Practice Management

A court upholds a suit against an HMO for deciding medical necessity based on Milliman guidelines.

Milliman's USA's advisories on hospital stays are coming under intense attack. How insurers use them may be as problematic as their scientific validity.

Time pressures are no excuse for insensitivity to patients' needs, the author stresses.

Can a hospital limit C-section privileges to ob/gyns? A California court says Yes.

Many health plans are gearing up to process physician claims online in real time. That means faster payments, less chasing after payers, and the ability to collect the patient&s share before she leaves the office.

The tales of two St. Louis doctors illustrate why you can't take freedom of speech for granted when you're somebody's employee.

The new regulations try to enhance patient protection while minimizing physician hassle. Brace yourself for even more changes.

A team effort increased this family practice's profit margin by 20 percent in one year.

A little more money, a little more confusion, and several new codes are coming from HCFA.

Statutes haven't done the job. So now state regulators are getting tough with the insurance tortoise, trying to turn him into Turbo Turtle.

The Feds' final guidelines say you don't have to have a compliance plan. But if you want to protect yourself against a costly audit . . .

Doctors are finding nontraditional ways to supplement stagnant practice earnings--selling everything from pregnancy calendars to advice on aging. Here&s what works.

The young boy&s valor in his life-death struggle continues to influence his father.

The bottom line is more income, happier patients and staff, and shorter hours for physcicians, say doctors who've adopted the techniques described in this series.

They figure Web-based transactions will save them elephant bucks. It will cut your costs, too, if the plans can learn to cooperate.

An intranet at the University of Michigan Health System is pulling patient information together into a useful electronic medical record.

Intimate partner abuse is as common--and as much of a medical problem--as smoking, hypertension, and other ills that you routinely ask patients about.

Here's a guide to rules so complex, they might have stumped Einstein himself.

Unless your billing department is vigilant--and fully staffed--some insurance claims could be coming up dry.

It isn't hard or time-consuming to measure results. One key: Start small.

Defying conventional wisdom, this doctor reluctantly acceded to his family's wishes.

Flashing back in Medical Economics

Regulation; Fraud 'N' Abuse; Tough Choices; Collective Bargaining; Children's Health.

Two top malpractice attorneys explain why some physicians are more likely to get sued. Basically, its a business decision, but some personal factors--like a doctors arrogance or poor bedside manner--can also weigh heavily.

The elderly airplane passenger had swallowed a foreign object. Thank goodness for the author's ingenuity!