By Jason M. O’Dell, David B. Mandell, Kim Renners
If you are like most Americans, you feel less secure about the U.S. economy.  Certainly, this is justified.  While we may be technically out of the recession, our dependence on foreign oil, behemoth deficits, and the weak dollar are all fundamental threats to our national fiscal health and our investment marketplace that are not going away anytime soon.  For this reason, it is crucial that savvy investors, including physicians, learn from the past two years and adjust their investment behavior accordingly.  This …

By Alan Lyndon
Physicians News
Telemedicine as a technology is advancing so rapidly that it seems like something you might have seen on Star Trek.
Telemedicine as policy has become an integral part of the law as $27 billion was earmarked for health care information technology as part of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) stimulus plan.
But telemedicine as a successful practice or an everyday tool for physicians and patients has remained a mystery.  Until now.
Physicians will ask: How do I squeeze telemedicine in between my daily 35 – 40 patient …

By Nielufar Varjavand, MD
Many are concerned about the looming physician shortage, particularly in primary care. It may become worse as a result of the goal of the health care reform bill to provide health insurance for the currently uninsured. The July 2010 issue of Physicians News Digest highlighted the upcoming need for physicians in our region.  Patricia Costante, CEO of MD Advantage and writer of that article, clearly proposed numerous viable possibilities of addressing this shortage.  We suggest that another way to address the physician shortage is to return inactive physicians …

By Carolyn R. Kaplan, M.D.
Cancer Therapy and Women’s Fertility
Each year, cancer is estimated to occur in 113 per 100,000 women under age 50 in the United States. Treatment of cancer has improved dramatically over the past several years, and it is estimated that 77% of patients under 45 survive at least 5 years. The trend toward delaying childbearing means that many patients will not have had children when they are diagnosed. While there is recognition that cancer therapy can affect a patient’s fertility, less than 25% of oncologists inform their …

The government released new rules on Tuesday that further define “meaningful use” of electronic medical records for physicians and hospitals.  Earlier this year, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) authorized incentive payments to physicians for the use of EHRs including $44,000 through Medicare and $63,750 through Medicaid.  But achieving meaningful use was confusing to stakeholders.  Until now.
The original proposal was criticized as too restrictive as physicians were required to meet every one of 25 objectives in order to receive their incentive payment.  Under …

Medical publisher Elsevier and video game developer Legacy Interactive have just announced the release of Top Doc, an iPhone app that features medical content and quizzes designed to let medical students, residents and junior faculty practice and improve their visual diagnosis skills.
“Top Doc was built upon a foundation of providing challenging, real-world questions illustrated by high quality medical images,” said Amber Tully, M.D., Assistant Professor of Family Medicine, Jefferson Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, and the product’s co-author. “With this platform, users are able to experience and react to …

The era of crowded medical waiting rooms came to an end.  As people have come to expect checking the status of their flight prior to leaving for the airport, they can now do the same prior to leaving home for their doctor appointment.
Last month, ten physician practices launched a new service called MedWaitTime (www.MedWaitTime.com). Patients are now able to see via their computers, iPhones, or cell phones the current waiting room status of their doctors. The system, for instance, tells patients if their doctor is running late, and more importantly, …

The White House on Tuesday released this “Fact Sheet: The Affordable Care Act’s New Patient’s Bill of Rights,” the Obama administration’s summary of new regulations issued by the Department of Health and Human Services. The formatting is from the original version of the Patient’s Bill of Rights, as released by the administration.
A major goal of the Affordable Care Act – the health insurance reform legislation President Obama signed into law on March 23 – is to put American consumers back in charge of their health coverage and care. …

By Jacqueline K. Genova, MD
When a child is having sleep-related difficulties, it’s highly stressful for the whole family. Yet parents might not think of seeking medical advice for the situation unless the child’s physician directly asks them about sleep problems.
Organic and behavioral sleep disorders in childhood are prevalent concerns. At Abington Memorial Hospital’s Sleep Disorders Center, we see pediatric patients between the ages of two and 18 years old. These children originally present in pediatricians’ offices with one or more symptoms, including heavy, persistent snoring, pauses in breathing while asleep, …

By Jeffrey B. Sansweet, Esquire
Although each medical practice opportunity is unique, most employment contracts with physician-owned private practices address similar issues.  How each practice deals with those issues in the contract does vary and is the subject of this article.
Term
The term of the agreement must be set forth.  There can either be a firm commencement date or the contract may provide that the physician will start “or or about” a given date.  There also may be contingencies that must be met before the start date such as state licensure, hospital …