Legal

Time was when violating the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act got you little more than a warning letter from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Learn the ins and outs of long-term care insurance.

The continuing pressure on the primary care system will be significant if so-called RomneyCare in Massachusetts is a harbinger for national healthcare reform, as some critics have claimed. Read on to see how primary care physicians there have coped.

Last week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services mailed the first Medicare checks to physicians who had attested that they had achieved meaningful use of their electronic health records (EHRs). What effect will these payments have on you and your colleagues? Will everyone rush out to buy EHRs now or will they let this opportunity pass them by? Read on to find out.

The National Committee for Quality Assurance will release its rules for ACOs in July.

Leaders of physician organizations told Congress to fix the flawed Medicare payment formula over the next five years and offer rate stabilization for doctors while a solution is designed.

Coordinated primary care should be at the center of any Medicaid reform, ACP says.

Your Medicare data billing will be online for all to see if a bill introduced in the U.S. Senate becomes law.

How to improve quality of service outcomes.

Have you decided to practice medicine as an employee rather than a business owner?

A bill introduced recently by Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va, 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.

Very few practices predict an ability to meet all 15 core criteria for eligibility to receive incentive payments through CMS.

Commercial payers can be inconsistent with reimbursement processes, which can lead to a significant administrative burden for your practice.

As a physician practicing family or internal medicine, you are more likely than your colleagues in other specialties to qualify for Medicare or Medicaid-related incentives for achieving meaningful use of electronic health records.

Unfunded mandates, lack of health insurance, standardization and too many incentive programs add costs and inefficiencies to physician practices.

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer wants residents who are obese and smokers to pay a $50 fee to enroll in the state's Medicaid program.

Various factors combine to influence a practice's stability.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is stepping up its efforts to help you confront health disparities among your patients stemming from their race or ethnicity.

This author has been an advocate of healthcare even before it was fashionable.

Good news from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services: The agency has decided to drop a rule that would have required you to sign requisitions for lab tests for your Medicare patients.

Medical groups raised questions about structure and revenue-sharing after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services unveiled its proposed rule about accountable care organizations.

Learn more about how CMS handles annual wellness visits.

In 2006, Massachusetts became the first state to pass healthcare reform and its law served as a model for federal reform last year.

A bill introduced in the Rhode Island House of Representatives would require health insurers to reimburse doctors at least 125% of Medicare rates.

Medical societies want more flexibility in meeting the meaningful use requirements of the electronic health record incentive program.

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

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.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services levied more than $5 million in fines and penalties on a major hospital and a medical group for alleged violations of HIPAA.

Understand your rights regarding patients who refuse to pay their deductible expenses.