Healthcare
Showing 369–384 of 454 results
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Practice Notes – How to best manage practice risks
Spring 2010
Newsletter: Rx for Practice Management / Practice Management Advisor
Price: $225.00, Subscriber Price: $157.50
Word count: 492
Abstract: When physicians consider risk management, most will immediately think of their medical malpractice insurance coverage. And rightly so. But, in addition, there are certain insurance policies that every practice should carry. Before soliciting bids, physicians should take inventory of current coverages, identify where their practice has too much or too little protection, and prepare a matrix of coverages comparing wants and needs.
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Those who take care of others … should take care of their retirement benefits, too
Spring 2010
Newsletter: Rx for Practice Management / Practice Management Advisor
Price: $225.00, Subscriber Price: $157.50
Word count: 853
Abstract: Any physician getting ready to retire, or simply move to another practice, will need to decide what they want to do with their retirement account from the job they’re leaving. Options include taking a lump-sum distribution, making a direct rollover into a traditional IRA or to a new employer’s 401(k) plan, or leaving the assets where they are. But there are pros and cons involved, depending on one’s age, income and retirement goals.
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Will the medical home trend transform how you practice medicine?
Spring 2010
Newsletter: Rx for Practice Management / Practice Management Advisor
Price: $225.00, Subscriber Price: $157.50
Word count: 737
Abstract: If the patient-centered medical home (PCMH) trend continues to gain ground, it will most likely involve every type of provider and require dramatic changes in health care delivery. Key to the PCMH concept is “whole-person orientation,” in which the personal physician is responsible for meeting all of the patient’s health care needs or arranging appropriate care through other qualified professionals. But transforming a medical practice to a PCMH is a major undertaking that requires a series of incremental changes. Doctors will need to tailor their conception and implementation of the PCMH model to the distinct characteristics of their practice.
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Health care reform: What you can expect from the new law
Spring 2010
Newsletter: Rx for Practice Management / Practice Management Advisor
Price: $225.00, Subscriber Price: $157.50
Word count: 871
Abstract: Health care reform … at last. But what does it mean to physician practices? According to one authority, it will place a huge load on physician practices by releasing pent-up demand for health care services from an additional 18 million newly insured people and new Medicaid users. With more patients, physicians in all specialties will have the opportunity to increase their revenues, although some critics maintain that it will redistribute income away from primary care providers and misalign monetary incentives for doctors. This article discusses the impact on Medicare payments, along with incentive payments and cost savings through streamlined health insurance claims processing procedures. Tort reform and the prospects for reform of the sustainable growth rate formula are also explored. A sidebar shows an upside and downside of the legislation as it affects the business side of a practice.
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Practice Notes – Reduce the risk of employee theft
Winter 2010
Newsletter: Rx for Practice Management / Practice Management Advisor
Price: $225.00, Subscriber Price: $157.50
Word count: 494
Abstract: In 2008, the National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association (NHCAA) estimated conservatively that 3% of all health care spending, or $68 billion, is lost to health care fraud. Physician practices can experience their own types of fraud — through employee theft. This article offers a few tips to minimize the risk.
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Hospital-owned group practices – Breaking the ties that bind
Winter 2010
Newsletter: Rx for Practice Management / Practice Management Advisor
Price: $225.00, Subscriber Price: $157.50
Word count: 809
Abstract: Today, when many hospitals are in the buying mode, some practices are ready to join up but are wondering, “What if I want out in a few years?” Breaking up isn’t easy. Physicians must be prepared to deal with federal regulations, employee benefits, patient accounting and other day-to-day details, or else perhaps join another physician network instead of buying back the practice. Those who do buy will need to hire an appraiser to establish the practice’s fair market value; determine what proportion of profits or losses can be attributed to the physicians in the practice; and develop an exit strategy that covers the potential consequences of unwinding in the future.
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ACOs can help assure quality and slow cost growth
Winter 2010
Newsletter: Rx for Practice Management / Practice Management Advisor
Price: $225.00, Subscriber Price: $157.50
Word count: 709
Abstract: An “accountable care organization” (ACO) is a combination of primary care and specialist physicians, hospitals and other care providers that accepts collective responsibility to meet patients’ health care needs. ACOs are considered the ideal vehicle for achieving the integration and cooperation demanded by “bundled payments.” But group practices will need strong leadership to carry out the many changes involved. Doctors will need to either acquire hard-core business skills and assume major management roles, or be willing to hire professional business managers to whom they can delegate significant business decisions.
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Is your practice’s compensation system fair?
