Healthcare systems have a message for physicians: We want you!

Six national healthcare organizations issued an updated "how-to" guide for healthcare professionals transitioning from paper to e-prescribing systems in April.

Nearly half of the requirements for meeting the objectives of meaningful use are hidden, and you'll never meet the goal if you don't know where to look, cautions one analyst.

Physician groups are beginning to hire again, according to the AMGA's 2010 ­Physician Retention Survey.

Physicians are participating in Medicare pay-for-reporting programs in growing numbers, according to the 2009 Physician Quality Reporting System and e-Prescribing Experience Report from CMS. More than 119,800 physicians and other eligible professionals received incentive payments totaling more than $234 million in 2009-well above the $92.4 million and $36 million paid in 2008 and 2007, respectively. Under the e-prescribing incentive program, CMS paid $148 million to 48,354 physicians and other eligible professionals in 2009, the first payment year for that program.

The latest social media gaffe by the healthcare industry comes from Rhode Island, where a physician was fined $500 in April for posting information about her experiences at work. The 48-year-old ED physician also had her privileges terminated at Westerly Hospital. The board determined that she had "used her Facebook account inappropriately to communicate a few of her clinical experiences at the hospital's emergency department."

The two sections of the Bloodborne Pathogens standard that make it unique among OSHA regulations also cause a lot of confusion with employers trying to stay in compliance.

On-call compensation for physicians is growing, a MGMA survey shows. Medical Directorship and On-Call Compensation ­Survey: 2011 Report Based on 2010 Data shows that more providers who said they get on-call compensation were more likely to be compensated either daily or annually than in years past.

You may be getting a reprieve back to Oct. 1, 2011 if you have physicians who qualify for new exemptions to the e-prescribing (e-Rx) requirement that were proposed in the May 26 Federal Register. CMS officials highlighted a key provision in the proposed rule, that you will have until Oct. 1 instead of June 30 to report exemptions introduced in it, during a June 21 open door call. But it all depends on what makes it into the final rule.

Your primary care physicians can potentially collect a $21,250 incentive check without having to meet meaningful use requirements in 2011 or 2012, under the Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program. The catch is that a provider’s patient mix must be 30% Medicaid to qualify for the bonus. But you can shift your Medicaid patient caseload to a one doctor, potentially boosting his Medicaid volume to 30%.