June 20th 2024
This month's Legal Eagle column explores if a dermatologist can be sued for charging a fee for providing medical records in a lawsuit.
June 8th 2024
Time and the Bottom Line: New 'e-technology': How to decide if it's worth it
As physicians, we're all faced with making decisions about the purchase of new electronic technology that promises to streamline the efficiency of the practice and significantly reduce our overhead expenses. Vendors ply their products and promise us the sun and the moon, yet few office managers and even fewer physicians know how to evaluate these products.
Medicare to provide limited relief for biologic payment
Amgen has gotten Medicare to pay for limited amounts of Enbrel, the $1,000-a-month rheumatoid-arthritis drug. The coverage, tucked in the new Medicare law that covers drugs for seniors, includes some expensive biotech drugs that patients can inject themselves, such as Enbrel and a rival, Abbott Laboratories' Humira.
Defeat the opposition: five electronic essentials
In the beginning of Internet marketing, the most important aspect of the strategy was the practice website. Today, in order to capture Internet traffic and manage it, there are five necessary components, including: 1) an effective website; 2) a directory listing; 3) search engine optimization; 4) a commercial e-mail program; and 5) integration and implementation. Without these five components, a practice is missing out on the complete equation.
Overtime pay is subject to intricate regulations
You have an employee who makes a salary of $480 per week. Your practice has been busy and the employee stays 60 minutes late for a few days to catch up on paper work. You tell the employee to take off a few hours next week to compensate for staying late a few hours. You believe you are being a good employer or office manager by balancing the situation with fewer hours worked the following week.
How to Implement a Bonus Plan Based on Incentives
Does this sound familiar? Every year at Christmas time, you make a decision to provide a bonus to your employees. You check with your accountant or office manager to see what you gave last year, and you increase the amount from 5 percent to 15 percent, depending on the profitability of the practice.
How available is medical business training?
Despite the trend over the past decade for the formation of larger and larger group medical practices, more than 70 percent of dermatologists still practice in one- or two-doctor offices. For a time, young physicians shied away from becoming solo practitioners, but once again, more are considering the possibility of starting or taking over solo dermatology practitioners.
Reimbursement Achievable for Biologics in Psoriasis
The January FDA clearance of Biogen Inc.'s Amevive (alefacept) for thetreatment of moderate-to-severe chronic plaque psoriasis officially usheredin the era of biologic treatments for dermatologists. Amgen Inc.'s biologic,Enbrel (etanercept), FDA-cleared for treating psoriatic arthritis, has alsobeen prescribed (off-label) for psoriasis. Amevive, administered by IM injectionor IV infusion in the physician's office, is purchased directly from Biogenby the physician or institution while self-injected Enbrel is purchasedby the patient at the pharmacy.
Doctor-Friendly Malpractice Legislation
There are signs that House Republicans and the Bush Administration may be preparing to pull out the stops to pass malpractice reform legislation this year as a way to placate physicians who face another projected reduction in Medicare reimbursement levels next year.