Practice Management

Bringing billing in-house presents myriad challenges to ensure that old accounts receivable do not get lost in the transition.

As a patient, small business owner, and physician, I also have an opinion on what needs to be done to right our health-care system. Following are my recommendations for creating a healthier United States.

As health-care costs continue to rise, 59 percent of U.S. businesses admit that they intend to increase their employees' out-of-pocket spending limits in 2009 for employer-sponsored plans.

Medical Economics has tapped the knowledge of a number of veteran investigators, who offer a look at the various factors to be considered prior to becoming involved in clinical trials.

Experts believe it won't be long before physicians who are paid under Medicare Part B will be docked for "never events."

As the number of retail clinics grows nationally, so does the demand for physician's assistants and nurse practitioners.

Doctors from across the country gathered in San Diego last month for the American Academy of Family Physicians' 2008 Scientific Assembly.

New AAFP President Ted Epperly strongly backs the medical home patient-care model.

I started making a simple request to drug reps seeking my time: Instead of providing a meal for my staff, help me access information that would improve my ability to tend to my patients.

I'm thinking about bringing aboard a certified public accountant to handle accounting and office management. Can this work?

We've recently discovered that our payroll service stopped taking health benefits payments out of participants' paychecks a year ago. What should we do?

How can I add additional information to a patient's record without risking suspicion if I'm ever sued and those records are scrutinized?

How do I reduce the amount I pay for my employees' health insurance?

I've begun to wonder about the safety of my retirement fund. Are my savings safe from creditors and the government?

List the most complex (highest-fee) procedure first for reimbursement at 100 percent.

Office visit and critical care treatment procedures on the same day can be billed separately.

Physicians can go online to check the status of their PQRI reports and bonus checks.

At a time when communication with patients is being identified as a key component in increasing quality of care and decreasing medico-legal risk, perhaps we should intensify our endeavors to teach our students, residents, and colleagues to communicate with each other.

Many in the medical community are looking to the next president to inspire systemic changes that will remove the obstacles that hinder quality patient care.

More than half of doctors at least "occasionally" use some form of complementary and alternative medicine in their practice, according to a July survey by physician staffing firm Jackson & Coker.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation needs doctors, and it is ready to pay.

A bill was introduced in July in the U.S. Senate to award $600,000 state grants to create medical volunteer programs for which the state would assume medical liability.

Just 39 percent of patients at retail clinics said they had a primary care physician, according to a study by the RAND Corp.

More and more Americans are turning to sources other than their doctors for medical information, according to a recently released report. The web is patients' fastest-growing source of medical information.

The model of charging patients "access" fees to cover administrative expenses has given way to the concept of "concierge" or "boutique" practices.

The Department of Health and Human Services will require health care providers to use its set of new diagnosis and procedure codes known as ICD-10 by October 2011.

A New Jersey health insurer has launched a pilot program that will allow participating physicians to access patients? medical imaging records through a web portal.

About 25,000 U.S. physicians have downloaded a free drug information software program that runs on Apple's popular iPhone, according to the California company that develops the software.

One of our office employees just resigned, and the rest of our staff will have to cover her duties until we replace her, which may take a while. What's the best way to compensate them?

My in-house biller says the electronic claims with the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) codes have all been accepted without a problem. But when we call Medicare to ask why I haven't received a bonus, we get nowhere. Should I be concerned about the status of my bonus payment?