HCPro.com: Private Practice Success

December 2007 (Volume 5, Issue 12)	view entire issue

More doctors opt for hybrid concierge model
Three years ago, Alina Lopo, MD, PhD, an internist in Tarzana, CA, found herself working in a "setting of less and less time and more and more patients that had to be seen, until you were just like one of those little mice running in that wheel." She wasn't sure how long she'd be able to keep spinning-and was concerned patient care could be at risk. "An overwhelmed doctor is more likely to make mistakes," Lopo says. "We're human, and it's a very imperfect system-and you're dealing with humans who don't necessarily follow your directions. There are so many variables. But the variable of being exhausted, that's no good. That's got to change."

Maximize your EMR purchase with effective training
Raise your hand if there are buttons on your cell phone, remote control, or even in your car whose function remains a mystery. You keep meaning to read the manual, call the help line, or ask a preteen for guidance, but you just stick with the basics-the tasks you need to accomplish no matter what-and go about your day. Electronic medical records (EMR), and even practice management systems, although intended to enhance efficiency, are often similarly at odds with the daily grind of a medical practice, says Lee Francis, MD, MPH, president and CEO of Erie Family Health Center in Chicago. The federally qualified multispecialty practice, which employs 45 clinicians throughout eight locations, rolled out its EMR in August 2006.

How to pay your physician leader appropriately
In the past 35 years of advising private medical practices, I've found that a group's success-or its failure-depends on the effectiveness of its physician leader. Especially in these times of financial, legal, and regulatory pressures, it is critical that the member most able to assume leadership can and will take it on. Although every practice needs a top-flight nondoctor manager, it takes a physician leader/CEO to deal with partner-level issues as well as to properly oversee the manager's work.

Fight claims denials with a powerful appeals process
Did you know that most of the time, your billing clerks accept write-offs of denied claims without filing an inquiry? Unless your staff members know to check each third-party payment and to inquire or resubmit each one that appears underpaid, you are losing important revenue. That's why it behooves you to have a well-trained insurance coordinator and to set strict rules for handling reimbursement. But if you're like many office professionals, you may not know what reimbursement you should receive, so most of your unwarranted reductions or denials will not get appealed.

Doctors try to achieve balance between work and family
Michael Tomblyn, MD,1 a radiation oncologist, and his wife, Marcie Tomblyn, MD, a bone marrow transplant oncologist, both work at the University of Minnesota Medical Center in Fairview. They've been married for 13 years without any children, yet the balancing act of work and family is still a difficult one to achieve. "We both work at the same university, but barely ever run into each other," Michael Tomblyn says. Many practicing physicians are in the same search for a good work-life balance.

Other recently-published articles from Private Practice Success:

Doctors try to achieve balance between work and family

Fight claims denials with a powerful appeals process

How to pay your physician leader appropriately

Maximize your EMR purchase with effective training

More doctors opt for hybrid concierge model

Social networking sites: The voice for innovative leaders

Eliminate mistakes with perfected processes

Former medical executives share tips on working with physicians

Wellness centers promote patient loyalty, enthusiasm

Time to take advantage of hospital EHR donations?

Financial advice for the environmentally conscious physician

Avoid malpractice suits by making patients partners

Find the right consultant to pull off your project

’Green as you go’ a reasonable approach for physician offices

Learning from the best

ABOUT HCPRO

PRESS

CAREERS @ HCPRO

ADVERTISING OPPORTUNITIES

ONLINE STORE

200 HOODS LANE

P.O. BOX 1168

MARBLEHEAD, MA 01945, USA

PHONE: 800/650-6787

FAX: 781/639-7857

Copyright Statement	Privacy Policy

*MAGNET™, MAGNET RECOGNITION PROGRAM®, and ANCC MAGNET RECOGNITION® are trademarks of the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). The products and services of HCPro, Inc. and The Greeley Company are neither sponsored nor endorsed by the ANCC