Health Law & Policy

Busy with wellness visits? CMS paying for more screenings

You may have noticed this already in your waiting room, but the marketing campaign to promote the new annual wellness visit appears to be paying off. Almost 1.3 million Medicare beneficiaries took advantage of the program, which has no copay. Now Medicare is offering two new primary care screening programs. Find out how your practice should prepare. » More

Practice Finance

PCPs should be paid for coordinating outside care, proposal says

Chronically ill patients take far more of your time than a regular office visit, but a regular office visit often is the only service for which you receive payment. Addressing that perennial complaint of primary care physicians, the American Medical Association’s payment panel recently recommended that Medicare pay doctors for time spent coordinating care for patients. Read on to learn the ins and outs of that proposal. » More

Doctors’ Writing Contest

Share your knowledge and expertise, and you could win $2,000!

Do you have a story to tell your fellow physicians? Or do you have proven advice or suggestions on how to thrive in this new era of healthcare? If so, enter your article in our Doctors’ Writing Contest for a shot at the grand prize, which includes $2,000, a crystal award, and $500 to donate to the healthcare charity of your choice.

The runner-up and winners of the Best Practice Solution and New Doctor Award categories each will receive $1,000 and a crystal award. Honorable mentions also will be awarded!

For more details and the official rules, visit www.MedicalEconomics.com/contest. The deadline for submissions is November 1.

Practice Management

Medical home standards not met by half of physician practices

Nearly half of physician practices do not meet national standards to qualify as a Patient-Centered Medical Home, with smaller, single-specialty groups being the least likely to qualify, according to a new study. Ninety percent of Americans receive care from those smaller practices, however. Learn how solo and single-specialty practices can even the playing field to meet medical home standards. » More

Technology

Guess what? ICD-11 waiting in wings

Here’s something you may not want to hear as you scramble to meet the October 1, 2013 deadline for ICD-10 conversion: ICD-11 will be available about 2 years later. That reality was discussed at the recent American Health Information Management Association meeting, which featured a speaker from the World Health Organization, the developer of the International Classification of Diseases. Find out why the next conversion might not be as burdensome. » More

Health Law & Policy

Cutting physician education funds creates lasting pain for short-term gain

Slashing Medicare funds for graduate medical education (GME) may create short-term gain, but the long term-pain would be intolerable. That’s the view of 40 healthcare organizations, representing both physicians and hospitals, expressed in a letter to Congress’ Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction. Find out why the group says cutting GME would exacerbate the national physician workforce shortage—and how much worse it could get. » More

Risk Management and Liability

Is it a bad thing if physicians benefit from Texas malpractice caps?

A liberal advocacy group says that liability reform in Texas shouldn’t be a model for the rest of the nation because the only beneficiaries are doctors and malpractice insurance companies. It also maintains that healthcare is scarcer in the state and more expensive than the national average—claims disputed by supporters. You might be interested in what the report says about the drops in the frequency and dollar amounts of liability payments since malpractice caps were instituted. » More

Confirm your
e-newsletter subscription click here.

To ensure future delivery of email newsletters from Medical Economics please take a moment to confirm your subscription by clicking here.
Thank you,
Medical Economics Staff

Tools

Digital Edition