• FEATURES

    Managed Care Administrative Tasks: Cutting the Red Tape

    Mara Reichman

    Your job is difficult enough without the barriers of managed care. Are you doing what you can to reduce the hassles?

    Sports Physicals: A Coding Conundrum

    Cindy Hughes

    Here’s how to make sure you get paid for this common and valuable service.

    Taming the Sample Closet

    Mitchell L. Cohen

    Take control of your samples before they take control of you.

    How to Improve the Quality of Waived Tests

    Barbara Mitchell, Cheryl Murray

    You’ll make better medical decisions if you make sure you’re getting reliable results from your in-office lab.

    Grade Your Payers: The AAFP/FPM Survey of Physicians’ Experiences With Third-Party Payers

    More and more health plans are grading physicians on their performance. Now, it’s time for physicians to grade their health plans.

    Get Ready for the Revised CMS-1500 Claim Form

    Cindy Hughes

    Now is the time to get your National Provider Identifier number and update your billing system.

    FROM THE EDITOR

    Hand Your Health Plans a Report Card

    Robert Edsall

    Here’s your chance to say what you think about your payers – and make your words count.

    LETTERS

    Documenting away a malpractice suit

    G. Dan Mingea

    The collections treadmill

    Janet Beck Jakupcak

    Prescribing decisions should consider cost

    Robert B. Morgan

    Dress like professionals

    Wm. Jackson Epperson

    Diagnosis du jour

    Explaining the benefits of vaccinations

    Christian T.K.-H. Stadtländer

    Clarification

    NEWS TRENDS

    NEWS & TRENDS

    Physicians brace for Medicare pay cut in 2007 | Docs get raises while groups fight losses

    CODING & DOCUMENTATION

    CODING & DOCUMENTATION

    Cindy Hughes

    Calculating face-to-face time | Billing for medication refills | Preventive and E/M services at the same visit | Discontinued procedures | Neonatal initial critical care | Defining emergency office services | Billing for nutritionist services | Vaccine administration |...

    PRACTICE PEARLS

    PRACTICE PEARLS

    Beth G. Hodges, Nate Hitzeman

    Offer evening hours | Take your staff to lunch | Seek performance feedback | Conduct fire drills | Encourage staff to identify problems

    THE LAST WORD

    Comfort Always

    William E. Cayley, Jr.

    Our most important role as a physician is being a comforter to the sick.



    Disclosure

    All editors and editorial advisory board members in a position to control content for this activity, FPM journal, are required to disclose any relevant financial relationships. View disclosures.



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