Practice Management

“Waiting for others to fix health care is not a good strategy. Instead, be determined to begin your journey to your mountaintop of joy and fulfillment,” says Scott A. MacDiarmid, MD, FRCPSC.

In this installment, Jonathan Clavell, MD, FACS, highlights Clavell Urology, his private practice within Robert J Cornell MD, PA, in Houston, Texas.

This legislation a bipartisan bill designed to improve affordability and access to prescription medications.

"The need for maintaining the high quality of education within the increasing number of restrictions and regulations is making the job as program director complex and time-consuming," writes Gopal H. Badlani, MD.

“Together, these changes will help ensure enrollees have consistent access to medically- necessary care while also maintaining medical management tools that emphasize the important role MA plans play in coordinating medically-necessary care,” CMS said.

The Health Sector Cybersecurity Coordination Center of the US Department of Health and Human Services recently published a mobile device security checklist.

EHR measures are an indicator of how technology friendly your practice is.

“I think it's important as urologists to try to understand how we fit into this scheme and how we can participate in value-based care in a meaningful way without negatively affecting patients,” says Avinash Maganty, MD.

Rebekah Bernard, MD, provides tips for improving interactions with patients who are angry.

Resist the temptation to overspend on unnecessary luxuries and upgrades.

Modifier -25 is defined as a significant, separately identifiable E/M service by the same physician or other qualified health care professional on the same day of the procedure or other service.

“The potential benefits of incorporating AI into health care are numerous but like every technology, AI comes with risks that must be managed if the benefits of these tools are to outweigh the potential costs,” writes cybersecurity expert Jon Moore.

"The first main finding was after adjusting for individual physician characteristics as well as the characteristics of the actual patient case mix for each physician, we found that small practices performed poorly compared with larger practices," says Avinash Maganty, MD.

“Many were concerned that what the MIPS policy is really measuring is an ability to track and report measures as opposed to the actual provision of quality care,” says Avinash Maganty, MD.

Improving your patient payment process in 2023 is important to maintain a positive relationship with your patients and with your practice’s bottom line.

Urologic oncology represented the largest subspecialty on Twitter with 225 active members and the highest followers, likes, and tweets per day.

"The ultimate goal is to have as much of our time spent on actual patient care and complex decision-making [as possible]," says David Canes, MD.

“The more we can use AI to streamline all the less attractive aspects of our job, the better,” says David Canes, MD.

If automation can enhance efficiency and reduce provider dissatisfaction while improving patient health, there’s a strong case for introducing automation into the mix, writes industry expert Eric Demers.

"When we think about what burnout does to our workforce, the ramifications are significant," says Andrew M. Harris, MD.

Urologists should watch early adopters of MVPs to know what to expect.

"Working on interstate licensing agreements and compacts is another long-term sustainable solution to ensure that telehealth remains robust and viable for both our patients and our practices," says Kevin Koo, MD, MPH.

“[The ability of] remote patient monitoring to provide targeted clinical information to physicians and elevate critical information for review and earlier intervention is enhancing patient communication and care delivery,” said Jim Brown, MD.

"Increasing regulation, excess bureaucracy, decreasing autonomy, declining reimbursement, and increased administrative burdens are all increasing the risk of burnout," says Andrew M. Harris, MD.

Telemedicine risks can be managed by staying informed and educated.

"Another benefit of owning an HSA is that you may keep your HSA open and continue to enjoy tax-free growth and tax-free withdrawals even if you are no longer eligible to make contributions," writes Jeff Witz, CFP.

Prior authorizations are a paperwork burden that takes up physicians’ and staff time while delaying care for patients, according to 93% of doctors surveyed by the AMA.

“I truly believe that if we don't take care of ourselves, we just can't take care of other people,” says Michelle Pearlman, MD.

"If I had to boil down the advice, I would say that the most important thing that I did not know, that I've learned over time, is that you have to be prepared," says Stephanie Dukhovny, MD.

Patient communication is key when implementing new policy.