Managing Your Practice

Putting the tools you need at your fingertips

Whether you’re a solo family medicine practice owner, a member of a multispecialty group practice, or an employee of a large hospital or health system, you want a working knowledge of what it takes to run a medical practice. Managing a family medicine practice, in particular, can cover a lot of territory, so being able to draw on a reliable collection of practice resources can bolster your efficiency, raise the level of care you provide, and greatly enhance your professional satisfaction.

Administrative Simplification

Administrative tasks steal clinical time and contribute to burnout. Tap into resources to help you take back that time and safeguard your well-being. Learn techniques, technologies, and practice transformation solutions to reduce burden.

Compliance for Your Practice

Steer clear of penalties by staying on top of four key federal regulations that focus on avoiding fraud, abuse, and privacy violations—the Anti-kickback Statute, the Stark Law, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and the Information Blocking Rule. You can also simplify compliance with HIPAA by learning how to apply for a National Provider Identifier, and by using customizable Notice of Privacy Practices and Business Associate Agreements templates. 

If you operate a laboratory in your practice, you'll want to stay up to date on the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) of 1998. Keep your lab in line with all the CLIA  standards: lab classifications, waived and provider-performed microscopy tests, changing laboratory status, personnel requirements, physician office laboratory director duties, quality assurance, procedure manual preparation, testing compliance checklists, inspections, and record-keeping. And remember, when it’s time to seek or renew your clinical lab accreditation, AAFP members receive savings on COLA programs and services, plus other benefits. This section also includes information regarding  Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA).

Innovation Labs

The AAFP Innovation Laboratory partners with industry to drive innovation with the latest proven technologies to optimize the family medicine experience. This includes cloud, artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning, and voice and mobile technologies. 

Practice Finances

So many things affect how much revenue your practice generates. The way your choice of practice model puts a value on the care you deliver may be the most important. Some other factors that help ensure you’re fairly and equitably paid for the services you deliver include accurate coding that fully captures the services you provide and the Medicare options that are available to you. Even if you’re not responsible for everyday business operations, it’s still a good idea to understand the concepts that contribute to your practice's financial success, like revenue cycle management, days in accounts receivable, adjusted calculation rate, and denial rate. As a member, you can access topic-based practice management videos, information, and best practice tips for help.

If you're exploring financial concepts because you're starting a practice, this comprehensive workbook offers pointers on considerations like expenses, risks, and revenue assessment. If you're thinking of closing or selling a practice you own, you can learn about financial details and deadlines you’re likely to encounter.

Quality Measures

When caring for patients is your life’s work, quality is everything—and you want to measure it accurately. Learn how to identify and implement quality measures that deliver reliable results, and stay up to date on the common measures that produce information you can act on.

From there, you'll be ready to move into a more structured quality improvement system—one that lets you consistently evaluate and leverage feedback from the measurement process to create meaningful practice change and gauge your success.

Team-based Care Operations

Build and sustain successful teams with practice-focused advice on topics like billing and coding, supervision and legal requirements, and optimizing care.

Telehealth and Telemedicine

Learn how to get started in telehealth, improve your use of telehealth in your practice, and get medical codes to help you bill appropriately and ensure sustainable revenue.

Additional Practice Resources