Journal of Medical Practice Management : MPM

Managing a lazy employee can be a huge source of frustration for a medica practice manager. It can also be baffling, especially when the manager is highly self-motivated and cannot relate to an employee's penchant for laziness. This article defines laziness and explores the most likely reasons behind an employee's lazy behavior. It suggests that medical practice managers look to their owr management prior to taking disciplinary action against a lazy employee, anc provides specific guidance. It then offers practice managers 10 strategies for dealing effectively with lazy employees and 15 do's and don'ts for them to share with employees who are dealing with a lazy coworker...

You think you are an employer at will. Think again! This article discusses how employers too often create binding contracts of which they are completely unaware-until the employee or former employee seeks to enforce the "contract" and collect on the liabilities the organization did not know it had. Such lack of awareness may lead to the creation of full-blown contracts of employment, or a variety of mini-contracts that can be enforced for smaller, specific issues, or huge liability for wages and commissions...

In light of the ever-increasing cost of medical care, coupled with growing patient responsibility-and, as a result, growing bad debt-healthcare organizations are working harder than ever to reduce costs and improve collections in order to maintain a healthy revenue cycle. One major factor influencing your medical practice's success that is often overlooked is the culture of the organization and the engagement and quality of the team that upholds it. Receivables Management Partners has developed the C.A.R.E...

The operating room (OR) management literature tends to view management problems as having finite solutions and assumes that equilibrium exists in the intricate encounters that occur every day. In this article, we review complexity theory and assess its applicability to the strategic, tactical, and operational issues facing OR managers. By building on complexity theory and its assumptions, we also show that as complex systems, ORs resemble high-reliability organizations more than they resemble ultra-safe organizations...

Finding and getting a job can be a challenging process. Knowing more about job search methods and application techniques may increase your chances of success. Your job search will be more effective if you first take the time to create a plan and avoid the very common mistakes we list in this article. Also included is a list of steps you can take now.

The pace of change in the field of medical practice management is unprecedented. Five major trends are affecting the business of healthcare: quality as a criterion for reimbursement; regulatory controls on fees and services; consumer influence on healthcare payments; full disclosure of claims data (i.e., transpar- ency); and increases in active patient load per physician. Successful practice administrators must remain well-informed about these trends in order to guide their practices toward modifications that will allow them to continue to flourish...

Physician burnout rates have increased across most specialties betweer 2011 and 2014, and there may be an association with financial metrics. WE examined the ordinal ranking of operating margins for each physician spe. cialty from the University of Vermont Medical Center and the correspond. ing physician burnout ranking according to previously published data Physician specialties were categorized into one of four groups accordinc to high or low operating margin and burnout. Radiology, dermatology, otolaryngology, emergency medicine, family medicine, anesthesia, anc neurology were consistently categorized by high operating margin and high burnout rank...

The shift from fee-for-service to value-based reimbursement models represents one of the biggest billing transitions and greatest financial opportunities for physician practices. On the heels of ICD-10 adoption and against the backdrop of new digital infrastructure and workflows, practices face a new journey toward the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) and the Quality Payment Program. Knowledge of how to traverse the path, navigate the intersections, and optimize the opportunities of healthcare payment reform is essential...

The demand for healthcare and the need for healthcare workers are expected to keep growing. Practice managers are taking on more autonomous roles to best fill employment demands. As physicians take on more entrepreneurial roles in their practice, practice managers are acting as intrapreneurs to further health-care innovation while adding more value to the practice.

Just a few years ago, the advances in technology in the medical office were the electronic medical record, a website, and electronic prescription writing. Today those are necessary requirements for any medical practice, regardless of size. Most large practices now have patient portals, e-mail reminders and e-mail newsletters, and automated patient appointment reminders. Now small practices also can have access to affordable technology that improves the efficiency and productivity of the office practice and also helps patients live healthier lives...

