features

29 A Refresher on Medicare and Concurrent Care (PDF available)

Kent J. Moore

Here's how to get paid when you're not the only doctor in the hospital room.

33 Look Beyond Your Practice's Bottom Line (PDF available)

Albert Y. Yu, MD, MPH, MBA, and Jonathan E. Rodnick, MD

Two tools - gap analysis and root cause analysis - can work together to tell you where and why you might be lagging financially.

39 Take Your Personal Digital Assistant to the Next Level (PDF available)

Louis Spikol, MD

Move beyond the basics with easy-to-learn programs that manage patient data.

42 Choosing the Right Practice Entity (PDF available)

Jeffrey B. Sansweet, JD

How you structure your practice can have big consequences when it comes to liability and taxes.

50 Improving Chronic Illness Care: Lessons Learned in a Private Practice (PDF available)

Philip J. Mohler, MD, and Nancy B. Mohler, RD, MS, CDE

The chronic care model offers a proactive, organized approach that can improve outcomes and satisfaction, but no paradigm shift comes easy.

DEPARTMENTS

14 from the editor

Chronic Care in an Acutely Ill System

Robert L. Edsall

Taking the long view in a short-sighted world takes courage and commitment.

17 editorial

1-800-Chronic Disease Management

Roger Shenkel, MD

Primary care physicians should be doing chronic disease management, and it should be a billable service.

18 letters

No easy answers to "Ten Hard Questions" • Your clinical questions answered

24 Coding & Documentation

Cindy Hughes, CPC

Coding an initial consultation • "Worried well" exam • Sports physicals for students • Billing for care plan oversight

26 news & trends

Humana settles with physicians • Health plans vs. banks: Who treats their customers better? • Delegates debate recertification, health plan hassles, retail clinics • Project focuses on billing complexities • Study finds modest improvement for P4P programs

63 practice pearls

Make scheduling No. 1 • Implement disease-specific dictation reminders • Find the Medicare allowable for a particular service • Surprise your staff with extra paid time off • Systematize exam room restocking • Don't let your numbers tell the story • Make well-informed decisions

65 FPM QUIZ

Earn 4 CME credits.

70 the last word

So How Are You Doing?

Richard E. Waltman, MD

After facing a serious illness, one physician found new meaning in this common question.

4 Contact us

67 Classifieds