March 24th 2023
Study examines effects of law that makes records available to patients.
February 27th 2023
Editorial: Pay for performance: Ready or not, here it comes!
November 1st 2007Recent articles attest to a growing interest in an alternative way to provide reimbursement for health-care services in both the United States and Great Britain. Individual physicians, multispecialty groups, and hospitals are rewarded for meeting pre-established quality and/or expense targets for their services.
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When you merge your practice into a larger one
September 15th 2007At some point you may need to consider merging the practice into a hospital or larger group. Like all processses of growth, merging medical practices can involve risk and a certain amount of pain. Here's how to prepare yourself for the transition.
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Fight to fix cuts in Medicare physician reimbursement continues
March 1st 2007In eleventh-hour negotiations before Congress ended its session last year, legislators found funding to prevent a scheduled 5% cut in Medicare reimbursements to physicians and provide additional payment to those who report quality measures. While the reprieve is good news for 2007, it will not roll over into 2008. Instead, the Congressional Budget Office reported that the recent tax and health bill will result in a 10% cut in Medicare payment rates next year, according to Modern Healthcare (1/8/2007).
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Congress kicks off New Year with new look at health IT
February 1st 2007Despite efforts in 2006 to reconcile two significantly different Senate and House bills on health information technology, Congress this year hopes to create new legislation that both chambers can agree on. And the new Congress-with a Democratic majority-";will likely pay a large part in determining how information technology priorities will be handled," reported American Medical News (1/1-8/2007).
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Can Medicare learn from HMO pay-for-performance programs?
January 1st 2007Information about how well pay-for-performance programs are doing within commercial HMOs might help the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which is considering adopting this approach for Medicare reimbursement. To that end, Boston researchers conducted a survey of 252 HMOs from 41 metropolitan areas across the country to identify the traits of these incentive programs.
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Michigan court says MDs can sue for unfair peer review
November 1st 2006Thanks to a ruling by Michigan's Supreme Court, physicians in the state may now sue hospitals and peer review committees for wrongful peer review. The high court's ruling overturns almost 25-year-old case law, which kept courts from getting involved in hospitals' staffing decisions because of its lack of expertise. As a result, physicians' claims of unfair peer review were often rejected.
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Office-based hysteroscopy: getting started now
September 15th 2006What's holding you back? Cost? Worries about managing pain or complications? An expert debunks common excuses for not doing more office-based procedures and explains why you need both U/S and diagnostic hysteroscopy-and the rewards you can reap from taking your practice in this direction.
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Florida lawmakers back protection for physicians
August 1st 2006Florida lawmakers have been busy lately trying to ensure tort reform in medical malpractice cases, according to Medical Liability Monitor (5/2006). Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, for one, signed into law a bill that would require physicians and businesses to pay only the amount of damages according to their level of responsibility-not their financial ability to pay.
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Bar-coding is not a panacea for halting patient mix-ups
July 1st 2006At least that's what Clement J. McDonald, MD, emphasized in an article in the Annals of Internal Medicine (4/4/06). Presenting an actual case, in which two patients were misidentified when a mix-up occurred with their bar-coded identification wristbands, McDonald drew several conclusions to improve risk management
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From physician to legislator: how one ob/gyn advocated forstate-level tort reform
May 1st 2006Watching his state's medical care system crumble and many of hispartners shutter their practices spurred one Mississippi ob/gyn totake a personal stand on tort reform. His run for elected officewas successful-in more ways than one.
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Adolescent patients and their confidentiality: Staying within legal bounds
May 1st 2006What right does a teenager have to confidential health care? What influence does HIPAA have on that right? How you apply the answers in your practice could determine whether an adolescent seeks health services-or forgoes necessary care.
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