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Practice Management

Fast-Acting AMA Group Hopes to Fix SGR

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. -- A large coalition of American Medical Association members met in seclusion Sunday morning here at the interim meeting of the House of Delegates and rapidly found consensus on a proposed resolution for the repeal of Medicare's sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula.

Will You Make More $$ if You Subspecialize?

Ivan Today looks at a study that looks at whether fellowships pay off.

New Nerve Tracer Not Ready for Routine Use?

CHICAGO -- The radiotracer iodine-123-metaiodobenzylguanidine may be a new tool for cardiac imaging, but whether it's ready for routine use in most practices was debated by nuclear cardiologists here.

Concierge Medicine Gains Ground

SAN DIEGO -- Concierge doctors are spreading the word that it's possible to operate a direct primary care practice, make a living, and avoid one of the biggest headaches for family medicine physicians -- dealing with health insurance companies.

AAFP to Look at Allowing NPs, PAs to Join

SAN DIEGO -- The American Academy of Family Physicians wants to further study whether nurse practitioners and physician assistants should -- or would want to -- become nonvoting members.

ACP Hedges in Debate on Scope of Practice

The American College of Physicians took a nuanced position on the role advanced nurse practitioners play in clinical care teams in a position paper published Monday.

Congress Probing VA Bonuses to Doctors

WASHINGTON -- A congressional committee is using a recent report questioning performance bonuses for Department of Veterans Affairs physicians as reason to examine a range of pay-for-performance issues at the VA.

Oncology Clinics Caught in Financial Vise

Community oncology clinics continue to feel the squeeze of a changing reimbursement structure that has forced 288 clinics to close in the past 6 years.

FDA Adds GI Warning to Benicar Label

WASHINGTON -- The FDA ordered the maker of the blood pressure drug olmesartan (Benicar) to add a warning about risk of the intestinal condition known as sprue-like enteropathy to the drug's label.

Health Insurers Improve Claims Processing

CHICAGO -- The percentage of claims incorrectly processed by health plans fell for the third straight year to 7.1% in 2013, according to the American Medical Association.

Face Up to Front Office Challenges

Your front office staff are the face of your practice -- an expression of your practice's philosophy, attitude, and values. Here practice management consultant Rosemarie Nelson shares tips for helping them put the best face forward.

Is Protein the Key to Fountain of Youth?

The cardiac clocks of aging mice were turned back to a more youthful time when they received a protein taken from the blood of younger mice, researchers found.

On-Call Pay Varies Widely by Specialty

Surgeons commanded more than $1,000 a day for being on-call at the hospital, while primary care physicians reported compensation rates of around $150 a day, according to annually compiled data.

How Much Exercise to Burn Off a Burger?

Menus displaying the amount of exercise required to burn off calories in a meal had some impact on food choice, researchers found.

More Docs Joining Forces in ACOs

SAN FRANCISCO -- The number of physician-led accountable care organizations (ACOs) has recently surpassed the number led by hospitals, becoming the largest backers of the payment and delivery model, an analysis showed.

Docs May See Pay Delay Under ACA Exchanges

SAN FRANCISCO -- A provision in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) states that insurance companies will not process claims on patients who haven't paid their premiums in 3 months, leaving doctors on the hook to recoup payment directly from the patients.

Docs' Charting Falls Short of ICD-10 Demands

SAN FRANCISCO -- Nearly 65% of clinical documentation doesn't contain enough information for coders to use for billing under the upcoming ICD-10 coding system, a survey of patient charts found.

More Insurance Claims Filed Electronically

Healthcare providers continue to file more insurance claims electronically and submit claims more quickly, a report from the leading health insurance industry group showed.

ACE Inhibitors Linked to Hallucinations in Elderly

Elderly patients with memory problems who suddenly have visual hallucinations may need to stop taking ACE inhibitors, researchers suggested.

