MARCH 2006

Delivering top-notch care requires more than individual skill and motivation.

With a thoughtful approach, you can maintain your focus on the patient.

In less than a year, this practice cut its accounts receivable in half by changing its approach to billing.

This group overcame staffing complexities on the road to open access.

This new way of paying for health care could realign the doctor-patient relationship and reduce the role of third-party payers, but only if it’s done right.

You can turn practice tips into money and fame (well, a little of each, anyway).

Family physicians have become the arbiters of disability, and it’s a tough job.

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Letters

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Aetna makes it official: no more bundling of E/M codes | Medicare pilot uses care coordinators to manage patients' chronic disease | Internists predict “impending collapse of primary care” | EHR adoption could be slower than expected | FPs implement new approaches to care…

Hospital admission following an office visit | When PAs perform minor surgical procedures | Emergency office services | ICD-9 code for tick removal | Immunizations at a preventive visit | Performing and interpreting X-rays

Create a coding resource guide | Benchmark for success | Allot salaries and distributions correctly | Promote professionalism | Reduce your malpractice risk

With a little soul-searching, you can conquer boredom in your life and work.