Practice Management

HIPAA rules have changed regarding a patient's protected health information. See how this can affect even your practice's contractors.

Electronic health records are only the beginning when it comes to technology in medical practices. Here are five trends to look out for in the coming year.

As high-deductible plans become more common in the patient pool, you might be wondering how the plans will affect your practice. Here's the new reality.

Wondering what your practice is worth? Learn how the net collection rate can help you figure that out.

ICD-10 is coming. Discover how the new codes will change your practice's productivity.

Are you a physician working in an area with few primary care physicians? Here's how to find out whether you're eligible for a Medicare bonus.

What modifier should you use to bill for a physical and pneumonia vaccine? A physical with an office visit? Find out.

Medical Economics readers continue to discuss the delicate balance between bringing in money and providing quality care to patients.

More than half of the U.S. population live in localities served by accountable care organization, and almost 30% live in areas served by two or more.

Having a higher number of firearm laws in a state may be associated with a lower rate of firearm fatalities from suicides and homicides, according to a report of a study across all 50 states published online first by JAMA Internal Medicine.

You may believe that running diagnostic tests for patients with a low risk of serious disease may help lower their anxiety and offer reassurance. A new study, however, reveals that although testing may help curb future primary care visits, it does little to soothe anxious patients.

Almost 98% of primary care physicians, nurse practitioners, and pharmacists trust and recommend over-the-counter (OTC) medicines to their patients, according to a new survey.

Primary care is the "beleaguered," "underappreciated stepchild" of U.S. healthcare that's on a "mission impossible" as currently organized, but three prominent thought leaders believe they've created the recipe to change that.

Testing will include states, public agencies, federally funded exchanges and health information technology companies covering more than 50% of the U.S. population.

Satisfaction and usability ratings for certified electronic health records have decreased since 2010 among clinicians across a range of indicators, according to survey results released by the American College of Physicians and AmericanEHR Partners.

Eighty percent of physicians believe that within 5 years, virtual assistants will drastically change how they interact and use electronic health records and other healthcare apps, according to a recent survey of U.S. doctors.

Sixty-four percent of healthcare professionals believe that achieving adoption of an electronic health record system is a roadblock to successful implementation, finds a joint survey conducted by TEKsystems Healthcare Services and HIMSS Analytics.

The stand-alone fee-for-service payment could disappear by the end of the decade if a plan newly released by the National Commission on Physician Payment Reform is followed.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s ability to protect individuals from preventable infectious diseases is likely to be hampered by sequestration, and analysts from research and consulting firm GlobalData argue that the cuts ultimately will fail to accomplish the goal of decreasing federal spending.

Primary care physicians are bombarded with so many alerts from their electronic health record systems that they're in danger of overlooking important test results, creating potential patient-safety issues, according to a new study.

A majority of healthcare leaders report that they have qualified for meaningful use stage one, according to results from the 24th Annual Health Information and Management Systems Society Leadership Survey.

Practicing clinicians strongly believe that health information technology can overcome communication challenges among care providers, according to the 2013 iHIT study conducted by the Health Information and Management Systems Society and HIMSS Analytics

Physician offices that move to electronic health record systems but don’t make additional changes in the practice to enhance revenue and cut costs for services no longer needed stand to lose money, according to new research.

Healthcare information technology companies Cerner, McKesson, Allscripts, athenahealth, Greenway Medical Technologies, and RelayHealth have launched the CommonWell Health Alliance to support universal, trusted access to healthcare data through seamless interoperability.