Physicians News Health news for doctors and patients.

Even the most honest and scrupulous of practices can find themselves answering questions regarding their billing for services. It is more important than ever that physicians try to avoid any allegations of personal financial benefit, and even fraud or abuse, by appropriately responding when questions about their billing arise

In response to a crisis of cost and availability, a number of alternative risk mechanisms are emerging, including a domestic reciprocal exchange, risk retention groups (RRGs) and captives. How do these alternatives compare to traditional insurance, and what should physicians expect from participation in an alternative risk mechanism?

Taxation makes qualified plans one of the worst ways to transfer wealth to heirs. So, what are your options?

Taxation makes qualified plans one of the worst ways to transfer wealth to heirs. So, what are your options?

Three phases are involved in building your practice through quality customer service: developing your customer network, maintaining quality customer service and evaluating your practice's effectiveness at customer relations.

A physician entrepreneur must be sure to take the necessary steps to protect his or her employment and intellectual property rights, develop a sound strategic business plan and work proactively with the FDA and payors to help ensure the medical device is positioned property to make an impact in the marketplace.

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) has been around since the 1930s, yet misconceptions about its rules persist in many medical practices. Here are some basic concepts to keep your practice on the up and up.

Your dealings with pharmaceutical companies will no longer be business as usual. The government will carefully scrutinize arrangements that have long been standard operating procedure in such relationships.

Consider a balance between the tax advantages of a 529 plan, the flexibility of a Special Purpose investment account and the benefits of a Coverdell IRA.

While HIPAA poses a compliance challenge for physicians, recent modifications to HIPAA's privacy requirements provide some clarification to assist in compliance efforts. This article briefly recaps the status of the regulations, describes a couple of the recent privacy modifications that may be helpful and suggests some compliance priorities.