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Physician groups should have a record-retention program in place to minimize their liability in the event of an audit or litigation. This means establishing a record-retention policy which specifies the type of business records to be retained and the duration that these will be kept. The most important records are those involving patient care, taxes, payroll and contracts. Group practices should also consider keeping their records on computer media such as CD-ROMs to reduce paper handling., Group practices, like other businesses, are required by Federal or state statutes to retain certain records regarding their past activities. For example, many states require incorporated businesses to keep minutes [...]

A health care provider can properly evaluate the provisions of managed care contracts by using a checklist. The checklist should consider various factors such as the definition of terms, specification of coverages, third party enrollees, secrecy, management and auditing of records, utilization review plan, rates and discounts of payment, primary payment benefits, insurance, mutual indemnification, dispute resolution, marketing by third parties, antitrust and contract termination., Every managed care agreement is unique and has different legal, financial, and operational issues that need to be addressed in the agreement to protect the provider. However, with the expansion [...]

Medical group practices should take measures to ensure that their electronic systems are year 2000 compliant to avoid complications that will affect their billing, accounting and payment systems. A three-step plan that can help group practices involves the creation of an inventory of all their inventory systems, an examination of the year 2000 compliance of every electronic system and requiring vendors to commit to a resolution of the problem before yearend 1999., In a group practice, the year 2000 date problem can affect accounting, payment, and billing systems, as well as medical equipment. With the turn of the century drawing closer, group [...]

Group practices can reduce their risks by drafting physician employment agreements. Provisions should include a noncompete covenant to prevent future competition from physicians, liquidated damages or payments for violation of the noncompete covenant, conditions for the acceptance of outside employment by part-time physicians and provisions on the protection of patient and group practice confidentiality., Group practices that employ physicians on a contractual basis face a number of risks. Among these risks are the possibility of employee-physicians engaging in competitive activities; the practice's potential liability [...]

Group medical practices interested in going into Medicare risk contracting should be familiar with the financial and practice imperatives that the business entails. From the financial standpoint, these imperatives include accepting payment on a capitated basis as well as the risks that go with this practice. Practice imperatives include complying with critical paths and with admission and discharge requirements., Physician group practices new to Medicare risk contracting face unfamiliar financial and practice imperatives. Financial imperatives include accepting capitation and the risks associated with it. Practice imperatives include adhering to [...]

Telemedicine increasingly is being used to enable patients in rural areas to gain access to specialists. At the same time, concerns have arisen about the legality of certain telemedicine applications. [...]

Physician group practices should evaluate and understand all the issues pertaining to office leases and consider several essential issues before signing a lease for an office space. Among these is the decision to hire a broker to facilitate the search for an office space, the facilities for record storage and waste disposal and compliance with safety standards. Physician group practices should also ensure that lease provisions pertaining to compliance with Americans with Disabilities Act are in place., Physician group practices do not lease new office space every year; however, when they do, they should consider several issues. One of the first decisions they should make is whether [...]

Detection of theft and prevention of future occurrences are crucial in mitigating the effects of employee theft on the profitability of physician group practices. Procedures for detecting theft must be in place, such as paying attention to employees who refuse to take earned vacation or sick days off, conducting periodic credit checks on employees as well as impromptu reviews of finances, and rotating employees' functions. Among actions to deter theft are routing payment checks to a bank lock box, reviewing cash balances, reporting theft when it occurs and purchasing insurance., Physician group practices may be unprofitable for a number of reasons, including a lack of productivity, inappropriate physician compensation, and insufficient patient volume. Another problem that can contribute to a [...]