Running the Office

February is Heart Month. This advisory from CMS last week has some important advice and tips, and guidance on available Medicare benefits.

Internal controls are a basic and essential management tool to help insure that revenue and expenses are properly recorded. The bigger problem is not employee theft, but rather simple errors in counting and...

Firing people is usually a difficult task. What if you have a nice person who works hard, is on time, is loyal - but just lacks in some key areas? What now? Do...

IBM today announced the introduction of software that can link personal medical devices to personal health records, such as Google Health. Here is my take on this critical advance, and the text of...

Sen Tom Daschle had to withdraw his name for nomination for DHHS Secretary this morning because of his failure to report significant in kind income that was worth over $100,000 in taxes, penalties...

The House this evening passed President Obama's economic stimulus package, which includes $20 billion for healthcare IT. Now it's time to get serious -there's real money on the table.

What IT can do is pull together, sort, organize and present data in a format and delivery mode that turns the data into information.

Washington Post columnist Dr. David Brown says the unsayable: healthcare costs will continue to grow, and that "we are on a collision course between our wish to live longer and our capacity to...

MGMA has made patient safety an primary focus over the past few years. For your reference, here is an important new program announced over the weekend.

No sooner had I posted a discussion of the WHO surgical checklist study, and a reference to the success of the airline industry in reducing accidents, came word that an Airbus jet had...

A WHO study in eight cities around the world, published in the NEJM today, found that surgical checklists can reduce deaths and complications by one-third.

A recent study from the Center for Health Systems Change (HSC) found that only a small set of Americans have used retail clinics. But clinics are located in only 30 states and some...

There are major changes in the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act.

The SBA publication "The Advocate" published an article highlighting the updates to the Americans for Disasbilites Act (ADA) and the Family and Medical Leave Act(FMLA). These are important rules that all practices need...

CMS reported today that healthcare spending continued to rise in 2006 at a rate of 6.7 percent, a rate that continues to be faster than consumer inflation or economic growth. Prescription drug growth...

New voluntary rules from the pharmaceutical industry's trade association ban swag, "fancy" dinners, resort meetings and the like. I'm going to miss those pens - some were pretty cool.

CMS posted several announcements on Friday concerning flu shots and Medicare preventive services and extended benefits. I've published them here for your easy reference.