By Michelle Andrews
As obesity among young people continues to rise, a growing number of clinicians and researchers say that weight-loss surgery may be their best chance to take off significant weight and either correct or avoid conditions like diabetes and heart disease, which often go hand-in-hand with obesity. But although health plans frequently cover bariatric surgery in adults, insurance coverage for the procedure in patients under age 18 is spotty.
Experts in pediatric obesity say that caution is warranted and that insurers shouldn’t just rubber-stamp such surgery in adolescents. But they …

By Michael Kline, CPA
As the year draws to a close, it is time for medical practices and medical professionals to review the current year’s financial activity and determine if any tax planning opportunities are available to help reduce their overall tax burden. Below are some tax planning tips that can be utilized before year-end that can greatly reduce your tax burden.
Depreciation
The biggest and easiest 2011 tax-saving opportunity is the accelerated depreciation available until the end of 2011. For many physicians, the purchasing of new equipment can give rise to …

By David Green
Last June, Andemarian T. Beyene, 36-year-old man with tracheal cancer received a special gift:  a brand new trachea, made from a synthetic scaffold seeded with his own stem cells.  Following this surgery—the first of its kind—he made a full recovery and was discharged from the hospital four weeks later.  The procedure made international headlines, and shone a much-needed spotlight on two important problems that it might help in part to resolve:  long wait times for organ transplants, and immune rejection of implanted organs.  In what follows, we offer …

By Patricia A. Costante
Every time I speak with physicians, I get the sense that they are feeling a loss of control and even a loss of status. Physicians in small practices don’t see a long-term solution for continuing to function in their current structure, and many are considering selling to hospitals or giving up their practices. More often than not, physicians indicate that they do not recommend their sons and daughters to follow their footsteps into a medical career. Clearly, this is an anxious time for physicians, filled with much …

By Michelle Andrews

Medical tests can reveal critical information about a person’s health, but only if the results are communicated to clinicians and patients. Sometimes, the ball gets dropped somewhere between the lab or the radiology department and the clinician who ordered the test and the patient.
In Peggy Kidwell’s case, a mix-up over doctors’ names led to a year-long delay in a breast cancer diagnosis.

After her annual gynecological exam and mammogram several years ago at a medical center near her Virginia Beach home, she got a letter from her doctor saying …

By Nicholas Gaudiosi
I’ve thought for months about how to write this article and actually get my point across without sounding like a psychic, because I certainly don’t possess an ability to perceive information hidden from the normal senses. The fact is, I’m not a psychic and I don’t have a crystal ball; if I did, I wouldn’t be working for a medical malpractice insurance company. But, since I’m just a regular guy and I work for HPIX, I feel it is my obligation to raise awareness among physicians and their …

By Rebecca Roberts, Ph.D.
Bisphenol A (BPA) is an environmental estrogen that can affect development and health by disrupting normal hormonal signaling.  Estrogen, working at very low blood concentrations, triggers responses in cells and tissues and is critical during fetal development and in normal health and reproduction.  BPA binds to the same cellular receptors as estrogen and may lead to detrimental health effects.
In June of this year, the American Medical Association formally recognized BPA as an endocrine-disrupting agent.  Physicians can play an important role in educating their patients about this pervasive …

By Lucia Francesca Bruno, JD, LLM, MBA
The proverbial statement, “You only get one bite at the apple” couldn’t be truer than when negotiating a Physician Employment Agreement.  Whether you’re the head of a medical practice inviting an experienced physician to join the group, or a resident contemplating a Letter of Intent, fair and effective negotiations are paramount to establishing a long-term working relationship.
Forethought, preparation, and the ability to listen are essential to success.  Regrettably, by the time most physicians realize that the terms of their Agreement are less than propitious …

By Patricia A. Costante
Thanks in part to the widespread attention of concussions among high-profile professional athletes, the medical community, many states and other groups have recognized that these types of head injuries can also have a devastating impact on young athletes. Second and third concussions could have long lasting and even catastrophic effects. As the 2011-2012 school year gets into full swing, physicians have an opportunity to take a proactive role in addressing what’s become a serious medical issue among those 18 and younger.
Startling statistics
Research on the prevalence and impact …

By Franklin Rooks Jr., PT, MBA, Esq.

Introduction
Health savings accounts (HSA’s) were created under “The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003, as a consumer-driven mechanism to combat rising medical inflation.  They promote savings for future health related expenses and allow consumers to be more judicious with their health care expenditures.  HSA’s are becoming increasingly popular.  In 2011, 35 percent of organizations provided health HSAs, up from 29 percent in 2007.[1] Two reasons may be behind their rise in popularity.  First, HSA’s are accompanied by a generous tax …