Physician News
FiercePracticeManagement offers news and tips on running a practice. Find news on patient relations & collections, Medicare reimbursement, healthcare reform, HIPAA and more. For more information and analysis on these topics, please visit our health care reports.
Use EHRs to avoid unnecessary care
Electronic health records can do more than identify which patients should be receiving preventive care and other additional services. They also can help providers pinpoint who shouldn't receive care, Read more >>
ACOs must be ready to manage populations with tech, staff
For accountable care organizations (ACO) to succeed in their goal of providing improved care at reduced cost, participants are being asked to use data to more effectively manage populations of Read more >>
Selling practices to hospitals can hurt profits
Despite the trend, selling your practice to a hospital isn't a surefire way to increase profits. To the contrary, physicians who give up control to hospitals may see their incomes drop, especially if Read more >>
Docs practicing outside specialties stir controversy
With insurance reimbursements flagging, a growing number of physicians are looking to create new revenue streams by offering patient-paid cosmetic procedures. The criticism: Many of the physicians Read more >>
Medicare opt-out data still elusive
Despite anecdotal reports that increasing numbers of physicians are dropping out of the Medicare program, the Office of Inspector General has been unable to fulfill its goal of getting at the real Read more >>
Patients email docs about conditions, complaints
Despite the years-long debate over the pros and cons of physician-patient email, there's been little insight available to doctors about what kinds of messages to expect from patients or vice versa. Read more >>
5 low-cost ways to boost employee competence and confidence
Deb Beaulieu
One memory sticks out from the day I started my first "real" after-school job. It was a warning from my mom, just as I was leaving the car, to expect a moment when I felt Read more >>
Experts debate merits of physician-patient email
This month's Wall Street Journal's "Big Issues" feature focuses on healthcare, including a debate-style article with two expert views on physician-patient email conversations, FierceHealthIT Read more >>
State invests $1M in medical home training
Most people are familiar with the proverb, "Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime." A new initiative in Ohio seeks to apply that Read more >>
Doc groups push SGR repeal to be funded by war savings
Congress should use money allocated for Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO), a budget line no longer needed for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, to help fund a permanent fix to the sustainable growth Read more >>
Specialist referrals doubled over decade
Physician referrals to specialists have roughly doubled during the past decade, reveals a study published in the Jan. 23 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine. Although the increase in referrals Read more >>
Pressure for health price transparency mounts with new bills
Less than a year after a Florida law made it voluntary for doctors to post price lists in their offices resulted in very few having done so, a new pair of bills up for hearings Wednesday would Read more >>
Business loans surge for struggling doctors
As further evidence that physicians are struggling to keep their practices afloat, government-backed Small Business Administration (SBA) loans issued to physicians have dramatically risen from less Read more >>
Retail labs let patients bypass physicians
With the pressure mounting on physicians to reduce unnecessary testing and services, a new retail niche is opening for companies that allow patients to order their own tests, NPR reported. At Any Lab Read more >>
Medical home employees satisfied but risk burnout
Providers and staff at patient-centered medical homes have high levels of morale and job satisfaction, but they also have a risk of burnout, according to a new study published Thursday in the Read more >>
