Practice Management

Practicing good medicine can be a delicate balancing act that includes clinical skills and knowledge, the application of the skills and knowledge, and often, patient adherence (depending on what's being treated).

The transition from paper to electronic health records may be a challenge, but it is worth the effort, says David Blumenthal, MD, national coordinator for Health Information Technology, who spoke during the annual conference of the Medical Group Management Association in October.

Learn the appropriate codes that you can use for reporting the monitoring of warfarin dosage for certain patients.

The physician committee that advises the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on the valuation of physician work needs an outside group to ensure these rates fairly compensate all specialties, according to a letter to CMS from the American Academy of Family Physicians.

Learn whether there is a standard formula to calculate how much it costs to see a patient in office.

Letters discuss remembering patients as human beings, recalling positive past experiences, and the misuse of midlevels.

What does it mean to be uninsured in America?

Learn how to figure out value of accounts receivable.

The money used to run a practice is called working capital. Having positive working capital means your practice is able to pay off its short-term liabilities, such as payroll, supplies and rent.

Most physicians count on their retirement plan for the bulk of their financial security. Yet few of us understand how our retirement plans really work.

Hospitals face increasing liability costs in the coming year, according to a new analysis.

Remote deposit captures are explained.

High-spending health plans don't always deliver the best care, according to an NCQA report.

The elimination of reimbursement for consultation codes has impacted physician revenue greatly, in some instances. Learn how to address this in your practice.

Although critical shortages of primary care physicians continue in Massachusetts, more doctors expressed satisfaction with their practice environment than dissatisfaction, according to a state society.

The American Medical Association (AMA) has released an online tool designed to help physician practices prepare for billing and payment audits by insurers and federal contractors.

During these challenging economic times, many medical professionals are re-examining their personal and professional finances.

The Association of American Medical Colleges estimates that between now and 2015, the shortage of doctors across all specialties will quadruple according to projections.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act includes an element that could have a significant impact on physicians-not as medical providers, but as small business owners.

How to weigh whether to finance a loan for an associate.

The recent downturn in the economy has taken long-standing personal finance calculations and turned them on their head. As a result, many of us face an endless set of questions regarding our financial planning.

Determine whether it is wise to enter into a hospital partnership.

Usually I am able to smoothly transition from daydream to reality without detection when patients go off on tangents. My secret involves attention to the lips. As long as patients' lips are moving, I am safe.

In the past 5 years, independent, multispecialty medical groups reported a slight increase in total relative value units per patient and a nearly 13% increase in work RVUs per patient, according to a new survey.

When this physician remembers to focus on the patient, on the person with a serious need, time stands still, money issues fade onto the horizon, and things are as they were when he graduated a number of years ago.

Everyone wants the best for his or her kids-and for the younger generation in general. That's why we were interested to find out how the readers responding to this year's Medical Economics Continuing Study would answer when we asked if you would recommend that your child or a friend's child pursue a career in medicine.

While 85% of physicians were aware of the financial incentives for implementing an electronic health record system, more than 35% did not know that they face government-assessed financial penalties for not complying.

Learn how to determine hospitalist inpatient service fees.

Most primary care physicians worked longer hours last year than they did in 2008, but saw about the same number of patients.

Learn the ins and outs of development of an employer-based clinic partnership.