Opinion

It’s come to this: healthcare entities have so successfully bamboozled American consumers with their wacky bills and lack of pricing transparency, compounded with robbing middle-class Paul to pay uninsured Peter, that a chirpy contest for entrepreneurs-yes, a call for people to start an entire business to decode medical bills-is the best chance the American people have.

With jobs being such a hot-button issue in the 2016 presidential race, it is only natural some telehealth providers wonder how the shifting political landscape may impact their career outlook.

Sometimes we get so focused on the “now” that we forget to look back. It’s a bit like this with electronic health records: The focus tends to be more on the challenges than on the benefits.

A recent American Medical Association (AMA) study shows that physicians spend 37% of their time on electronic health records (EHR) or desk work while meeting with patients.

Targeting people who inject drugs may be the pathway to eradication of the hepatitis C virus (HCV), according to a recent review.

Insurance arrangements for direct-acting antivirals, where hepatitis C virus patients share the burden of treatment costs, are ineffective says one researcher.

The states of Arkansas and Texas rate last and next-to-last in telemedicine practice standards, an issue that has gained prominence in the medical community in recent years, according to a recent report by the American Telemedicine Association.

Choosing the right person to be the HIPAA security officer for your practice can make a big difference in how the staff views compliance.

A security awareness program is a relatively inexpensive way to educate staff members about cybersecurity at your practice.

Are we prepared to meet the healthcare needs of an aging America? The answer, experts agree, is no.

There’s no doubt about it: Physician burnout is real and it affects an alarming number of us across the nation. While physicians focus on their patients, the practice environment is filled with invisible stresses that weigh on physicians and cause burnout.

Medical groups need to spend a lot of money to outfit, maintain and manage health information technology in their practices-more than $32,500 per year in for every single full-time doctor in the practice, according to a recent study.

Industry trade groups and experts are voicing approval of the announcement from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that it would allow providers to choose the pace at which they comply with the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA).

Providers who are still adjusting to the ICD-10 coding transition from five characters to seven have a variety of amenities and advice available to them in the last leg of the grace period.

The question keeps coming up as to whether my nurse practitioner can bill incident-to while counseling patients and bill based on time spent counseling. I get mixed reports on this. What is the answer? Can they bill by time?

Congress is considering chronic care legislation, but don’t expect final action on any proposals until next year when a new Congress and a new president take office, Capitol Hill watchers agree.

I am a gun owner, raised as a hunter in rural Texas, and proficient with all types of civilian firearms.

What payers ditching plans means for your practice-and why finding solutions for handling collections has become vital.

New advances can boost the physician-patient relationship, rather than create barriers.

The coding change hasn’t put a financial hit on most physicians, but that could change as of October 1.

This month, Medical Economics takes a look at the issue of guns in medical practice.

Before selling your practice, bringing on a new partner or investor or entering into a new practice management relationship or joint venture, you should first determine if there are any business or regulatory risks present in your practice, as they could jeopardize your transaction or put a portion of your proceeds at risk.

Employees in any sized healthcare facility should not be allowed to carry guns inside their place of employment.

Allow guns into my practice-and yours? How could you not? If you think your practice is in a gun-free zone, you are wrong.

Karma at its best.

The number of physician practices owned by hospitals has increased 86% over the past 4 years, which also resulted in a 50% rise in the number of physicians employed by hospitals, according to a recent study.

Many doctors have a difficult time with marijuana as medication, and consider doctors who prescribe it as second-class citizens.

While the presidential campaign dominates the news, some doctors view the political process through a unique lens because they, too, are elected officials.

The Hippocratic Oath directs physicians to act in a manner that advances patient well-being. Yet CMS, by offering financial reward for clinical behavior dictated by other considerations, has created a practice environment at odds with this directive.

When it comes to investing in IT and data security, the healthcare field has been known to lag behind other business sectors. That underspending, coupled with the massive shift from paper to digital records in recent years, has put the industry in some crosshairs.