Physicians News Health news for doctors and patients.

A professional's candid but carefully worded explanation of an embarrassing situation will serve him or her far better than any attempt to hide the information. At the first hint of a problem, the professional is wise to proactively seek a creative way to resolve the situation.

The implications of this decision extend far beyond the purchase price of the software and hardware. There are a wide variety of systems on the market, and it is important to identify the features you are looking for before purchasing a system.

Since the quality of your life in retirement will be determined by the quality of your long-term financial plan, it is imperative to make prudent and conservative investment choices now. Just like when you are preparing for a complex procedure, even a slight miscalculation in planning could cause you to miss your desired result by a wide margin.

If the complement of physicians is structured appropriately and the right combination of financial stability, physician leadership and management skills are present, an IPA can be an effective model for physicians and physician practices to better serve their patients and successfully work with the third-party payors in their community, and with vendors.

Gainsharing's surprise recovery came in the form of an Advisory Opinion issued by the OIG. Although the OIG reiterated its concerns regarding the potential adverse affects of gainsharing on patient care and its potential for disguising payments for referrals, it permitted the hospital and physicians to enter into the carefully structured cost-sharing arrangement proposed by the requestors.

The credentialing process should be designed to aid an MCO in choosing competent providers and to ensure providers a fair application of the selection criteria. An MCO that exercises reasonable care in credentialing and monitoring its providers reduces its risk of malpractice liability.

A physician no longer desiring full time work with on call responsibilities may still benefit the practice. The economic arrangements to make things work fairly for the parties involved can be worked out if the parties are motivated to do so.

Knowing which Medicare billing errors to disclose, when, and to whom is critical. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that any form of disclosure will be 100 percent effective in avoiding or minimizing penalties

The medical professional liability crisis, with its spiraling liability insurance costs and exorbitant jury verdicts, has sparked a renewed and vigorous effort to demand legislative action on tort reform. In Pennsylvania there have been and continue to be obstacles to the enactment of tort reform. The law in Pennsylvania presently provides little guidance and wide latitude to juries in determining damage awards.

As the disability insurance market continues to deteriorate, every physician should perform a "policy check-up" to better understand his/her policy.