Two recent surveys suggest you could be leaving a substantial amount of money on the table because you don't accept credit cards. With patients increasingly responsible for a greater share of their health care expenses out-of-pocket, not taking plastic could have a devastating effect on your cash flow, more than enough to offset the sometimes onerous fees you must pay to credit card issuers to offer this convenience to your patients.

Electronic patient-physician communication took a major step forward last month, as OptumHealth, a care management subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, announced plans to offer around-the-clock online access to physicians on a national basis.

This week's question is answered by Bill Dacey CPC, senior consultant for DecisionHealth Professional Services.

Q. One physician in our group admits a patient to the hospital and charges for the history and physical. A second physician from our group sees the same patient at the hospital on the same day. Can the second physician charge for a hospital visit or should we add his time to the first physician's for a higher admit level of service?

Recovery audit contractors (RACs) will be free to target physician E/M services during the permanent program, despite earlier CMS statements that seemed to indicate otherwise, Part B News has learned.

The good news is you won't have to worry about getting medical records requests - the first step of a complex recovery audit contractor (RAC) review - until August at the very earliest, CMS says. The bad news: automated RAC reviews, which target simple "black and white" issues and don't require you to submit records, have already started in 23 states (see table below).

The proposed 2010 Physician Fee Schedule aims to expand the current Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) while simplifying the way CMS's e-prescribing program works (see story).

This chart shows the effectiveness of electronic medical records systems (EMRs) based on a recent, nationwide survey of 2,758 physicians published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

It's essential for everyone in your office to work up to their license for a patient-centered medical home to work effectively. The roles and responsibilities in your practice need to be clearly defined so you have the right people, doing the right job.

Your primary care practice can boost revenue by making sure you bill common dermatology procedures done in your office correctly. Boosting your ability to provide and bill a wider array of services will also help prepare your practice to become part of a patient-centered medical home, experts say.