Technology

Meaningful use checks are coming, and time is running out to get on board

Last week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services mailed the first Medicare checks to physicians who had attested that they had achieved meaningful use of their electronic health records (EHRs). What effect will these payments have on you and your colleagues? Will everyone rush out to buy EHRs now or will they let this opportunity pass them by? Read on to find out. » More

Medical informatics likely to become board-certified subspecialty

Medical informatics, long in a gray area between information technology and medicine, may soon be recognized as a full-fledged medical subspecialty. If this occurs, it will arrive just as many healthcare organizations and physician practices are beginning to view health information technology as an essential tool for improving the quality and lowering the cost of healthcare. Our experts explain the thinking behind this proposal. » More

Practice Management

Majority of ACO prototype testers have serious reservations

The new proposed rules for accountable care organizations (ACOs) haven¹t been well-received, to say the least. All 10 of the clinics that participated in the prototype program, and 93% of American Medical Group Association members, said they would not participate in ACOs under the proposed rules. » More

PRACTICE FINANCE

Consensus: SGR formula not sustainable. Now what?

For more than a decade, Congress and physicians have agreed that the Sustainable Growth Rate isn't sustainable. Noted at a recent hearing, the 29.4% cut in reimbursement scheduled for January 1, 2012, would have a "disastrous effect on access to care for Medicare beneficiaries," which in turn may cause 82% of physicians to "make significant changes in their practices that will affect access to care." » More

HEALTH LAW & POLICY

RomneyCare: Canary in the coal mine not looking very healthy

The continuing pressure on the primary care system will be significant if so-called RomneyCare in Massachusetts is a harbinger for national healthcare reform, as some critics have claimed. Read on to see how primary care physicians there have coped.
» More

Tools

•	AHRQ Effective Health Care Clinician Guidelines
•	Castle Connolly Clinical Reference Manuals
•	Clinical & Business Perspectives
•	Careers
•	Coding Counselor
•	Dermatology Diagnosis Counselor
•	REC Directory and Finder
•	Rx Adherence Predictor Tool

Digital Edition

•	View current edition
•	Subscribe

You are subscribed to %%list.name%% as %%emailaddr%%. Click here to unsubscribe or edit your member profile.

To ensure delivery to your inbox, please add us to your address book. If you need help doing this, Click here.

Advanstar Communications provides certain customer contact data (such as customers' names, addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses) to third parties who wish to promote relevant products, services and other opportunities which may be of interest to you. If you do not want Advanstar Communications to make your contact information available to third parties for marketing purposes, simply call (toll free) 866-529-2922 at any time, or fax us at 218-740-6417. Outside the U.S., please phone 218-740-6395. Contact us by mail at Advanstar Communications Inc., 131 West First St., Duluth, MN 55802-2065, USA.