Getting Rewards for Your Results: Pay-for-Performance Programs
Scott Endsley MD, MSc, Margaret Kirkegaard, MD, MPH, Geoffrey Baker and Anita C. Murcko, MD
More and more health plans are paying physicians for quality. Here's what you need to know about these programs, and how to get involved.

How to Decide Whether to Buy New Medical Equipment
Deanna R. Willis, MD, MBA
These tips and tools will help you determine whether this type of investment will be beneficial to your practice.

The Cost of White Lies
Martin J. MacNeill, DO, JD, and Alexis MacNeill, BA
If you find yourself the defendant in a trial, falsifications in your CV or other sources could destroy your credibility, or even your career.

Fighting for Hospital Privileges
Edward A. Hirsch, MD
When faced with a privileging conflict, don't panic. Follow these tips for a well-fought battle.

GETTING PAID
Coding for Depression Without Getting Depressed
Kent J. Moore
Getting to know the codes for psychiatric services and using them appropriately can pay financial dividends.

CODING & DOCUMENTATION
Answers to Your Questions
Kent J. Moore
Prolonged services codes • Coding an "interview" visit • Initial or subsequent hospital care? • Postcircumcision service • Casting and strapping

PATIENT INFORMATION
Understanding Your Medical Bills
Kent J. Moore
You'll have smoother collections and fewer questions to answer if your patients can interpret their EOBs and billing statements.

IMPROVING PATIENT CARE
A Tool for Evaluating Hypertension
Mark H. Ebell, MD, MS
This evidence-based encounter form will assist you in providing care consistent with the latest hypertension guidelines.

COMPUTERS
Communicating With Your Patients Online
Joseph E. Scherger, MD, MPH
From simple e-mail messages to integrated EMR systems, online communication can enhance your patient care.

BALANCING ACT
Rediscovering the Paper Planner
Pamela J. Vaccaro, MA, CSP
Electronic devices may be trendy, but when it comes to time management, paper-based planners are hard to beat.

EDITOR'S PAGE
Are Electronic Records Catching On?
Robert L. Edsall
They're still uncommon in smaller practices, but change may be in the wind.

EDITORIAL
When Customer Service and Patient Care Collide
James L. Glazer, MD, and Kimberly L. Merris, MD, MPH
Applying traditional business models of customer service to health care can be a disservice to our patients.

LETTERS
Preserving family medicine's integrity • More tips for burnout prevention • Family medicine residencies

MONITOR
Survey finds veteran physicians generally dissatisfied • Physicians support single-payer system, less paperwork, says survey • MedPAC recommends a 2.5-percent update for physicians in 2005 • Practice Pearls

PRACTICE DIARY
Sanford J. Brown, MD
One thing leads to another… • Locum tenens II

ASK FPM
Equipment leases • Answering machine messages • Setting up your charges • Waiting room entertainment • Adding radiology to your practice • Business associate agreements