate since at least 2005. Keep reading to find out what is likely to turn the trend around.

Annual influenza vaccination rates for physicians often are significantly higher than for their office staff members, even nurses, according to a recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report. That could be a problem when your waiting room is filled with sick patients this winter. CDC offers four easy-to-implement recommendations to get your practice employees to line up for the vaccine, without your actually having to require it.

Should selecting a physician really be more like online banking or searching for real estate on the Internet? The Illinois legislature apparently thinks so. See what this new law requires to be included in all physician and surgeon profiles for online public inspection.

Hospitals and primary care physicians (PCPs) may benefit from the growing numbers of PCPs employed in hospital-owned practices, but patients and third-party payers may be harmed by the trend, at least in the short term, according to a recent study.

The government?s new flexible bundled payment initiative allows practices to largely define their own terms of participation. But will the array of models resolve issues with undervaluing evaluation and management work and negotiating fair payment rates with hospitals? Find out how the definition of ?episodes of care? might make a difference.

More affordable medications, courtesy of Medicare Part D, mean that many more elderly adults are receiving care in your office instead of in more costly hospitals and nursing homes, a new study suggests.

More than 90% of medical practices responding to a recent survey said that they would find it "very" or "extremely" burdensome to meet the requirements of the proposed "accounting of disclosures" rule.

North Dakota became the first state to be denied a medical loss ratio waiver request under the PPACA.

About half of all office-based U.S. physicians were in practices employing so-called ?physician extenders,? with primary care physicians being more likely to work with them than medical specialists, according to a government report.

Physician practices are steadily adopting electronic health records (EHRs), according to recent reports, and primary care physicians are leading the pack. More than 40% of practices now use EHRs, with more than 2,200 already having attested to meaningful use. Who are they and how did they do it?

Accountable care organizations (ACOs) can be financially rewarding for participating physician groups, but it may take longer than expected, if the results of the physician group practice demonstration apply. Read more to find out when the risks actually resulted in rewards.

Meaningful use incentives are a strong motivator for physicians to implement electronic health records (EHRs), but lack of funds remains the primary reason for not taking the plunge, according to a new survey. Still, practices which had stretched to buy them were highly satisfied with EHRs.

Public Citizen recently sent a letter to California Governor Jerry Brown, asking him do something about the state medical board?s failure to stop potentially dangerous doctors from practicing. The letter from the advocacy group and an earlier report got wide coverage in the news media, but most accounts failed to point out that the medical board may not have been the villain in this situation but a victim itself of California?s fiscal crisis.

The response period for the government plan to make public reports on physicians? performance may be over but not before numerous medical associations expressed some concerns. Find out why more than 80 physician organizations called for measures to increase the accuracy of the information and to allow you more opportunity to review your own data.