Practice Management

The first people to enroll in the health insurance exchanges created under the Affordable Care Act were more likely to be sicker or suffering from a chronic disease than the average patient, according to a new study that analyzed prescription drug use.

Medicare’s release of thousands of physician pay records could expose fee-for-service models that reimburse subspecialists at a higher rate than primary care physicians.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) places primary care physicians front and center in the mission to improve the health of Americans, and lower overall healthcare costs. But new ACA-derived payment models that reward value, not volume, are driving skepticism and uncertainty among physicians.

How can physician investors guard against overreacting to large swings in the stock market? Here are strategies to setting asset allocation and rebalancing your portfolio.

Creating an incentive plan for midlevels can go a long way toward increasing their productivity.

While healthcare organizations have decreased the number of breaches of patient data and improved their ability to control the costs associated with data breaches, healthcare reform has increased the risk to patient privacy, according to a study.

Microsoft stopped providing support for its popular operating system Windows XP this month, and continued use of this non-supported operating system is exposing the practice’s protected health information to risk. Take these steps to ensure that patient information is protected.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services created the Comprehensive Error Rate Testing review program to measure billing problems and improper payments, and identify common problems.

When shopping for a medical malpractice liability insurance policy, most physicians focus on premium costs. But physicians shopping for a malpractice policy should also focus on getting the right coverage limits.

Requests for locum tenens physicians are up, but increased use of temporary doctors might be a warning sign of impending shortages and greater turnover in the clinician workforce. Demand is up particularly for primary care physicians-the group predicted to face the worst shortages in coming years.

Electronic health record (EHR) systems are built to help physicians improve their practices. But EHRs may also come between a physician and a patient during an encounter. Voice recognition software and scribes may help optimize your documentation.

In recent months, close to 50 electronic health record (EHR) systems have been certified to meet meaningful use 2 criteria for complete EHR systems, bringing the total number of certified vendors to 81 as of early March 2014. Download a copy of the list.

Although health insurance companies and physicians are encouraging patients to use wearable devices, usage is often short term.

In a continued effort to boost transparency, CMS will release finalized Medicare payment data for more than 880,000 healthcare professionals, as early as April 9.

The Republican-sponsored bill would cut $5.1 trillion in spending, but has little chance of becoming law

A new security risk assessment app designed to help small- to medium-sized practices conduct risk assessments of their organizations is now available for download from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

It is still unclear how the influx of millions of new patients will affect healthcare’s gatekeepers-primary care physicians.

You have until midnight tonight to register and attest to Medicare’s 2013 meaningful use EHR Incentive Program, according to an alert from the Department of Health and Human Services.

The Senate has passed a one-year patch to the Sustainable Growth Rate formula and a one-year delay to the implementation of the ICD-10 coding system.

Though physician organizations have been vying for an ICD-10 delay, many in health IT say that it is time to implement the coding system in spite of legislation that may push it back until October 2015.

Despite staunch opposition from physician advocates, the bill, which was introduced on Wednesday, will move to the Senate in an effort to pass the legislation before the current SGR fix expires on March 31.

The number of solo practitioners and small practices who have adopted electronic health record systems increased more than 10% from 2013 to 2014, according to a new survey.

The National Committee for Quality Assurance has updated its recognition standards for Patient-centered Medical Homes. The 2014 guidelines emphasize team-based care coordination, behavioral health integration, and care for high-need populations.

Legislation crafted to patch the controversial sustainable growth rate formula for another 12 months would also delay the transition to ICD-10 until October 2015.

According to a new study, physicians are recording higher blood pressure readings than their nurses, and this could be causing an increase in unnecessary treatment.

With the March 31 deadline to enroll for insurance through the Affordable Care Act’s healthcare exchanges approaching, the Obama administration still faces an uphill battle both to persuade the uninsured to obtain coverage and educate the country about what’s in the law.

President Barack Obama is proposing increased funding toward medical school programs for internal medicine, pediatrics, and family medicine in his 2015 budget proposal.

While the American Medical Association is fighting to reverse the financial risk to physicians over the controversial 90-day premium grace period in the Affordable Care Act, it just released a series of resources to help doctors if confronted with policy jumpers.

If you are planning to attend the American College of Physicians Internal Medicine 2014 meeting, April 10-12, in Orlando, Medical Economics is setting up video interviews with internists to talk about the challenges you face in practice.

Physicians can improve cash flow at their practices by financing their accounts receivable, but practices should use diligence before accepting terms