• FEATURES

    How to Use Scheduling Data to Improve Efficiency

    Lee Buttz

    The first step is simply to take a closer look at your appointment book.

    Using Bilingual Staff Members as Interpreters

    Javier F. Sevilla Mátir, Deanna R. Willis

    If you don't have access to a professionally trained interpreter, these tips will help you maximize the resources you do have available.

    Should You Charge Your Patients for “Free” Services?

    Leigh Ann Backer

    Some family physicians are charging for refills, forms - and even phone calls.

    EDITOR’S PAGE

    Exploring the Limits of an Insane System

    Robert L. Edsall

    By charging patients for refills, phone calls, e-mails and more, some family physicians are looking for the future.

    LETTERS

    Patients are customers too

    Waiting room entertainment and copyright laws

    GETTING PAID

    Billing for Your Work With Surgeons

    Kent J. Moore

    Getting paid for preoperative and postoperative care needn't be a headache.

    CODING & DOCUMENTATION

    CODING & DOCUMENTATION

    Kent J. Moore

    99211 & immunizations | “Self-limited, minor” problems | After office hours | Multiple procedures at the same visit | HCPCS codes for Nubain & Phenergan | Benadryl injection

    MONITOR

    MONITOR

    Backlog in Medicare enrollment processing continues | Supreme Court limits lawsuits against HMOs | Twenty states in crisis | Health care spending slows | Paying for performance

    Information From Your Family Doctor

    ¿Qué hacer si necesito un interprete?

    Download in PDF format.

    IMPROVING PATIENT CARE

    Sticking the Landing: How to Create a Clean End to a Medical Visit

    Michelle E. Lutton, null PsyD

    Seven skills will help you end the medical visit with greater satisfaction for both you and your patient.

    PRACTICE DIARY

    PRACTICE DIARY

    Sanford J. Brown

    Role models | Horses vs. zebras V

    ASK FPM

    ASK FPM

    George Conomikes, JosephE. Scherger, KentJ. Moore, JeffreyB. Miller

    Billing costs | Online consultations outside your patient base | Documenting E/M services with checklists | Delayed dictation

    BALANCING ACT

    Managing Family Dynamics

    J. LeBron McBride

    Unseen family phantoms can accompany you and your patients into the exam room.



    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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