Practice Management

According to a new study, women aged 65 and older who have metabolic syndrome may be at higher risk of developing all types of endometrial cancer.

Yalda Afshar, MD, PhD, Contemporary OB/GYN's residency blogger, reveals her New Year's realizations and resolutions as she heads into 2015.

On July 29, 2010, a 46-year-old obese primarily Spanish-speaking patient was admitted to a hospital by her private ob/gyn Dr. A for a total laparoscopic hysterectomy (TLH) and/or laparoscopically assisted vaginal hysterectomy (LAVH) that day.

A California woman with a history of 2 premature deliveries and a single miscarriage became pregnant in 2004. A few days after the pregnancy was confirmed, she was seen by a physician at a military base in connection with an application to accompany her husband overseas. The application was approved and the patient went to Spain, where she delivered at 31 weeks’ gestation in 2005.

An analysis of data from 46 states and the District of Columbia shows that the level of Medicaid reimbursement for office visits has an impact on likelihood of patient screening with Pap tests and other diagnostics for cancer.

Codes for reporting complications of pregnancy, childbirth, and the puerperium are in chapter 15 of ICD-10-CM and begin with the letter O.

If you are like me, you had no idea who provided the money to pay your salary as a resident. I just assumed it was my hospital. But the federal government spends more than $15 billion per year on residency and fellowship training, and many are asking why physicians deserve this special largesse denied other professionals.

Unless there is definitive evidence that one defendant is solely responsible, once jurors see “dueling defendants” they most often assume the worst happened and find blame all around.

A bowel injury during salpingectomy leads to septic shock and amputation. What went wrong?

Injuries from known risks lead to different lawsuit outcomes.

A reader writes about reducing costs of care to lead to improved, sustainable revenues for the clinical enterprise.

There's both good news and bad. More patients will be covered, but you may see fewer of them.

Although the passage and politics surrounding implementation of the ACA have been tumultuous, it seems certain for now that the law will stand at least until 2016 if not permanently and our practices will have to change, in some ways for the better.

The costs to medical practices for implementing the International Classification of Diseases-10th Revision (ICD-10) coding system have been grossly underestimated, according to a recent study by Nachimson Advisors for the American Medical Association (AMA). The association is calling for a delay in the October 1, 2014, ICD-10 go-live date in order to give practices more time to prepare for the financial and administrative requirements.

Contemporary OB/GYN technology columnist Brian A. Levine, MD, MS, discusses Google Glass in his first video about how physicians can take advantage of the new technology.

For many physicians, no matter their specialty, the one thing that keeps them up at night is fear of medical malpractice lawsuits. Elisabeth Madden, partner at Lynch Gilardi and Grummer law firm in San Francisco, is an attorney with more than 20 years’ experience defending healthcare providers. In this article, based on a session at a recent conference for dermatologic surgeons, Ms. Madden explains some of the top ways surgeons can avoid medical malpractice lawsuits.

In 2010, Medicaid financed 48% of all births in the United States, an increase of 19% in the proportion of all births covered by Medicaid in 2008. This finding, from a study published in the Sept. 2013 issue of the journal Women's Health Issues, adds to previous research showing that the numbers of women dependent on Medicaid for health care are growing.

The transition to ICD-10 is looming. You'll be ready if you start planning now.

The Contemporary OB/GYN tech experts address the learning curve associated with an EHR adoption.

Properly timing subsequent pregnancies is important for both mothers and babies. It’s often accomplished with postpartum contraception, which may be out of reach for low-income women. A recent study in Obstetrics & Gynecology looked at how prescription of postpartum contraception through publicly funded programs affects the interval between pregnancies.

With the October 1, 2014, deadline looming, many physicians are still struggling to get started in their adoption of the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10).

While one expert feels that the benefits for family balance outweigh potential risks, the other is concerned that sex selection will lead to a slippery slope.

An EHR should streamline the workflow of all who interact with it. The difficulties surrounding interoperability are the most significant obstacles to achieving a streamlined workflow.

Medicare claims data would be transparent to the public via a free, searchable database if a bill introduced June 18 becomes law. The Medicare Data Access for Transparency and Accountability Act (Medicare DATA Act) is a bipartisan effort, led by US Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore).

This difficult defense-a young woman dying shortly after a routine tubal ligation-was further complicated by conflicting reports about who said what to whom and when.

These cases are interesting in that they were both defense verdicts and the issues were proving when the retained foreign object was left in the abdomen and what the object was.

Only 11% of Americans have a high level of understanding of the key aspects of federal health reform, despite substantial media coverage in the 2-plus years since the legislation's passage.

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) has once again issued a lengthy report indicting the US healthcare system as falling abysmally short, using just about any means of measure. The report says that based on 2009 figures, the United States is wasting approximately $750 billion per year on the care of its people.

Letters discuss the myriad of issues affecting the practice of specialties. Joshua A. Copel responds.