Jul-Aug 2006

Features

A Refresher on Medical Necessity

Peter R. Jensen

Finding the Perfect Job

Jack Valancy

The Top PDA Resources for Family Physicians

Alvin B. Lin

How to Plan an Open House for Your Practice

Joshua S. Coren

How Does Your Practice Measure Up?

Bruce A. Bagley

What Family Physicians Need to Know About Pay for Performance

Scott Endsley; Geoffrey Baker; Bernard A. Kershner; Kathleen Curtin

Departments

From The Editor

Sinking Toward a Fertile Chaos
Robert L. Edsall

The Last Word

Diagnosis Du Jour
Zach Flake

Coding & Documentation

• Billing for Group Visits • Multiple Physicians for One Patient • Communicating With Nursing Home Staff • Laser Therapy • "Get-Acquainted" Visits • Wound Repair • E Codes as Secondary Diagnoses • Telephone Counseling

News & Trends

• Medicare Proposes Substantial Changes to Physician Fee Schedule • Physician Income Declines Between 1995 and 2003 • Health Plans Reverse Troubling Payment Policies • Court Tosses Out Suit Against Health Plans

Practice Pearls

• Simplify Your Phone Service • Initiating Background Checks on Potential Employees • Remind Patients to Get A1C Checks • Manage by Walking Around • Host a Tailgate With Drug Reps • Encourage Vacations • Follow up With Your Patients • Create Templates for Study Orders

Letters

• Family Medicine vs. Retail Medicine

• Reinventing the Specialty, Continued

• The Health Plan's Job

• The Pros and Cons of Sole Proprietorship

• Dressing the Part

About The CME Quiz

AAFP members and FPM subscribers can take the CME quiz online at http://www.aafp.org/fpmquiz.

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