• FEATURES

    Is There a Physician Union in Your Future?

    Robert Carlson

    By joining forces with unions, some family physicians are hoping to overcome the unrealistic demands of managed care.

    Nine Keys to Better Recruiting

    Chester H. Fox

    You'll get professional results with the author's time-tested tips.

    Strengthening Relationships With Your Patients

    You know many of your patients by name. You are concerned about their total health and well-being. And you've earned their trust and respect.

    Getting Patients Off Hold and Online

    John Spicer

    Using e-mail and the Web to connect with patients may sound like a hassle, but it can make patients' lives easier — and yours, too.

    Measuring Patient Satisfaction: How to Do It and Why to Bother

    Brandi White

    A well-designed survey can help you improve your practice. The key? ‘Keep it simple,’ and act on what you learn.

    How Does Your Practice Sound on the Phone?

    Lyndia Flanagan

    Many patients derive their impression of your practice from telephone contacts. Here are tips for doing a better job.

    Why I Fired My Family Doctor

    X Patient

    This patient's experience teaches lessons that at least one FP apparently hasn't learned.

    FPM Articles on Patient Relations

    For tips on conducting efficient office visits, enhancing physician-patient communications and more, look to the archives of Family Practice Management.

    EDITOR'S PAGE

    Redesigned With You in Mind

    Robert L. Edsall

    If you have already read or flipped through this fifth-anniversary issue, you'll see that the changes announced on the cover are more than cover deep. We haven't just redesigned FPM; we've stripped it down and rebuilt it.

    EDITORIAL

    Tools for Today's Family Physician: The FPM Curriculum

    Marc Rivo

    The AAFP launched Family Practice Management during the 1993 debate over national health care reform, giving it the mission of helping family physicians adapt to changing times. At the time, perhaps not everyone recognized its importance. Some family physicians yet untouched...

    LETTERS

    Managed care vs. MSAs

    William M. Fuchs

    On MDs and DOs

    Gail Dudley

    Dubious comfort from Medicare

    William J. Epperson

    Patient education

    Daniel Parker

    Into the wilds of the Web

    Frans Koning

    GETTING PAID

    Three New Year's Resolutions From Medicare

    Kent J. Moore

    When it comes to updates from HCFA, two pieces of good news out of three isn't bad.

    CODING & DOCUMENTATION

    Coding and Documentation

    Kent J. Moore, Leigh Ann Henry

    Coding fractional units of service | Documenting medical necessity for tests | Coding tests for therapeutic levels | Substitutions for bulleted exam elements | Same-day annual exam and flex sig | Consultation vs. ED visit | Coding telephone calls | Coding a sports physical |...

    MONITOR

    Monitor

    Y2K update: Millennium bug isn't just HCFA's problem | HMO lets doctors choose referral physicians | A matter of trust | Groups call for patient privacy improvements | National health care spending slows ... | Physicians fare well, despite managed care | Four family...

    PRACTICE DIARY

    Practice Diary

    Sanford J. Brown

    E-mail | Old charts | Hands on | Staff appreciation | Office aesthetics

    ASK FPM

    Ask FPM

    Kent J. Moore, Phillip J. Goldberg, Constance H. Baker, Therese Goldsmith, Ryan D. Wallace

    Medicaid and “teaching physician” rules | PCPs and Stark II | Who can sign your prescriptions? | Tracking ED use

    IMPROVING PATIENT CARE

    Are Your Patients Getting the Preventive Services They Need?

    L. Casey Chosewood

    Preventive services are an important part of primary care. Few physicians would dispute that. But if someone were to ask you today how well your practice is performing in the area of preventive care, what would you say? Do you know for certain that your patients are getting...

    COMPUTERS

    Make Your Presentations More Powerful

    Thomas G. Savel

    Traditional slides and overheads just don't grab attention like a computerized presentation can.

    Our Featured Web Site: MEDLINE

    David C. Kibbe

    Since June 1997, the National Library of Medicine (NLM) has made its MEDLINE database —more than 9 million references to articles published in 3,800 biomedical journals —available free of charge on the World Wide Web. And with MEDLINE online, searching the medical literature...

    SALARIED FP

    Medalia: Why We Unionized

    James D. Vandermeer

    The physicians of this health system saw organizing as the only way to make their voices heard.

    BALANCING ACT

    Six Ways to Make Play a Priority

    Pamela J. Vaccaro

    What on earth ever made you think that all work and no play was any way to live?



    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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