Practice Management

A reader says that maintenance of certification requirements will cause older, experienced doctors to leave medicine.

Many practitioners store, administer, or dispense controlled substances in the office, but they may not be aware of legal requirements concerning the safeguarding and record-keeping of these drugs.

How the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will impact primary care physicians from a financial perspective has yet to be fully realized, but it probably won’t add to your practice’s bottom line if you continue to do what you’ve always done.

Many medical practice owners are required to undergo an annual audit of their financial statements when they’ve borrowed money from a bank or other financial institution, have outside investors, or are considering selling their practice. These steps will help you reduce the expense of an audit and prevent disruption to your operation.

For primary care physicians, the average appointment wait time was 19.5 days across metropolitan areas.

Healthcare professionals should consider whether the benefits of FDA-approved testosterone treatment is likely to exceed the potential risks of treatment.

Hospitals across the United States are merging and purchasing physician practices at a faster clip than they have in decades. While some experts believe the pace of acquisition is not sustainable, the economic forces driving hospital consolidation is also driving up the cost. For employed physicians, that could mean employment trouble. For independent groups, it could signal opportunity.

Staff salaries are among a practice’s largest expenses. These tips will help practice managers fine-tune their pay scales and build merit into their compensation plans.

When hospitals acquire independent medical practices, they will now often reclassify the practice as an outpatient facility. Doing so allows them, under Medicare rules, to add a separate facility charge to a patient’s bill.

Flipping the switch on your EHR system tests your staff’s productivity, relationship with patients, and the reliability of your new system

Has your medical practice received unexpected Medicare denials? Coding expert Renee Stantz helps to sort through the confusion, and she offers more advice for ICD-10 preparation.

During his keynote address at the 2014 Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society conference, Aetna’s CEO Mark T. Bertolini calls for transformative healthcare change focused on wellness, aligned incentives, and a crackdown on wasteful spending.

The number of young adults enrolling in exchange health plans may be less important than the overall health of all new enrollees.

More patients are aware of websites that rate physicians, and they make a growing impact on which doctor they pick.

The debate over the necessity of annual mammograms continues as a recent study suggests that the screenings for breast cancer do not reduce the number of deaths from the disease.

The costs to medical practices for implementing ICD-10 have been grossly underestimated, according to a recent study.

Close to 1.1 million signed up in January, data show

Congress has agreed on legislation to repeal the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula. But the changes not only affect physician reimbursements. The proposed legislation also overhauls current incentive programs, establishing the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System.

The vast majority of practices have done nothing to get ready for ICD-10 or are only "somewhat ready."

Another deadline for the $27 billion Medicare EHR Incentive Program has been extended by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Providers will now have until March 31, 2014, to submit their data for the 2013 reporting year.

A reader says that the business pressures of running a medical practice makes it no longer enjoyable.

A reader proposes alternatives to the need to obtain insurance company preapprovals for treatments and procedures.

A reader says that doctors today are under too much scrutiny and have too many requirements placed on them.

A reader writes that the ongoing controversy over maintenance of certification requirements echoes another episode in American medicine a century ago.

A table showing the dollar amounts physicians may bill Medicare for administering vaccines under various CPT codes.

Will reimbursement data on individual physicians lead to better healthcare or leave doctors exposed?

Experts offer best practices related to smart purchasing, inventory control, and reducing waste of vaccines.

This chart takes a look at why some doctors don't make as much money as the public thinks they do.

A summary of the most common adult and pediatric vaccines, their brand name, cost per dose, and manufacturer

In today’s era of smart phones and tablets, the question is no longer whether physicians and their staff members should send text messages containing protected health information, but rather what is the safest way to do so.