Articles
Working Together: Communities of Practice in Family Medicine
By sharing knowledge, concerns and passions, family physicians can use communities of practice as tools for change.
Preparing Your Office for a Medical Emergency
It needn't be expensive or time-consuming to prepare your office to respond.
Are You Ready for Maintenance of Certification?
The new board recertification process has garnered mixed reviews from family physicians. Find out how it will impact you.
From the Editor
Maintenance of Certification
Controversial? Sure. Flawed? Arguably. Doomed? Probably not.
Opinion
How Much Paperwork Is Too Much?
When excessive paperwork threatens the quality of patient care, it’s time for physicians to put down their pens and take a stand.
Letters
Getting Paid
CPT 2005: Another Case of Update Now or Pay Later
A new year brings new and revised codes for several of the services you provide.
Coding & Documentation
CODING & DOCUMENTATION
Prolonged services: the codes vs. the modifier | 99000 and in-office tests | Pap smear specimen | Splinter removal | Dexamethasone and Xylocaine injections | Casting and follow-up | Coding hyperbaric oxygen therapy
Monitor
MONITOR
MedPAC drafts recommendations to improve Medicare payments | Physicians get little help with Medicare questions | Quality, safety revisited on anniversary of landmark IOM report
Improving Patient Care
A Sure Way to Improve Your Dictation
The key is to dictate your notes before you leave the exam room.
Ask FPM
ASK FPM
Breaking up with Medicare | Protecting patients’ info over the phone | Coupons come with consequences
Balancing Act
The Art of Coping With Change
Whoever said that “nothing is constant except change” was right on target.