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Most primary care physicians love their work, but they are clearly frustrated about their income and the increasing compliance challenges associated with payers and government initiatives, according to results from the 85th annual Medical Economics 2013 Exclusive Continuing Study

Actress Angelina Jolie made headlines around the world last May when she wrote an op-ed in The New York Times describing how she elected to have a preventive double mastectomy based on the results of genetic tests. Her decision cast genetic and genomic testing into the spotlight, and widescale product development may soon fuel new patient inquiries-a lot of them.

A look at primary care physician EHR use, costs and Meaningful Use readiness, using data from the 85th annual Medical Economics 2013 Exclusive Continuing Study, which collected responses from physicians about their professional life.

Since the 16-day government shutdown in October, the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health Information Technology reports that 13 complete electronic health record (EHR) systems have been added to the ranks of those achieving 2014 edition certification for Meaningful Use.

The use of electronic health records (EHRs) changes how front-office staff handles patients, from scheduling to billing. Medical Economics adviser Frank Cohen discusses problems with EHR systems and whether he believes vendors will make better functionality a reality.

Small business owners will have to wait until the end of the month to purchase insurance on the government health insurance exchanges. What date the website will be available, is still unknown.

Advocates say telemedicine will take on greater importance in care models of the future, but hurdles remain.