JUNE 1999

With drug costs likely to increase significantly in the next decade, it's more important than ever to know when to say ‘no’ to risk contracts.

By working together, these part-time physicians are meeting their patients' needs — and their own.

Among the key ingredients are physician ownership, a strong strategic direction and a commitment to high-quality patient care.

We try to make writing for FPM as easy and as rewarding as possible.

Here are ideas you can use to replace your burnout with the joy you once felt for practicing family medicine.

Suppose for a moment that your diagnostic toolbox had one more tool in it — some kind of pyrometer designed for measuring emotional temperature, with dial markings ranging from “Life is cool” to “Warning! Burnout imminent” and a red zone way over at the right marked “Smoldering…

P.D.Q. Bach put it best: “Loud is good, fast is better, loud and fast is best.” The push for bigger, fancier, higher-tech clinics (or cars or houses or anything else) seems inherent in the human constitution. “Best” and “quality” are rather slippery words that tend to mean…

What may seem an extra expense at first glance could actually save you money in the long run.

Finding the right fracture code ... | ... and determining what it covers | Home health care paperwork | Coding for emergency services | Codes for a family-member visit | Separate same-day services | Coding for blood glucose testing

Collective bargaining advances in Texas, Illinois | Public confidence in medicine continues to rise | Seniors not receiving covered preventive services | Opposition to use of hospitalists grows | MedPartners continues exit from PPM business | FDA seeks to reduce accidental drug…

The disgruntled patient | Staying visible | No-shows | An ED alternative

The quality of your care is linked to the quality of your care process. A practice ‘blueprint’ can show you ways to improve.

You may be surprised to know that “report cards” on you or your practice soon could be available to the public via the World Wide Web. But given the increasingly pervasive reach of the Internet, it really was only a matter of time.

More and more doctors are using the Internet to improve efficiency, gain quick access to information and communicate with patients and colleagues.

Getting paid for administrative work | Confidentiality of diagnoses | Office manager salaries

Physicians need to learn to read between the lines of compensation plans to determine their true value.

He's happier now than he was when he started practicing medicine 28 years ago. His secret? Play the hand you're dealt.