Practice Management

Stress is a constant presence in the workplace and never more than in economic times such as these.

In a physician practice, front-office staff members are often treated as the least necessary employees. These employees, however, meet and greet patients, schedule their visits, collect co-payments, and field phone calls.

For the second year in a row, the number of U.S. medical school seniors who will train as family medicine residents has increased, according to results released by the National Resident Matching Program.

Insurance paperwork and patients who don't follow instructions lead the list of your frustrations, according to a new survey.

Know whether it is permissible through HIPAA to keep copies of patients' records.

Primary care practices wishing to become a patient-centered medical home face a growing number of organizations offering accreditation, each with its own set of standards and guidelines.

Practicing medicine, as any other job in the field, can become boring. Worse yet, it can lead to burnout.

Have you considered using scientific principles to improve the financial position of your practice?

Learn how to handle patients who run up large balances and then switch physicians.

Letters discuss patients' cell phone usage and malpractice.

The author is reminded almost daily why he can be grateful for the job he has as well as its ample compensation.

If your patient population is similar to the pool of those responding to a recent survey, you?ll want to consider adding a secure online communication tool to your practice to allow patients to obtain lab results, request appointments, pay medical bills, and communicate with your offices?if you haven?t done so already.

Several months ago, we issued a rallying cry for the profession to come together to share innovative ideas and strategies in light of something that is becoming more and more apparent: Primary care is at a crossroads.

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.

Six health plans in New York's Hudson Valley paid $1.5 million to 236 primary care physicians in 11 practices that achieved patient-centered medical home recognition from a national nonprofit organization.

Seventy-three percent of Americans surveyed would use a secure online communication service to make it easier to get lab results, request appointments, pay medical bills, and communicate with their doctors' offices.

This article on how to keep your practice running smoothly focuses on billing, collection, filing and other functions.

Know whether your disability insurance policy will cover you while working abroad.

Many doctors would like to manage their own investments but lack the time, energy or expertise to do so. Instead, often they seek out an investment adviser they think they can trust to handle their money.

Half of Americans oppose the "individual mandate" clause in the healthcare reform law that requires all Americans to purchase health insurance but 71% agree that healthy people should buy insurance to help pay costs for those that are sick.

To effectively build your practice, it's important to look at a growth plan in the context of the factors you encounter every day.

Learn how to handle the decision to buy an electronic health records system.

In today's world of medical marvels, it's easy to forget the basics and be seduced away from the fundamentals of patient care.

As a primary care physician, you're also a business person, with at least some responsibility for managing the practice's finances, and all the responsibility for managing your own.

Are you ready to deal with the vast amount of information available to your patients in just seconds, thanks to technology?

The five largest publicly traded health insurance companies reported combined profits of $11.7 billion in 2010.

Learn about the telehealth services that Medicare added for 2011.

Author recalls the "go-live" day for his practice's electronic health records system.

The author reflects on his role as patient advocate even when it comes to death certificate forms.