Jun 2006

Features

New Drugs: How to Decide Which Ones to Prescribe

Philip J. Mohler

Improve Your ICD-9 Coding With Voice-Recognition Macros

Dale J. Kliner

Precertification, Denials and Appeals: Reducing the Hassles

Anthony N. Akosa

Getting Off the Collections Treadmill

Kristen Dillon

Don't Be a Target for a Malpractice Suit

Edward G. Zurad

Departments

From the Editor

34 Pieces of Advice Worth Repeating
Robert L. Edsall

Letters

• Reinventing the Specialty

Practice Pearls

• Identify Patients Who Need a Checkup • Remember to Consider 99214 • Reconsider Records Requests • Create an Electronic Filing Cabinet • Build Staff Morale

Coding & Documentation

• 99211 for a Blood Pressure Check • OB Care Before and After a C-Section • Counseling When the Patient Is Not Present • Diagnosis Codes for Medicare's Initial Exam

News & Trends

• CMS Proposes Edits of More Than 10,000 CPT, HCPCS Codes • Small but Growing Numbers of Physicians Drop Health Plans • Colonoscopy Guideline Could Aid FPs Seeking Privileges • United Tests Program to Pay Patients' Share of Medical Bills • Who Has the Best Job in America? • "Steep Decline" in Competition Benefits Health Insurers • Researchers Examine What Makes a Small Medical Group Exemplary

The Last Word

Dressed to Ill
Bobby J. Newbell

About the CME Quiz

AAFP members and FPM subscribers can take the CME quiz online at http://www.aafp.org/fpmquiz.

Classifieds