Practice Management

The costs to medical practices for implementing the International Classification of Diseases-10th Revision (ICD-10) coding system have been grossly underestimated, according to a recent study by Nachimson Advisors for the American Medical Association (AMA). The association is calling for a delay in the October 1, 2014, ICD-10 go-live date in order to give practices more time to prepare for the financial and administrative requirements.

Contemporary OB/GYN technology columnist Brian A. Levine, MD, MS, discusses Google Glass in his first video about how physicians can take advantage of the new technology.

For many physicians, no matter their specialty, the one thing that keeps them up at night is fear of medical malpractice lawsuits. Elisabeth Madden, partner at Lynch Gilardi and Grummer law firm in San Francisco, is an attorney with more than 20 years’ experience defending healthcare providers. In this article, based on a session at a recent conference for dermatologic surgeons, Ms. Madden explains some of the top ways surgeons can avoid medical malpractice lawsuits.

In 2010, Medicaid financed 48% of all births in the United States, an increase of 19% in the proportion of all births covered by Medicaid in 2008. This finding, from a study published in the Sept. 2013 issue of the journal Women's Health Issues, adds to previous research showing that the numbers of women dependent on Medicaid for health care are growing.

The transition to ICD-10 is looming. You'll be ready if you start planning now.

The Contemporary OB/GYN tech experts address the learning curve associated with an EHR adoption.

Properly timing subsequent pregnancies is important for both mothers and babies. It’s often accomplished with postpartum contraception, which may be out of reach for low-income women. A recent study in Obstetrics & Gynecology looked at how prescription of postpartum contraception through publicly funded programs affects the interval between pregnancies.

With the October 1, 2014, deadline looming, many physicians are still struggling to get started in their adoption of the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10).

While one expert feels that the benefits for family balance outweigh potential risks, the other is concerned that sex selection will lead to a slippery slope.

An EHR should streamline the workflow of all who interact with it. The difficulties surrounding interoperability are the most significant obstacles to achieving a streamlined workflow.

Medicare claims data would be transparent to the public via a free, searchable database if a bill introduced June 18 becomes law. The Medicare Data Access for Transparency and Accountability Act (Medicare DATA Act) is a bipartisan effort, led by US Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore).

This difficult defense-a young woman dying shortly after a routine tubal ligation-was further complicated by conflicting reports about who said what to whom and when.

These cases are interesting in that they were both defense verdicts and the issues were proving when the retained foreign object was left in the abdomen and what the object was.

Only 11% of Americans have a high level of understanding of the key aspects of federal health reform, despite substantial media coverage in the 2-plus years since the legislation's passage.

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) has once again issued a lengthy report indicting the US healthcare system as falling abysmally short, using just about any means of measure. The report says that based on 2009 figures, the United States is wasting approximately $750 billion per year on the care of its people.

Letters discuss the myriad of issues affecting the practice of specialties. Joshua A. Copel responds.

An OB/GYN asks if current doctors are sending the wrong message about liability problems in the field of OB/GYN.

Physicians using smartphones and other mobile devices to access patients' electronic health records are increasingly at risk for data breach, but a new initiative from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) may allay some fears about possible violations of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy and Security Rules.

A survey of 72 health organizations found that the growth of physician use of smartphones also has increased the incidence of data breaches, with 96% of respondents experiencing at least 1 data breach in the past 2 years.

Arguing that a relentlessly rising volume of care driven by our discounted fee-for-service payment system is exacerbating both cost inflation and suboptimal care, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has decided to adopt value-based purchasing.

Worried about financial pressure and the effects of healthcare reform, an increasing number of physicians are considering making changes in how they practice medicine.

Experts are focused on how errors happen and how they can be reduced.

In a survey of more than 100 nurses, physicians, and administrators, participants were asked how often they witnessed or experienced disruptive behaviors.

Because research shows that women are more likely than men to forgo, delay and ration medical care because of personal debt incurred from healthcare costs and expenses, investigators set out to determine whether financial hardships associated with medical debt also differ by gender.

About half of 131 US medical schools surveyed reported that they had provided instruction to students on Medicare and Medicaid fraud and abuse laws in 2010.

CMS will rescind a new Medicare rule requiring physicians to provide their signatures on requisitions for laboratory tests.

The American Medical Association (AMA) recently surveyed physicians about federal rules and regulations that increase their administrative costs and paperwork burden or that interfere with patient care without significantly benefiting patients or the government.

When a physician has a "difficult" encounter with a patient, he or she is apt to attribute the problem to particular characteristics of the patient. However, a new study demonstrates that not only patient characteristics are associated with "difficult" encounters; certain physician factors also predict a difficult interaction.

Across the country, the author has been hearing ob/gyns discuss selling their practices to, or merging them with, a hospital or academic medical center and/or joining an accountable care organization.