Practice Management

Make sure that you are coding correctly for the instillation based on the type of drug you are using and charge separately for the drugs that are instilled.

Every urology practice faces this situation eventually: a difficult employee who demands disproportionate time and attention from management.

Storing data remotely allows for access from anywhere using the Internet, so, for example, a cloud-based EMR allows urologists in your practice to access and update charts from home or on the road using a smartphone or tablet.

Several factors are important when deciding to make the transition to an employment model with a local hospital system.

What does this all mean to the practicing urologist? Here is an overview of what to expect in the months and years ahead.

Whenever an employee leaves, you incur expenses to advertise the open position and set up and train a new employee. And, of course, there can be productivity losses in the interim.

People, whether they need their car fixed or treatment for a urologic condition, expect high-quality service, and they are disappointed when their expectations aren't met.

Academic urology can provide an array of opportunities.

For many urologists, practice finances were worse in 2011 than they were a year earlier, and few have seen improved revenues, results of an exclusive national survey indicate.

Using manufacturing principles might seem like an odd fit for your practice, but they can help your practice move more efficiently.

As has happened throughout the field of medicine over the past decade, a growing number of urologists are merging to create larger, more expansive urology practices. Here's how one newly merged practice stayed on track during the merger process.

If you're like many urologists, managing collections is becoming an increasingly important-and none-too-pleasant- aspect of running your practice's business.

There is certainly a perception that urologists are consolidating into larger and larger organizations, as well as an implication that the small practice model is no longer economically viable. Yet urologist John E. Bertini, Jr, MD, has been able to start, grow, and maintain a small, successful independent practice in downtown Houston for 25 years.

To meet the challenges of a changing specialty, urologists across the country have organized into large, comprehensive integrated practices, often including physicians from other specialties, to deliver the highest quality care and service to patients with urologic diseases and conditions.

Knowing current urologist salaries at a hospital or deciding how much to pay a new urologist joining a group practice can be difficult whether you're the applicant or the hiring physician. Several different compensation models exist, each with their own benefits and drawbacks.

Correcting even one or two inefficiencies around your office can allow you to take back time-and money.

You probably know the financial bottom line of your practice, but how well do you understand just how you got there? To know, it's essential to periodically review your service mix.

There is a lot we can do to improve our practices' efficiency and productivity. One of the simplest methods is to decrease the no-show rate, a problem that affects most medical practices.

Hiring a friend is usually not a good idea, because it can cause more problems in your practice than it solves.

Urologists and other health care providers now need to consider whether to participate in the federal government's new accountable care organization program, finalized in mid-October as a way to help reduce Medicare costs while improving patient care.

By the end of this article, you should better understand the VA practice model as it relates to the practice of urology.

Those of us who are not employed by a hospital or other entity remain small business men/women, and therefore need to be as attentive to the business aspect of our practices as we are to the clinical care we offer our patients.

An organization's mission is more than its day-to-day activities. Writing a new mission statement can be a refreshing opportunity to step away from the busywork and refocus on what matters most.

Setting boundaries and appropriate processes for handling e-mail correspondence with patients can address many of the concerns urologists have about e-mailing patients.

In most urology practices, patients will spend more time with the office staff than with the physician. Therefore, it is essential that the staff is highly motivated to ensure that patients' interaction with the staff remains at a high level from the moment they walk into the reception area and check in at the desk until they make their next appointment and check out.