SEPTEMBER 1998

Here's how to test your practice's system and get the help you need.

Where managed care may seem designed to thwart patients, demand management seeks to engage them.

You don't have to spend a lot on bells and whistles. Instead, put the principles of managing demand to work in your practice.

The easy, affordable demand management strategy might also be the most effective.

Since Family Practice Management exists to make life easier for you in a number of ways, we're eager to know what's currently giving you a hard time. If it's something that expert advice could help, we may be able to find the expert (sometimes even here within the AAFP) and…

Effective mission statements | Charging for medical record copies

Are you having trouble collecting debts from patients who pay for their own care? Considering the pressures of today's health care market, you need to collect all fees owed you, even those owed by what may be a comparatively small group of your patients.

Medicare fraud and abuse investigators have found that, under the guise of reassignment, some unscrupulous clinics have billed for services that weren't performed using the billing numbers of physicians who were no longer affiliated with them. In such cases, physicians have…

Documenting decision making for a new problem | Routine venipuncture | Intrathecal anesthesia | Prolonged labor and a C-section | Lab panel codes

Aetna, physicians embattled again | Primary care recruitment slows; family practice remains on top | Hospitalists' care shown to lower costs | How to help seniors with questions about Medicare+Choice

While performing a flight physical on an airline pilot, I noticed his blood pressure was 8 mm Hg over the acceptable limit for certification. The patient had no history of blood pressure problems, so I asked the nurse to recheck his pressure after a few minutes. Still, his…

Every health care organization has a board of directors (sometimes known as a board of trustees or governing body) that sets policy, hires the chief executive officer (CEO), sets the annual budget, approves large purchases, plans for the future and bears legal accountability…

Family physicians average 52 hours per week in practice, according to a recent AAFP survey. Of that, 42 hours are spent in direct patient care; 34 hours are spent in direct patient care in the office setting. The survey also found that family physicians average 96 office visits…