Legal

When it comes to getting sued for medical malpractice, it is unfortunately more a case of “when” than “if.”

Making time for patients remains challenging for physicians, but peers offer solutions

If we believe that time spent with patients is the most important piece of our patient care, we must have the conviction and courage to do what is right and say no when we need to say no, whether it is to payers who don’t value our time, or government data collection mandates that take time away from our patients. In return, I ask my patients to appreciate our efforts to dedicate our time for them.

I have recognized a recurring theme among physicians. “Medicine is not what it used to be,” a colleague had once said.

Today’s physicians are busier than ever tackling high-volume schedules, chasing quality metrics and interpreting scads of data flowing into the electronic health record (EHR) 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

When should physicians say they are sorry? When should they stay quiet? There’s a time and place for both.

Getting rid of those pesky sue happy patients.

The hard work and cost of becoming a PCMH will benefit practices as they begin value-based pay.

Patient feedback is important, but becomes problematic when linked to pay, doctors say.

Congress’s passage of the Medicare Access & CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) will have profound implications for the nation’s physicians, especially those practicing alone or in small groups.

A new report reveals that 69% of healthcare providers are using patient engagement to get patients more involved in their own care, but its authors suggest that number should be closer to 100%.

Donald Trump’s surprising win in the presidential election has put a renewed focus on what will happen to healthcare under the new administration.

With a major hack of an insurance company’s database having made front-page news not long ago, it’s natural that many physicians think first about electronic data when they think about protecting patients’ private health information (PHI).

Calling a Donald Trump presidency “a threat to the goals of medicine,” more than 600 physicians have signed a statement opposing him and urging others in the medical community to vote against the Republican presidential nominee.

Online patient communities are dramatically changing how patients engage with the healthcare community. In fact, more than 40% of patients say that information found via social media affects the way they deal with their health.

Doctors taking part in stage 2 of the Meaningful Use program for electronic health records (EHRs) will get some welcome flexibility in their reporting requirements next year.

The nearly 2,400-page final rule for the Medicare Access & CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) has been reviewed by healthcare experts, and the general consensus is that it’s an improvement compared to the proposed rule, but challenges for small practices remain.

Infographic showing everything doctors need to know about MACRA's reporting options.

A test for hepatitis B virus should be done for patients beginning treatment with direct-acting antiviral therapy for their hepatitis C, experts advise.

A new study shows all-oral direct-actin antiviral agents for hepatitis C can provide both short- and long-term economic value.

More awareness of COPD by primary care physicians can lead to early treatment and better care for this growing group of patients.

Primary care physicians should not underestimate their role in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Keeping primary care practices open for more hours, particularly on nights and weekends, reduces patient visits to emergency departments for non-life threatening issues, according to a recent study published in PLOS Medicine.

As deductibles rise, the ability for you to avoid financial ruin gets to be tougher if you don’t take patient balances seriously. So what to do?

Physicians have long expressed dissatisfaction with the amount of time and money it takes to deal with insurance companies, but the alternative, going insurance-free, may seem a risky, problematic model of operation that could send patients fleeing from their practice-something no physician wants to happen.

Scaring young doctors one reality check at a time.

It’s easy to get lost in the ever-evolving landscape of the telehealth marketplace.

While Medicare and Medicaid are bankrupting federal and state governments because of deep structural flaws, our Congress refuses to address these flaws and to learn from its past mistakes.