Year: 2019
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Practice Culture is a Reflection of Leadership
This article is a continuation of the leadership series started by Jim Stroud in 2018. As many of you may know, Jim retired from Warren Averett in December 2018, after serving for many years as an advisor in our health care division. Practice administrators and physicians would seek his advice related to dissension among the…
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Medical Association Signs on to Letter Targeting PA Requirements
The Medical Association recently joined the American Medical Association and 85 other national medical groups and state medical associations in sending a letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to urge CMS to provide guidance to Medicare Advantage plans on prior authorization processes through its 2020 Call Letter. In the jointly signed letter,…
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In Memoriam: John Higginbotham, M.D.
John Higginbotham, M.D., a longtime member of the Medical Association and Madison County Medical Society, passed away earlier this week. Dr. Higginbotham was a retired orthopaedic surgeon and who was instrumental in the formation of the North Alabama Medical Reserve Corps. In 2014 he received the Association’s highest award, the Samuel Buford Word Award, which is given in…
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It’s Not Just About the Medicine with George Koulianos, M.D.
MOBILE – The main hallway of The Center for Reproductive Medicine in Mobile is lined with photos of smiling babies. The large collages are softly lit by recessed lighting in the ceiling above each frame, and as you walk down the hallway, it’s impossible not to smile at what the physicians and staff affectionately refer…
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Record Year for HIPAA Enforcement
In the current environment of regulation reduction, it is notable that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) received a record $28.6 million dollars in publicized settlements and judgments for HIPAA violations in 2018. These numbers surpass previous years with the closest year on record being 2016 in which HHS collected $23.5 million dollars.…
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Do You Understand Due Diligence In Physician Practice Acquisitions?
Often in the sale of a physician’s practice, the owner of the selling practice (the “Selling Practice”) may desire to structure the transaction as what some refer to as a “handshake deal” – using minimal documentation and providing minimal diligence for review. Although this may be advantageous for the Selling Practice and its owner (depending on…
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New Requirements for Fee-For-Service Delivery Claims
Effective for dates of services on or after Feb. 1, 2018, fee-for-service delivery claims for recipients who reside in a county not served by an Alabama Medicaid (Medicaid) Maternity Care Program must contain the date of last menstrual period and the date of first prenatal visit. This information is not required for hospital claims. Counties…
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How Can Physicians Effectively Address Burnout?
How many of your colleagues are complaining that they are doing more work and getting less for it? How many of them are experiencing ever-increasing levels of frustration brought on by outside influences: governmental regulation, insurance regulation, increased concern about medical malpractice, increasingly negative attitude by society towards physicians, and weakened physician-patient relationships? Most individuals…
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Medical Association Announces 2019 State and Federal Agendas
The Medical Association Board of Censors has met and approved the Association’s 2019 State and Federal Agendas. These agendas were developed with guidance from the House of Delegates and input from individual physicians. As the Alabama Legislature and U.S. Congress begin their work for 2019, additional items affecting physicians, medical practices and patients may be…