Practice Management

Paying for an electronic health records system can be harder than choosing one. Here's help.

Spending on physician services rose at a smart pace in 2003, but not across the board.

Med-mal report sparks a debate; Get legal assistance; Courses to enrich the program

Answers to your questions about...paper record disposal; deceased patients and privacy; rights of a surviving spouse; faxes and the security rule

Straws that break your back

An increasingly vocal group of physicians says the hospital peer review process is misused to strike down competitors and outliers.

The author learns a lesson about serenity when a patient refuses treatment for her advanced breast cancer.

An increasingly vocal group of physicians says the hospital peer review process is misused to strike down competitors and outliers.

EHR questions? We have answers

It's the dark side of prescribing. Here are some enlightened ways to minimize the hassles.

Answers to your questions about...clearinghouses; transcription services; janitorial services

Fifteen percent of primary care physicians already have electronic health records (EHR) systems, and many more want them, according to the results of an in-depth Medical Econmics survey of family physicians, internists, ob/gyns, and pediatricians. The survey also reveals the most popular EHR brands.

Compare your expenses to your colleagues', and see how you can cut back.

The President's got newly minted political capital—but the jury's out on whether he'll spend it on tort reform, HSAs, and other key healthcare agenda items.

I listened to lies from my patient's family instead of relying on my own instinct.

Departing employees can tell you how to hang on to the ones who remain.

You have until Feb. 18 to submit Cigna claims. Meanwhile, other insurers are under the gun to settle—and pay.

The keepers of the Current Procedural Terminology system aren't really out to get you. Here's the logic behind the system.

Reducing errors, say experts, will reduce doctors' liability.

Partisan sniping and Band-aid solutions haven't worked. Perhaps it's time we tried a new approach. Our three-month, six-part, no-axe-to-grind investigation into the causes of the malpractice crisis looks at some that may work.

Answers to your questions about...subpoenas for records and interviews; home-based employees

New Year's resolutions

Haste is a factor this year in the absence of a grace period.

At a Medical Economics roundtable discussion, management consultants shared innovative ideas on how you can practice more efficiently and make more money.

Answers to your questions about... copying sensitive chart entries; sharing data with noncovered entities.

It could wreck your practice and your marriage, too, some say. Others say it's the only way to go.

Threatened by a malpractice claim over a "foreign object" in a former patient, this doctor fought back—and stopped the suit before it started.

Answers to your questions about... copying sensitive chart entries; sharing data with noncovered entities.

Medicine may look like this in 2050. In 2004, however, limited reimbursement makes such groups a labor of love.

We asked top practice management experts for their best tips for saving time and reducing administrative problems. Here's what they said.