Legal

Accelerated by the Affordable Care Act, high-deductible health plans have emerged as a major trend in healthcare. Placing more financial responsibility on patients for medical services has a direct impact on physician practices.

How to weigh the risk and the benefits to your practice of these care delivery and payment models

Tips on taking on a leadership position for younger physicians

Answers to physician questions about preventative services in a primary care setting

Thirty-six states have “apology laws” that prohibit certain statements or expressions of sympathy by a physician from being admissible in a lawsuit. Experts in the field say that while the laws may help some physicians feel more comfortable about expressing empathy, they aren’t really necessary to avoid lawsuits. Instead, good patient-physician relationships and open disclosure are the keys to responding successfully to a bad outcome.

Board will no longer require several elements of certification process; president admits “we got it wrong”

Five primary care facilities will test a new initiative that will allow patients to view and add to their physicians’ visit notes in their electronic health records (EHR) systems.

The November round of ICD-10 testing conducted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has been deemed a success through a poll conducted by the American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC).

Not sure how to start preparing for ICD-10 in your own medical practice? These strategies can help physicians prepare for the transition set for October 1, 2015.

Responding to pressure from physicians, hospitals and lawmakers, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) plans to give electronic health record (EHR) users more flexibility in meeting the requirements of its meaningful use program.

Here are seven strategies your practice can use to make sure you meet all the requirements of the MU program should the auditors come calling, and ensure you can keep the incentive money you earned.

As medical practice owners continue to ready their practices for International Classification of Diseases-10th revision (ICD-10) implementation in October, lawmakers are still undecided as to whether another delay will be included in sustainable growth rate (SGR) legislation slated for the spring.

In order to continue funding the expiring bonus payment for primary care physicians, the commission will suggest a 1.4% payment cut in 75% of non-primary care services

For as long as primary care has existed, there have been patients who did not, would not, or (so they thought) could not follow doctors’ advice. But innovative physicians have been honing techniques to reach these most difficult patients.

Many physicians feel they're between a rock and a hard place. If they're participating in the Medicare side of the Meaningful Use program, have attested before, and don't attest to MU2 this year, they'll not only lose financial incentives but will be subject to penalties in 2017.

A new study published recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association Internal Medicine, found that physicians may be over-treating some older adult diabetic patients resulting in greater health threats from the diabetes medications prescribed to them.