Practice Management News

Antitrust laws are intended to ensure that firms compete fairly in an open marketplace, including to hire or retain employees. Physician practices that agree with each other not to compete for employees face significant antitrust risk unless those agreements are related to legitimate business collaborations. Physician practices that agree to fix or lower wages face even greater antitrust risk. Physicians, managers and human resources professionals should consider antitrust risks carefully before entering into labor-related agreements with competing employers.

It’s a scenario that plays out all too often. You consult with a complex patient, perhaps at the request of a colleague or primary care physician. After listening intently and a careful examination, you provide a well-orchestrated management plan, the cornerstone of which is a specific therapeutic agent. The patient is in complete agreement with your recommendation, thanks you and heads to the pharmacy for their medication.

“Prior authorizations are here to stay,” Jeffrey S. Williams Jr., OD, Dipl ABO, told Primary Care Optometry News. Optometrists must learn how to navigate prior authorizations in order for their patients to receive the branded medications they are prescribed, he said.

Physician burnout has become a topic of interest in the medical community in recent years, with the level of urgency increasing on what seems like a weekly basis.

What if I had a virtual assistant who could do for electronic medical records what Alexa, the little electronic cylinder in my kitchen, does for my family? At a family member’s request, Alexa can recommend to my wife a recipe for chocolate chip cookies, read me the latest press release on Takeda or make flatulence sounds so realistic for my 8-year-old that he will convulse with laughter (OK, I’ll convulse, too).

ORLANDO — Inspired by the quote “Fortune favors the prepared mind,” Richard L. Lindstrom, MD, said in the keynote lecture that trends in ophthalmology and health care may adversely affect patient care and physician career satisfaction, but preparation will mitigate these challenges and may even bring opportunity.

The Trump Administration proposed a new rule last week to lower prices of prescription drugs and out-of-pocket costs by encouraging manufacturers to offer direct discounts to patients, according to a press release issued by HHS.

Adjusting the patient scheduling process improved patient punctuality as well as patient and provider satisfaction, according to findings recently published in Quality Management in Health Care.

More than 90% of physicians reported prior authorization requirements had a negative impact on patient clinical outcomes and that prior authorization procedures held up patient access to necessary care, according a new AMA survey.

SAN ANTONIO – The American Board of Optometry is replacing its 10-year recertification exam and current maintenance of certification program with a Continuous Assessment Program.