Fascinating, Fun and Feel-Good Stuff From Life in Medicine

Praise for Dec. article on regional physician organizations, and a clarification for the Dec. article on malpractice.

Robin Cole, MD * David Keschner, MD, JD * K. Kevin Khajavi, MD * Robert McCoy, MD * Suvesh Chandiok, MD * Thomas LaGrelius, MD

If enacted, Schwarzenegger's proposed budget cuts will result in 10-percent Medi-Cal reimbursement reductions for  fee-for-service and managed care doctors.

With its mid-December passage of the Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007, Congress temporarily prevented Medicare's strategic growth rate formula from cutting 2008 physician reimbursement rates, while it maintained support for the State Children's Health Insurance Program.

If healthcare reform bill ABX1 1 passes the Senate and the governor's desk as it stands, it will lack several components that physicians loathed in its predecessors, and it will contain some positives. But a new healthcare plan will face daunting state budget troubles and a possible legal challenge.

Our desire to make a positive impact on people's lives and to broaden our understanding of health and illness drove us to spend our summer doing a public health project in Chiapas, Mexico.

The terrorist attacks on 9/11, the subsequent criminal spread of anthrax through the mail and the SARS epidemic in late 2002 emphasized the need to modernize the systems we rely upon to detect bioterrorist acts and emerging infectious diseases.

Continuing medical education requirements are not so hard to fulfill, according to several sources interviewed for this article. Doctors can usually meet them by attending events sponsored by their hospitals or their specialty societies.

The Los Angeles County Medical Association is getting set for a dynamic 2008 by bringing in new executive leadership and organizing vital political advocacy programs.

The Certified Medical Coder preparatory course can train a trusted office staffer to be a high-caliber coder with a mastery of terms and coding conventions.

Most jurisdictions employ the doctrine of vicarious liability to impose liability on a solo medical practice, medical group, hospital or clinic for the actions of a non-employee or independent contractor. This may include people you might not consider to be acting on your behalf. These people are called "ostensible agents."

Become a Certified Medical Coder, Learn More About Impaired Physicians

Years ago, before planning for leasehold improvements in my new practice space, I remember sitting in what was to become the reception room, contemplating what I would want to see, hear and experience if I were a patient. It needed to be a zone of comfort for reflection, relaxation and rest. What came to mind was an environment of healing that was warm, inviting and even safe.

On Dec. 18, 2007, leaders from the San Bernardino County Medical Society attended a fundraiser hosted by the California Medical Association Political Action Committee and the California Academy of Eye Physicians & Surgeons for Assemblywoman Wilmer Amina Carter at the Claim Jumper Restaurant in San Bernardino.

In a recent survey, 96 percent of physicians agreed that significantly impaired or incompetent colleagues should be reported to authorities.

On Dec. 17, 2007, the five-year investigation of a hospital administrator's malfeasance came to an end. Community Memorial Hospital of San Buenaventura agreed to pay $1.52 million to the federal government to settle allegations of improper payments, gifts and loans to physicians over a 10-year period.

Doctors don't offer help and healing to patients all on their own. A medical practice is a team. That's why choosing the best medical and administrative staffers is so critical. Here are 13 tips to help you find and retain the right people.

Los Angeles gastroenterologist Ethelred Carter, MD, maintains strong ties to his Jamaican alma mater by sponsoring college educations for kids without another way up.