By Mark Newman
What is the best EHR for your practice? As usual, the answer is, “it depends.” Choosing the right Electronic Health Record (EHR) system for your practice involves answering many questions. These include:
–   Which specific EHR features and functions do we need?
–   Which EHR vendor has experience in my practice type or specialty?
–   Which vendor has the best reputation and a stable business?
–   What’s the need for access to data for reporting and research?
–   Does the EHR system have the necessary certification and functionality to qualify for “Meaningful Use” …

By Guy A. Lee, MD
Middle-aged and older patients commonly present with neurogenic claudication, the classic nerve-related radiating leg and buttock pain caused by lumbar spinal stenosis. Imaging will typically show degenerative factors, including the narrowing of the midline sagittal spinal canal and possibly also narrowing between the facet superior articulating process, the posterior vertebral margin and nerve root canal.
The narrowing and compression of spinal stenosis is believed to cause leg, buttock and groin pain for about 1.2 million Americans. Those who experience mild or moderate symptoms typically have pain that …

By Michael Calahan
Federal auditors promise to assail providers through a variety of initiatives.  Paradoxically, the recent annulment of consultation CPT codes by Medicare forces physicians to improve evaluation and management (E/M) reporting strategies.  This drastic change leverages the more flexible and ubiquitous E/M codes for office and hospital inpatient visits by discounting the stringent consultation criteria.  It also increases the impact of E/M services on practice revenue.  Thus, to ensure accurate reimbursement and fewer improper payments E/M services will become a larger target for federal programs such as the Comprehensive …

By Daniel M. Bernick, Esq.
Many physicians in private group practices are alarmed by news of health care reform and other developments affecting their practice finances.  Some physicians have responded by abandoning private practice in favor of hospital employment.  Other physicians still want their autonomy, and are committed to private practice.  But they wonder: are the documents that they signed years ago are still reasonable in light of all that is happening in health care?  Will they remain reasonable if reimbursements go down, or expenses go up, or both?
There is no …

By Andrew M. Star, MD
Hip arthroplasty has been a successful procedure for more than four decades. Yet, as doctors performing this surgery, we continually found ourselves repeating a list of “don’ts” to our patients as they faced the long recovery after hip replacement surgery: “Don’t get in a car,” “Don’t bend over,” “Don’t sleep on your side,” and other restrictions.
This discouraging, but important, post-operative advice was a by-product of standard  arthroplasty, in which the surgeon removes the hip joint using a lateral or posterior approach, cutting muscles, ligaments and tendons …

By Dena Mallin, CPC
Major changes are around the corner. CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) announced the elimination of consult codes. Officially released and documented in Change Request “CR 6740”as of January 1, 2010 consult codes will be eliminated from the Medicare fee schedule.  Medicare will no longer recognize or pay for services billed with consult codes 99241-99245 or 99251-99255.  However, as I am editing this article, Senator Arlen Specter (D-PA) has put forth an amendment to delay for one year CR6740.  There has been no action on his …

By Congressman Joe Sestak
The health care reform measures that I helped passed in the House — the landmark Affordable Health Care for America Act (HR 3962), along with the Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act (HR 3961) — will dramatically improve our health care system for patients and providers.
The primary concern of all doctors is treating the sick and healing the wounded. Health care reform will expand access to lifesaving care for millions of Americans who lack insurance. It will also improve care for everyone by ending denial of coverage for …

By Charles E. Kutner
Since the declaration of an H1N1 influenza pandemic in June 2009, virtually all countries are now reporting cases. Speaking at a press conference in Geneva Switzerland in November, Dr. Keiji Fukuda, Special Adviser to the Director of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Pandemic Influenza, told reporters “the pandemic virus has become the dominant influenza virus in all countries.” Dr. Fukuda went on to say that WHO anticipates continued or increased activity during the winter period in the northern hemisphere, and continued reports of serious cases and …

By Pierre Bellicini
Throughout much of the discussion of the current health care reform debate, many recommendations call for increased reliance on primary care physicians.  There are estimates that by providing health care for 50 million now uninsured patients, the demand for family physicians and other primary care providers will increase dramatically (Associated Press, MSNBC, 50 million new patients? Expect doc shortages. 9/13/2009).
Those advocating more primary care physicians are urging an increase in medical college enrollment and giving preference to new post-graduate family medicine residencies.
Since the college opened …

The Liver Disease and Transplantation Center at Albert Einstein Medical Center employs an evaluation and treatment approach for patients with liver disease that puts the patient’s needs first. We spoke with Victor Araya, MD, FACG, AGAF, Chairman of the Division of Hepatology and Medical Director of the Liver Transplant Program and Jorge Ortiz, MD, Section Chief, Liver Transplantation and Hepatobiliary Surgery to discover what makes the Einstein Center for Liver Disease and Transplantation unique.
The Transplantation Center
The evaluation process at Einstein is remarkable for the speed and efficiency with which patients …