AAOS Now, March 2011
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OIG’s 2011 work plan
Should you be worried? Audit risks for practices have never been higher. The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) for the Department of Health and Human Services issues an annual work plan, and the 2011 version lists a minimum of 18 projects that may have relevance to an orthopaedic practice. This article discusses some, but not all, of the major areas that are likely targets.
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How do patients see your practice?
Speaking at the Practice Management Symposium for Practicing Orthopaedic Surgeons at the 2011 AAOS Annual Meeting, Thomas J. Grogan, MD, emphasized that successful practices must take into account the public face of their offices. “What I have found is that my receptionist drives more work to my practice than anybody else…probably including me,” he explained.
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Surgeons and teamwork
Creating predictable improvements in safety, quality, and patient satisfaction While performing a procedure to repair a disk herniation and remove an extruded fragment, Dr. Smith did the unthinkable (in his mind anyway); he made a mistake leading to a wrong surgery. During his 30 years as a board-certified surgeon, Dr.
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Death of an orthopaedic group
By Robert Garroway, MD, MBA How could a busy, six-surgeon orthopaedic practice that had been in business for more than 45 years simply fall apart over a 2-year period? Could the problems that undermined this practice have a similar impact on your practice?
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Is a hospital alliance in your future?
According to AAOS census data, hospital employment of orthopaedic surgeons grew approximately 70 percent from 2004 to 2008. During the 2011 AAOS Annual Meeting, a symposium on hospital-based employment of orthopaedic surgeons, moderated by Kevin J. Bozic, MD, MBA, focused on this trend and its significance. In answering the question, “Is hospital-physician alignment here to stay or simply a passing fad?