Working Together: Communities of Practice in Family Medicine
Scott Endsley, MD, MSC, Margaret Kirkegaard, MD, MPG, and Anthony Linares, MD
By sharing knowledge, concerns and passions, family physicians can use communities of practice as tools for change.

Preparing Your Office for a Medical Emergency
Seth L. Toback, MD, FAAP
It needn't be expensive or time-consuming to prepare your office to respond.

Are You Ready for Maintenance of Certification?
Brandi White
The new board recertification process has garnered mixed reviews from family physicians. Find out how it will impact you.

EDITORIAL
How Much Paperwork Is Too Much?
James H. Sanders Jr., MD
When excessive paperwork threatens the quality of patient care, it's time for physicians to put down their pens and take a stand.

GETTING PAID
CPT 2005: Another Case of Update Now or Pay Later
Kent J. Moore
A new year brings new and revised codes for several of the services you provide.

CODING & DOCUMENTATION
Answers to Your Questions
Kent J. Moore
Prolonged services: the codes vs. the modifier • 99000 and in-office tests • Pap smear specimen • Splinter removal • Dexamethasone and Xylocaine injections • Casting and follow-up • Coding hyperbaric oxygen therapy

IMPROVING PATIENT CARE
A Sure Way to Improve Your Dictation
Robert J. Flaherty, MD
The key is to dictate your notes before you leave the exam room.

BALANCING ACT
The Art of Coping With Change
J. LeBron McBride, PhD, MPH
Whoever said that "nothing is constant except change" was right on target.

EDITOR'S PAGE
Maintenance of Certification
Robert L. Edsall
Controversial? Sure. Flawed? Arguably. Doomed? Probably not.

LETTERS
Servium Plan raises insurance questions • Big praise for big ideas • More tips for tablets • Patients may want more than listening

MONITOR
MedPAC drafts recommendations to improve Medicare payments • Physicians get little help with Medicare questions • Quality, safety revisited on anniversary of landmark IOM report

ASK FPM
Breaking up with Medicare • Protecting patients' info over the phone • Coupons come with consequences