Cardio Notes: Sex Improves with Stenting

Opening the arteries of those with stable coronary disease also opens the door to an improved sex life. Also this week, bariatric surgery helps remodel the heart.

California Docs Sue Aetna Over Out-of-Network Denials

Several medical groups and more that 50 individual physicians in California are suing Aetna, claiming that the insurer often wrongly denies coverage for patients accessing out-of-network providers.

OIG: Avastin a Better Buy for Wet AMD

茂禄驴WASHINGTON -- The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services should establish a national payment policy for bevacizumab (Avastin) to treat wet age-related macular degeneration, a government report concluded.

Doctors Say 45 Common Tests 'Overused'

Nine specialty groups have listed tests and treatments that are frequently overused, such as antibiotics for sinus attacks and CT scans for low back pain, in the first phase of a long-term project.

Feds Finalize Next Stage of 'Meaningful Use' Guidelines

LAS VEGAS -- Doctors now have an extra nine months to prove to the federal government that they've accomplished the early stages of "meaningful use" of health information technology, National Coordinator for Health IT Farzad Mostashari announced Thursday.

Possible ICD-10 Delay Rankles IT Industry

茂禄驴LAS VEGAS -- The possible delay in implementing the new ICD-10 coding system may make physicians happy, but the health information technology industry is not so thrilled.

Meaningful Use Tops IT Issues for Hospitals

茂禄驴LAS VEGAS -- Meeting federally mandated health information technology benchmarks will be a top priority for hospital IT departments over the next two years, according to survey results presented here.

ABMS Sets Time Limit for Board Certification

Physicians have between three and seven years after finishing residency to become board certified, according to a new policy from the American Board of Medical 麻豆传媒.

AMA Adopts Policies on Circumcision, Gun Safety

The American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates has adopted a number of new policies at its interim meeting, including policies on male circumcision, physician discussion of gun safety, and a new medical coding system that will go into effect in 2013.

How to Make a Good Office Meeting

Office meetings don't have to be unproductive or a waste of time -- you just have to plan them.

Rx Data-Mining Case Reaches Supreme Court

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments Tuesday in a case involving a state law that restricts pharmaceutical companies' use of physician prescribing records.

FTEs per Doctor -- More than a Number

There's no set formula for figuring out staff size. Here are the factors you need to take into consideration to maximize revenue.

How to Evaluate That EHR Demo

Here's a process that will help you get beyond the sizzle the salesman is showing you and focus on how the EHR fits your practice needs.

The Perfect Schedule Template

There is no perfect template, but there's a way to build one perfectly. Here's how.

The Top 10 Medical Advances of the Decade

From genome to hormones, doctors pick the top medical advances of the decade.

Is Cash-Only Medicine the Next Big Thing?

As increasing numbers of physicians work longer and harder to maintain income levels in the face of declining third-party reimbursements, some have opted out -- they're running cash-only practices, and respondents to a 麻豆传媒 online spotcheck think more doctors will join them.

CMS-eRX: Officials Lay Out Cost-Benefit Analysis of E-Prescribing Bonuses

BOSTON, Oct. 9 -- The first-year Medicare bonus for e-prescribing could be enough to pay for the software, and that's not counting the efficiency savings, HHS officials said here.

CMS-eRX: Faxed Prescriptions Don't Qualify for Medicare Bonuses

BOSTON -- Prescriptions must be sent directly from a medical practice's computer to the pharmacy's computer in order to qualify for the 2% bonus promised by Medicare for e-prescribing.

Family's Tragedy Prompts Major Changes at Boston Hospital

BOSTON-In an extraordinary public admission, a Harvard teaching hospital has revealed the string of errors and lost opportunities that led to a stillborn child and an emergency hysterectomy for his mother.

Hospital Color Codes Staffers to Help Patients

CLEVELAND-Patients at the Cleveland Clinic starting on Monday won't see red. Instead, they'll see white, black, royal blue, hunter green and purple. The hospital has color-coded its staffers so that patients, in principle, will know who is who.