The Journal of medical practice management : MPM
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Although with the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act millions of previously uninsured American residents will gain access to healthcare coverage, millions more will remain uninsured due to the lack of mandatory state Medicaid expansion as well as mandates that forbid undocumented immigrants and legal residents of less than five years from purchasing insurance through the newly available market exchange. With limited options for healthcare coverage due to employment and lack of citizen status, undocumented immigrants rely heavily on funds provided by both Emergency Medicaid and Disproportionate Share Hospital programs. Through reevaluation of current funding, mandates forbidding access to market exchanges, and plans to further enable access to affordable health coverage, states have the unique opportunity to both aid their residents and relieve the financial burden on healthcare facilities and Emergency Medicaid funds.
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Do you have a poor-performing employee on your medical practice team? If so, you're not alone. Unfortunately, this is a problem that many medical practice managers face. This article describes the best strategies for managing your team's weakest link. ⋯ It offers guidance to practice managers about protecting their time and energy when handling a poor performer. It provides a simple formula for calculating the cost of a low-performing employee, 10 possible personal reasons for the employee's poor work performance, specific questions to ask to uncover the reasons for poor performance, and an eight-rule strategy for confronting poor performance effectively. Finally, this article offers practice managers a practical strategy for handling resistance from their weakest link, illustrated with a sample dialogue.
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Review your current practice, patient load and demographics, revenue, and insurance processing procedures. Work with an expert to develop a business plan of a direct-pay practice, and compare the expected patient load and demographics and revenue to that of your current practice. Will a direct-pay/concierge practice: Increase your revenue/decrease your expenses? Offer your patients better healthcare by taking decisions out of the hands of the insurance company? Provide your patients easier access to you and your staff? Maintain or attract a sufficient number of patients? Offer you more career satisfaction? Any change can be daunting, but many times, the results are well worth the challenges.
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Anyone with an up-to-date organizational chart can determine the formal leadership roles in a medical practice. What many practice administrators fail to realize, however, is that there is another, complementary leadership model that exists between the lines in an org chart: informal leadership. This article defines the term informal leadership and describes informal leaders' three bases of power. ⋯ This article also offers practice administrators practical tips for dealing effectively with informal leaders who oppose them. It suggests strategies for counseling a reluctant informal leader and for developing the informal leaders in a medical practice. Finally, this article argues that informal leaders can be a source of great help for medical practices that have been downsized or restructured.