Medical group management journal最新文献

Job applicants tend to send mass mailings of the same resume to potential employers. It is more effective to send customized resumes drawn from a resume database, a detailed, descriptive list of past successes in professional and personal life. This article offers a step-by-step guide to creating a resume based on results that gets results.

This article profiles the state of the art in provider resource planning based on a sample of large multispeciality group practices. Senior administrative representatives from a geographically dispersed sample of 12 practices, each employing over 100 physicians, participated in telephone interviews to discuss their respective organization's provider resource planning practices. There was significant variation with regard to the structural and process components and evaluation criteria used to plan provider resources. Variability was most pronounced by the lack of consensus and experience within and across organizations regarding the number and type of criteria deemed useful in evaluating new position requests. This research suggests that there is an opportunity to develop more objective provider resource planning methods that recognize differences across organizations and their respective markets. The authors recommend a series of research steps to develop methods that would identify needs prospectively, minimize the complexities of provider resource planning and maximize the alignment of strategic plans and operations.

The future role of information technology in the medical industry is never clear, but we can identify some trends, such as electronic medical records and database management systems. Many of these trends can boost productivity for practices, but all managers need to carefully analyze their needs and understand the products to see how they may or may not help their individual practice.

Despite significant changes within the physician practice management and management services industry, physicians across the country are continuing to choose to affiliate with management services organizations (MSO). Now, more than ever, it is crucial that physicians first assess their own unique situation, conduct thorough due diligence of the potential partner and educate themselves on the important terms of any potential deal. As a part of the assessment, physicians must evaluate whether a potential partner's goals are aligned with their own, needed services will be provided at a fair price and the personnel have appropriate expertise and experience. This assessment will enable physicians to effectively determine their options and ensure an informed and strategic decision.

In the planning phase for several years, the administrative simplification provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) finally appear ready for implementation. The Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) expects that the major HIPAA measures will be released in late 1999. For group practices, it is expected that implementation of these provisions will be complicated and consume significant amounts of time and money. Still, the end result should justify the effort.

Keeping on top of constantly changing managed care policy requirements can be labor intensive and prone to error. At the University of Missouri Health Sciences Center, over 20 percent of patients are under managed care arrangements for services. The center maintains over 50 contracts with insurers. The medical center thus faces the logistical nightmare of keeping information regarding insurer contact information, pre-certification and prior-authorization policies up-to-date and accessible to front-line clerical and nursing support staff. The medical center is trying to solve the problem by keeping real-time information stored on an easily accessible, searchable Web site.