This article discusses the dichotomy between the need for physician leaders and the need for alternative pathways for medical licensure for nonpracticing physicians who seek leadership roles, including the possibility of a national solution to the problem. Currently, no nationwide licensing standards or requirements exist for clinically inactive physician leaders, and states have different requirements and procedures for licensure. In many states, physician leaders who no longer practice medicine may be held to the same standards of medical licensure as practicing physicians, which may require board recertification or enrollment in formal "reentry" programs and other activities that may seem unreasonable or irrelevant to the roles and responsibilities of physicians in leadership positions...

The message is clear-the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 represents a complete paradigm shift in our healthcare system, and its implementation will span several years. Consider it the shift from paying doctors using a traditional fee-for-service reimbursement model to one that pays according to the value that they provide to their patients, where "value" is defined by participation in several health IT and quality reporting programs. For many providers, this shift in thinking and their way of practicing medicine will be one of the greatest challenges of their career...

A well-planned and focused daily huddle meeting with your employees can greatly impact your medical practice team's ability to work cohesively, create a seamless flow, increase efficiency, reduce stress, and provide exceptional patient care. This article explores these and other benefits of morning huddles, including how medical practice managers can use morning huddles to build and foster team morale. It offers 12 practical tips for creating and using morning huddles, including a sample huddle agenda and recommended logistics for holding a huddle meeting...

Telehealth, the delivery of health-related services and information via digital communication technologies, is a rapidly emerging, innovative, cost-effective and efficient way to deliver healthcare. There are three main types of telehealth: store and forward; remote monitoring; and real-time interactive services. Smartphone applications, or apps, that connect a provider with a patient, known as "connective health apps," fall under this umbrella of telehealth and can function in all three of the categories. As the Affordable Care Act legislates to improve quality, lower costs, and expand coverage, connective health apps are an important aspect of the Act...

In 2010, with the passage of the Affordable Care Act, Congress created an obligation for healthcare providers to return overpayments that they receive within 60 days, or risk False Claims Act exposure. This year, CMS finally published regulations that clarify this statutory language. The regulations, however, impose strict standards on healthcare providers, wherein constructive knowledge can be imputed to a healthcare provider if that provider failed to exercise reasonable diligence. This article explores the new regulations, examines the practical implications of these new standards, and discusses the risks providers may face if they fail to engage in ongoing compliance efforts...

Physician practices have historically had difficulty benchmarking their services because there are limits to the transfer of payment information among healthcare providers. Using standard analysis tools (e.g., Microsoft Excel) and data from CMS, we outline and provide a detailed example of how a physician practice can benchmark one revenue stream within its local geographic market. The data cover patients serviced under original Medicare from 2012 to 2014. In today's healthcare environment, with changing payment methodologies, understanding the revenue streams for a physician practice is essential to a practice's overall financial health...

A practice manager wears many hats. He or she is responsible for the smooth running of the practice and all that that entails. Practice managers often come in early, stay late, and are involved in all aspects of running the practice. The question is, does the physician realize how much his or her manager does and how valuable the manager is? As a practice manager, it is important to meet with the physician, share ideas, and discuss the revenue and profits to ensure a successful practice.

Physicians practicing medicine in today's ever-shifting and advancing medical world are at risk for malpractice liability. The introduction of a vast array of telecommunication media into the physician world is creating a growing area of malpractice risk for physicians. This article explores the new malpractice considerations facing physicians in our constantly evolving digital world. Although they are novel and just on the horizon, these risks are real, and it is prudent for every practicing physician to consider them carefully...

The passage of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act in Apri 2015 set the stage for the Part B reimbursement changes set to take place in 2019 based on the 2017 reporting period in relation to performance within core Medicare initiatives through the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) These changes will reflect the new "fee-for-performance" approach to reimbursements through individualized changes to an individual or practice group's conversion factor used in the RVU reimbursement calculation...

In recent decades, the number of small medical practices has decreased, allowing for larger conglomerates to form. Although the literature includes several studies looking at physician productivity in small practices as opposed to larger groups, almost none have been performed in recent years. This study looks at a consolidated urology practice that has combined many physicians from many smaller groups, and how it is performing in terms of physician productivity. Productivity measures from each physician's initial years in the larger practice were analyzed, demonstrating that the physicians in the larger practice become significantly more productive during their time in the practice...