Delegation to Unlicensed Personnel
Over the past several years, physician reimbursement
has steadily decreased or failed to keep pace with inflation,
while the costs of operating a medical practice have increased.
As a result, many physicians' practices are adding additional
treatments and procedures and employing unlicensed staff
(e.g., medical assistants or technicians) to provide or assist
with these treatments or procedures. Additionally, more
and more practices delegate functions to unlicensed
personnel which historically have been performed by
licensed, higher-salaried nurses and mid-level providers. Read More...
What should you do? You Just Received a Subpoena to Produce Electronic Information
We're hearing about more cases where
electronic information is subpoenaed in litigation. In fact, recent federal rules were
created to address issues such as, what
electronic information can attorneys access?
And, who pays the costs of producing the
information? (Producing electronic information
may require outside information technology
expertise, and can be expensive.) Read More...
What you need to know... MRSA in the Physician's Office
Staphylococcus aureus ("Staph" or "SA") is
a common bacterium that innocuously resides
on the skin and in the noses of approximately
one-third of the population. An aberrant strain
of Staph that has become resistant to certain
antibiotics has come to be known as Methicillin-
Resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or "MRSA."
MRSA is resistant to the antibiotics commonly
used to treat Staph, such as penicillin, methicillin
and oxacillin. Recently, the national media has
dubbed this infection a "superbug," raising
concerns about how the bacteria can affect
lives and what we can do to prevent it. Read More...