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MARCH 1998

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FEATURES

    Change: Inevitable But Manageable

    William Jackson Epperson

    Do you feel you're losing control over your practice? Read how one family physician has learned to manage both planned and unexpected changes.

    EDITOR'S PAGE

      Just Being a Doctor

      Robert L. Edsall

      “Just let us be doctors!” The cry that begins our cover story this month probably calls forth echoes from the minds of many readers. Can anyone “just be a doctor” these days? Apparently not where managed care plays a large role, as the cover story suggests. And certainly not...

      EDITORIAL

        Variety: The Spice of Covered Lives

        William R. Phillips

        The current mantra of the Continuous Quality Improvement movement is, “Variation is the enemy of quality.” The gurus of CQI would warn that such a slogan simplifies their science, but many managed care organizations seem to operate on the principle that there is one best way...

        LETTERS

        REIMBURSEMENT STRATEGIES

          The Truth and Consequences of Private Contracting

          Kent J. Moore

          To liberally paraphrase Winston Churchill, never have so many been so confused by something designed to affect so few. The “something” in question is the private-contracting provision of the 1997 Balanced Budget Act (BBA). That provision has been misunderstood, misinterpreted...

            Coding an Annual Assessment for a Nursing Home Patient

            Charles S. Colodny

            The situation: You check in on a patient who is a resident at the local nursing home. A year has passed since he became a resident, and it is time to conduct his annual assessment. The patient has multiple chronic health problems: Alzheimer-type dementia (AD); stable,...

            MONITOR

              MONITOR

              AMA seeks more input about documentation guidelines | Company takes new tiered approach to drug co-payments | Business groups trying to stop patients' rights bills | Minorities lead drop in applications to U.S. medical schools | Health benefit costs expected to rise, despite...

              OFFICE SUITE

                How to Evaluate Health Insurance Plans for Your Practice

                Bruce Mathews

                You and your staff no doubt spend a lot of time keeping straight the details of your patients' health insurance plans and trying to collect from them. As you know well, some are certainly better than others. But your patients aren't the only ones you want to have good health...

                  The First Rule of Speechmaking: Keep Your Audience Awake

                  Ellen J. Belzer

                  As speakers, family physicians are in demand. Community groups ask you to help them understand our complex, ever-changing health care system. A local high school requests your insights on the medical profession at “career day.” A residency program needs an inservice on...

                  MARKETING TIPS

                    Education and Promotion: A Winning Combination

                    Wanda Kelsey-Mendez

                    Effective promotion of your practice is as close as the brochures on arthritis, breast cancer, diabetes and other topics displayed in your waiting room or the handout on childhood vaccines that you give to parents. Patient education is not only an important service to your...

                    THE SALARIED FP

                      Salaried Physicians: Managers in Disguise

                      C. Carolyn Thiedke

                      Regina Santos, MD, has a meeting this morning with the nurses in her practice. She has been dissatisfied with patient flow; she feels that the nurses' processes are inefficient and cause unnecessary delays. She has given the matter a lot of thought and wants to propose a way...

                      FP STATS

                        Managed Care Smiles on Primary Care

                        Could managed care actually be boosting the incomes of primary care physicians? That's the story from a recent Ernst & Young survey, which found that primary care physicians averaged $136,000 last year in managed care environments, 5 percent more than their counterparts...



                        Disclosure

                        All editors and editorial advisory board members in a position to control content for this activity, FPM journal, are required to disclose any relevant financial relationships. View disclosures.



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