If you make a sizable charitable contribution before year-end, your deduction will be worth more than if you wait five years. If your charitable gifts are substantial, acting now can make a big difference.

Installation of a HIPAA-compliant software system may actually help a practice reduce its administrative costs. Two of the principal areas of a physician's practice affected by HIPAA are the practice's billing software and practice management software.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has been busy issuing regulations, compliance directives and guidance surrounding two separate issues: new requirements aimed at preventing needlestick injuries and revised regulations dealing with recordkeeping of workplace injuries and illnesses. OSHA's latest compliance directive clarifies how these separate initiatives will interact, and physicians in private practice will be substantially affected.

The OIG Work Plan provides health care providers with an annual warning as to the areas in which the OIG will be focusing in the upcoming year.

It is not realistic to extrapolate five years of investment performance and assume that a new long-term trend has been created. On the flip side, it is not prudent to extrapolate the past two years of negative performance and assume the stock market no longer makes sense.

The process of determining the fair market value of corporate stock is an imprecise science. Thrown into the fire of complex litigation and the scrutiny of federal and state taxing authorities, the process becomes incredibly controversial.

While the physician may withdraw from the physician/patient relationship under certain circumstances, the physician cannot just say "no" to providing the patient further care.

The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 has made numerous favorable changes to the retirement plan laws that provide significant opportunities for physicians.

While the behind-the-scenes work of integrating staff may not be easy, the end result is worth the effort.

The promotional activities of drug and device companies--and the responses of health care professionals to these promotions--are under close scrutiny from enforcement agencies. Physicians and hospitals should acquaint themselves with the various initiatives under way and review their own practices against the ever-stricter standards.