Practice Management

She exuded confidence and talked a good game. But those qualities masked severe shortcomings.

Doctors share their thoughts on practicing medicine today Your voices Compiled by Jeff Forster, Editor

Praised lavishly just months ago, the settlement has since attracted scores of critics. But the giant insurer still views it as a good model for the Lone Star State and beyond.

Anticipating patients& needs is crucial to running a more efficient practice, experts say.

A national survey recently said that nearly half of doctors age 50 and older are planning to retire or cut back their activity in the next three years. What's going on out there?

Finding a cure for the common code

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

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

Some groups are starting to connect doctors online with payers, hospitals, and other data sources. There are practical benefits, but the obstacles remain formidable.

A long-awaited draft from HHS purports to make it easier to put an antifraud plan in place.

HMO Liability, Antitrust, Health Plan Failure, Online Prescribing, Managed Care

Are your medical records as elusive as a needle in a haystack? Here's how to take control of the haystack.

The debate over claims-auditing software continues. Here's one physician's plan to get insurers to stop code bundling, among other abuses.

Looking for some relief from her hectic pace, this doctor made a deal with a destitute woman. Here's how it turned out.

Medicare:The managed care program isn't working the way Congress intended. Congress:Legislators begin their effort to curb medical errors. Reimbursement:HCFA corrects the way it calculates annual changes to physician payments. Bureaucracy:Do the dead really need Medicare? Legislation: Stark's newest idea: Eliminate the freebies doctors get from drug companies. Data Watch: Adding up the pain and suffering from managed care.

Managed Care; The Data Bank; Imaging Centers; Looking Ahead: CME in July; Accreditation; Internet Medicine

An underused resource: your hospital's medical librarian; PAs, NPs, and CNMs - the debate goes on; On the morality of using animals in research; Young doctors are every bit as dedicated.

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

Think Tanks: Should we stop making a fuss over HMOs?

Managed Care; Docket Watch; Medigap; HMO Failures; Fraud and Abuse

California physicians are losing Medicare coinsurance payments as a result of signing PPO contracts. Here's how it's happening--and why it could happen to you.

The "culture of blame" surrounding medicine is the biggest impediment to improving patient safety, warns this veteran advocate.

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

Too much unfinished business, the author thought. But when death was near, was he right to invervene so forcefully?

To the jury, the choice was clear. It awarded a young woman $13 million in punitive damages after Humana refused to pay for a procedure her doctor had advised.

Tired of waiting for the Web? Get connected fast.

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

Flashing back in Medical Economics

After misdiagnosis led to a serious operation for her daughter, the author wondered: Should I sue?

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