Mary O. Mundinger, Dr.P.H.

Reality has outpaced the debate over nurse practitioner autonomy and scope of practice, given the intensifying shortage of primary care providers and health care workforce demands that place a premium on collaboration with physicians.

A return to home visits for the homebound elderly

A case for recruiting retired physicians to make house calls to homebound older adults.

     Alfred E. Stillman, M.D.

Updated May 9, 2008

Malpractice case filings decline; New hospital infection report; Excela Health adds 19 family physicians; Pa. hospital performance data now online; and other briefs.

Information gaps are a significant impediment to the reports' usefulness to policy-makers. Nonetheless, these reports can and should inform our discussion and debate as we search for a durable solution to the problem.

Corner not turned on malpractice crisis

To celebrate anything or draw any conclusion from the 2006 decline in premiums would be a mistake. Six times in the past 14 years Pennsylvania’s liability payouts have declined – only to be followed by substantial increases in following years.

Gov. Rendell misleads public & print media

Gov. Rendell is cynically attempting to trick the media and public by saying "lawsuits" are down while the number of doctors sued trends significantly upward.

Electronic health record safe harbors

Physicians who are interested in obtaining such technology from donors, such as hospital, should carefully examine whether the proposed arrangement can be structured within appropriate e-Prescribing and/or e-Health Records safe harbor and exception.

Is a contract needed when leaving a practice? 

Negotiation and execution of a Separation Agreement is the wisest way to go to avoid unnecessary problems, including potentially expensive and acrimonious litigation.

Legal implications of physician consultants

There are a number of laws, regulations and ethical tenets governing arrangements between physicians and manufacturers which could present significant traps for the unwary physician.

Patent laws for physician inventors

Success is more likely to come to physician inventors who understand the criteria for patentability, avoid prematurely publicizing their ideas, clear up ownership issues early on, and who are prepared to be in it for the long haul.

Outsource to a professional employer organization

It’s a challenge to keep up with new regulations, administer the payroll, make certain your own staff has proper health coverage, and know how to ensure your staff is receiving competitive benefits – even when you have a competent office manager.

Not all “own-occupation” definitions are the same, and understanding the subtle differences between each contract is critical to selecting the correct policy.

Buried treasures in the new tax laws

The Act exponentially increases the tax benefits available to practices that wish to update equipment and certain other property to more technologically-advanced forms of property.