Winter 2010
Newsletter: Rx for Practice Management / Practice Management Advisor
Price: $225.00, Subscriber Price: $157.50
Word count: 874
Abstract: Many physician groups are operating with compensation systems that were developed years ago for reasons that may no longer be relevant in the current environment. But, before embarking on changing one’s current system, it’s important to review all aspects of compensation. Does the system account for all costs incurred, or only a subset of expenses? In allocating revenues and expenses, does the system use RVUs, equal shares or professional service charges? This article looks at the components of a fair package, and discusses how to fairly compensate physicians whose professional duties, time commitments and outside activities vary. A sidebar discusses pending health care legislation, and the impact that reform will have on all health care providers.
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Standardized patient-feedback surveys extend their reach
Winter 2010
Newsletter: Vital Signs
Price: $225.00, Subscriber Price: $157.50
Word count: 649
Abstract: A public-private initiative, called the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) program, has developed standardized surveys for patients to evaluate their health care experiences. Given current trends, it would not be surprising if payments for physicians eventually become linked to participation. But participation can also help identify a practice’s strengths and weaknesses involving its communication and service to patients.
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Paging Dr. Right — How HCOs can best target their physician hires
Winter 2010
Newsletter: Vital Signs
Price: $225.00, Subscriber Price: $157.50
Word count: 884
Abstract: Before a health care organization (HCO) begins employing physicians and physician extenders, questions need to be answered. What does the HCO want from the physician? What does the physician want from the organization? This article looks at two scenarios: hiring to fill an HCO’s community need vs. hiring to suit an individual physician’s desire to join the HCO in question.
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Incentivizing the CMS quality health care reporting measures
Winter 2010
Newsletter: Vital Signs
Price: $225.00, Subscriber Price: $157.50
Word count: 515
Abstract: There have been marked improvements to the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI). The CMS Web site provides program guides on topics such as eligibility, measures and reporting mechanisms in understandable terms. Now is the time to start reviewing the information for the 2010 program year. There are four specific steps a practice can take to get started.
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Would your hospital-physician arrangement pass regulatory and public scrutiny?
Winter 2010
Newsletter: Vital Signs
Price: $225.00, Subscriber Price: $157.50
Word count: 712
Abstract: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced that it will periodically require hospitals to provide information about compensation arrangements with physicians. The rules for physician-hospital relationships are known. What’s not known is how an arrangement with physicians may look in the local newspaper. So it’s essential to develop a well-defined, transparent policy for physician arrangements. Once the policy is in place, it will be necessary to stay organized through the use of contract management tools that monitor physician financial relationships through hospital compliance officers and other administrators.
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So you want to grow a hospital-owned physician network … Recognizing the 3 stages of maturation
Winter 2010
Newsletter: Vital Signs
Price: $225.00, Subscriber Price: $157.50
Word count: 829
Abstract: The resources necessary to acquire, manage and sustain one or two practices with less than 15 physicians are different from those required for groups of 25 to 50 physicians. The complexity increases significantly with larger groups. So it’s important to recognize the three stages that groups go through as they mature. Ultimately, these phases are less about the number of physicians, and more a reflection of the management skills and systems the group has developed.
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Practice builders – Don’t let marketing fall by the wayside
Fall 2009
Newsletter: Rx for Practice Management / Practice Management Advisor
Price: $225.00, Subscriber Price: $157.50
Word count: 420
Abstract: In the current economic climate, some private practice physicians may be tempted to cast their marketing efforts aside in order to save a dollar. It’s a bad idea. Rather than drop marketing, it’s important to become more creative at it. This involves gaining an understanding of the market in which one competes; choosing the best medium to appeal to that market; and synchronizing various marketing efforts with each other and with what is going on in the practice through annual, quarterly and monthly action plans.
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Medical practice management 101 – How to assess financial health
Fall 2009
Newsletter: Rx for Practice Management / Practice Management Advisor
Price: $225.00, Subscriber Price: $157.50
Word count: 704
Abstract: Most often, it’s assessing the financial health of their practice that eludes many physicians. Timely, accurate financial reports can be invaluable tools for assessing a practice’s financial health. Different reports used on a daily, weekly and monthly basis provide vital information for day-to-day management of a practice. Each kind of report offers different information that’s important to financial analysis. But good old-fashioned budgeting is also crucial.
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Developing a hospitalist service offering
Fall 2009
Newsletter: Rx for Practice Management / Practice Management Advisor
Price: $225.00, Subscriber Price: $157.50
Word count: 568
Abstract: The services that hospitalists perform have become so popular that the number of hospitalists is expected to reach 30,000 by the end of the decade. Entrepreneurial physician practices seeking to develop new revenue streams should consider developing a hospitalist services subsidiary. This separate entity would employ the hospitalists. But it’s important for a hospital to understand in advance how the subsidiary works and how to prepare a hospitalist for service, and ensure that both the hospital and hospitalists are in agreement on performance variables and how they will be measured.