Month: March 2014

What is a HIPAA Compliant Patient Portal? Almost every medical professional in private practice today has a business website, but does it have the ability to provision a HIPAA compliant account for your patients? A portal like this will enable your patients to interact with your practice, review their treatment plan, update insurance info, pay

Dr. Russell Dohner hangs his signature fedora on the hat rack precisely at 10 o’clock each morning. One by one they arrive – with colds, ear aches and the occasional broken bone. Regardless of why they come, each will hand over a $5 bill – payment in full for services rendered. No insurance required nor

Consultant Live’s Physicians Practice asked Jeff Brunken, president of insurer The MGIS Companies, and Sue Larsen, president of Astute Doctor Education, to come up with a list of things to never say during patient interactions. These may sound reasonable in casual settings, but here are 11 things Physicians should never say to patients. “Thanks for

A working mom’s life is, quite literally, a balancing act. Lean too far toward the office, and your children get short shrift. Lean too far toward home, and office resentments can flare up. Practice managers and physicians can relate to this type of performance—working moms must be accommodated to keep them in their jobs, but

Universal implementation of electronic health records does not mean they are viewed favorably by those who use them, particularly physicians. According to RAND health reports, doctors’ perspectives of EHRs remain mixed even though they have been widely adopted. Although the overall concept of is viewed as good, EHRs have “significantly worsened” many physicians’ satisfaction with

Patient payments, long a sore spot for providers, are becoming increasingly important as more patients move to high-deductible plans. Here are six ways to ease the pain. 1. Make it easy for patients to provide information. For collections and medical billing, the more information you have on a patient, the better. So think carefully about 

Since the goal of most physicians is more time with patients, many are turning to mid-level providers like physician assistants (PAs) to help shift the balance. Although the PA role was created by physicians and the certification has been around for almost 50 years, some myths about PAs persist. For those considering expanding the role

Owning a medical practice can be a jarring experience, even for those with nerves of steel. In the face of increasing regulations and stagnant reimbursements, many small practices seem to teeter on the brink of closure. Rising to meet those challenges, though, is the key to ensuring the success and growth of a private practice.

Medical marijuana is allowing chronically ill patients to relieve painful, often debilitating symptoms by legally “toking it up” instead of popping pills that they claim were not doing anything to ease their severe pain. The widespread acceptance of marijuana as a useful medication is also creating a unique medical practice niche that some critics are

CMS is expected to implement a greater number of audits is mounting. Doctors and health administrators should assume that the chance of being audited is going to be higher than normal. Consequently, they should begin preparing for a potential audit as soon as possible. To continue receiving meaningful use funds from the CMS, providers must