Practice Management

Use this handout to avoid misunderstandings, and to collect co-pays and other fees promptly.

Faced with a sharp hike in premiums, this doctor was forced to make a tough choice.

Answers to your questions about...patient signatures; sale of a practice; sharing information; confirming appointments; access to insurer data

Answers to your questions about...a policies and procedures manual; staff training

Recognition

See exactly what plans the Democratic presidential hopefuls have for your profession--or whether they have any at all.

If you periodically assess your procedures and policies, you'll be ready when managed care reviewers come calling.

A credentialed medical coder can increase efficiency--and keep you out of trouble with the Feds.

Office assessment tool

The patient wanted her life to end without pain. Her family wanted a few last words. All of them looked to the physician. We'd like your thoughts, too.

Answers to your questions about. . .The Family and Medical Leave Act

With a little creativity, the author turned a potential disaster into an opportunity for change.

Don't risk denials because you're using outmoded codes. Here are the latest changes.

Confusion over the new law has blocked legitimate medical exchanges. Critics think the rule itself is to blame, but maybe it's doctors and other healthcare providers.

When an HMO demanded repayment on what it called questionable claims, this gastroenterologist refused. Then his troubles really began.

Seniors may still be undecided, but physicians know a good thing when they see it.

Don't buy home computers for the office.

Provide feedback and guidance during their first months on the job—and beyond.

Premium hikes of 25 percent or more are now common, with more double-digit increases expected for 2004.

Answers to your questions about...the "minimum necessary" rule

Clip and Copy: Associate Physician/PA/NP evaluation form

Medical privacy protections, so stringently enforced under HIPAA, are being eroded, critics charge. And the culprit is the government itself.

This handout will help them distinguish a PPO from a POS.

Understanding insurance-speak

Documenting conversations; reporting child abuse; HIV disclosures; marketing services or products; selling patient names to marketers

For a low price and little risk, you can cater to computer-savvy bill payers.

By comparing your coding habits against these national norms, you can learn whether you're overcoding or undercoding.

A debate is raging among physicians about whether to charge patients for services that payers don't cover.

New respect for academic medicine; Helping your med mal carrier see reason; Why punish everyone? Confronting HMOs on coding

Patients' right to restrict access; unlimited access; partial release of records; summaries vs. whole records