Billing Compliance

Should you keep your Rx data away from drug companies? Is that even possible? Here’s what you can and can’t do to protect your prescribing privacy.

Billing for vitals recordings; discharge summary on a deceased patient; a wasted controlled substance.

Insidious software and hidden viruses living in your computers could be threatening confidential records and practice productivity. Here’s how to protect yourself.

Concerned about Medicare’s new Recovery Audit Contractors snooping around? Though your practice may not be affected by RACs for at least a year, the time to ready your defenses is now. Here’s how.

When a new employee doesn't work out it is usually for one of two reasons: Either you hired the wrong person or you didn't provide the right training.

In the midst of Medicare cuts, consult-code farewells, healthcare reform bills, and all our other challenges, we need to prepare for new HIPAA Privacy and Security mandates.

You may be unwittingly violating your patients’ confidentiality - and trust - on your blog or social media site. Check out these guidelines for staying legal and ethical online.

Giving credit for exam work; decision making for established visits; billing a hospital admission.

Family physician Sarah Parrott offers a primer on managing angry patients the right way, instead of losing your cool.

2010 starts the second year of the CMS Electronic Prescribing Incentive Program.

Pay-for-performance programs, or P4P as they are more commonly known, are designed to improve the quality, effectiveness, and safety of patient care.

Here’s our primer on the tools that can help you manage the complex reporting requirements of pay-for-performance programs.

Primary care exception; critical care coding; prescription drug management

Could the answer to the malpractice crisis be a whole new kind of court? Federal caps on pain-and-suffering awards aren’t coming soon, so we investigate another possibility.

New technology is supposed to reduce your staffing needs. But how do you get staff on board with a change that may end up costing some of them their jobs?

Have you heard about that “free” electronic medical records system that your local hospital, vendor, or the government is offering? Sounds good, right? But be careful. While there are ways to get EMR software for little or no cost, there are still expenses (and sometimes other strings) attached.

Want to know how to boost your scores on those seemingly arbitrary online physician-rating sites? The sites aren’t going away, so you’ll need to know how to make the best of them.

If you don’t have a policy on staff e-mail usage, you need one. Here’s why.

Now that you’ve decided which vendor will supply your new EMR (or practice management system, or other large IT purchase), it’s time to hammer out a deal. How do you negotiate the best terms for one of the biggest purchases your practice will ever make?

Like it or not, given our weakened economy, medical practices no longer have the option of relying on self-referrals to guarantee that patients (and payers) will continue to line up at their doors.

There are many intangibles to consider before sitting at the table with a payer to negotiate reimbursement.

President Obama has promised as much as $44,000 to physicians using EHRs as part of the stimulus package he signed this year. Payments start in 2011. But there’s a catch.

Rumors of stricter enforcement of privacy and security rules have been heard before but this time there’s reason to believe that tougher scrutiny is indeed coming.

Going into business with friends may seem like a great idea. Physicians are often asked to help fund a startup business. But these ventures often disappoint, and when they do, relationships can be ruined.

Evaluating a partnership offer has been complicated by the recession. Is ownership still worth it?

Our 2009 Physician Compensation Survey reveals general dissatisfaction - and wide divisions between specialists and primary care docs. Get all the details and advice on ways to earn what you deserve, despite the downward trend.

Documenting shared visits; further vs. additional workup planned.

Laptop and PDAs have become the office-away-from-the-office for many. But physicians, especially, need to be aware of the potential security risk posed by a lost gadget. Protect sensitive data with encryption software - before it goes missing.

Spirituality and medicine sometimes interact uncomfortably. Here’s how to be sensitive while meeting your religious patients’ clinical needs.

Patients want more from your Web site than a photo of you and directions to your office. They’re demanding interactivity and utility: They want to get stuff done online, like setting up appointments and making payments. Here’s how to have the coolest Web site in town.