Practice Management

A study of 34 physician practices jointly sponsored by RAND Corporation and the American Medical Association found that alternative payment models are changing the way physicians and medical practices operate. However, changing the payment system doesn't always ensure patient care improves.

Physicians across the country are witnessing the advent of new payment models such as patient-centered medical homes, bundled payments, accountable care organizations, and other risk models. What do physicians need to know to incorporate-and succeed with-these payment models?

Follow these tips to help patients manage their sleep disorders, and ensure you are reimbursed correctly.

In the first-place winner for our 2015 Annual Physician Writing Contest, Daniel Taylor, DO describes his experience helping "Jeremy," a 15-year-old boy struggling with problems associated with obesity.

Many physicians doubt that electronic health records (EHRs) improve the quality of care. But relatively few practices are mining their EHR data to see how well they’re doing or to update their care delivery processes.

Observing other physicians’ struggles and having challenges of my own with the EHR compels me to consider ways to incorporate the computer into the patient-physician encounter in a manner that supports rather than detracts from the work that I love to do.

Electronic health records (EHR) use has steadily increased among office-based physicians since the passage of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, but new studies indicate that the number of physicians who don’t or plan to participate is substantial.

A fellow at the Brookings Institution Center for Technology Innovation writes that the market should drive down interoperability costs.

HHS’ announcement that, by the end of 2016, it aims to link 30% of Medicare reimbursements to the "quality of value" is the latest sign that, after years of talking about the importance of quality and outcomes in medicine, payers are getting serious about making them part of their reimbursement formulas.

Follow these tips to improve patient management and adherence of asthma treatments

You need to be specific in your ICD-9 coding for asthma because there are several codes available.

Even the most experienced physicians and practice managers face a daunting dilemma on the financial front: Should they handle billing and collections internally or hand over these tasks to an external vendor? There are strategies that physicians can use to evaluate potential vendors and make the best decision for their practice.

Ask these 10 questions before you choose a RCM vendor

Being sued for malpractice, especially for the first time, can be an unsettling and frustrating experience. The consequences of a lost case can range from an increase in future insurance premiums to a health department investigation which could affect your license. So it is imperative that you immediately report a malpractice claim to your professional liability insurance carrier and retain an attorney specializing in the defense of medical malpractice cases in order to protect your interests.

Treating chronic diseases such as diabetes requires a strong and open relationship between physician and patient.

Chronic care management can become an additional revenue stream for practices, but it requires understanding how to use the codes.

Rising costs can affect treatment adherence and lead to negative outcomes for patients. But physicians can take some small steps to help their patients overcome this challenge.

Despite changes to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) that dramatically affect the risk profile of medical practices, many have yet to establish a full arsenal of defenses against data breaches. The simple fact is that failure to update your protections can multiply your vulnerabilities and fines if a breach occurs.

More than one-third of American adults are obese and this can lead to a wide range of comorbidities and other health problems. Health professionals need to communicate with patients to help them manage obesity.

Insurance carriers have come a long way when it comes to reimbursing for obesity-related treatment. However, you will need to make sure that your diagnosis coding is specific and complete in order to support medical necessity.

Physicians who leave independent private practice to join a large group or a hospital system have different considerations when it comes to medical professional liability (MPL) insurance.

There are many ways to have a medical career. Choosing whether to take employment, buy a practice, or start from scratch involves assessing your personal and professional values, and the specific location you are targeting. The bottom line: Choose what will make you personally and professionally happy.

A physician’s roadmap to performance improvement must include best practices to reduce and reverse unpaid claims

Will employing mid-level providers put physicians at risk?

The provider that accepts a large number of Medicaid patients and makes it work for his or her practice is much like the fabled unicorn: there are rumors that they exist, but no one has actually seen them.

Regardless of how well physicians or their coders understand the new coding system, practices will not fare well on reimbursement unless their providers can document encounters in sufficient detail to support the new codes.

A monumental data breach at one of the nation’s largest insurance providers has spurred a bipartisan effort to reexamine the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

The success rate for physicians attesting to meaningful use for electronic health records is improving, but remains dismal: More than three-quarters of eligible professionals (EPs) so far have not attested to any stage of the meaningful use program.

The Office of the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology (ONC) is aiming for better national interoperability by 2017.

Five primary care facilities will test a new initiative that will allow patients to not only view, but add to their physicians’ visit notes in their electronic health records (EHR) systems