From the Orthopedic Practice Assembly eGroup 

Quote of Note
In response to a question about what measures participants in the Physician Quality Report Initiative are tracking: "We chose measurements that could be used for the majority of my docs and could be recorded passively in the office by the EMR. We are tracking smoking use and medication review (also goes along with [the] e-prescribing initiative) for some of our docs.  

Hot Topics

• Coding  
• In-house pharmacies  
• Flex schedules and holiday pay  

OPA Executive Committee  

Education
 

• Education calendar
• Webinar: Getting Better Together: Shared Medical Appointments (SMAs)
• Seminar: Mastering Medical Practice Staffing and Revenue Optimization
• Seminar: The Critical Steps to Leverageing Evidence-based Management in Healthcare
• Seminar: Alignment Options in an Era of Accountable Care
• Seminar: EHR Selection and Implementation: Select and Implement the Best System for Your Practice
• Seminar: Mastering Patient Flow: Train Your Office for Success
• Seminar: EHR Optimization: Improving Your EHR System and Positioning Your Practice for the Future
• Seminar: The Practice Administrator's Role in Acquisition and Integration 
  
  Save the date
• MGMA 2012 Annual Conference, Oct. 21-24, San Antonio

Products

• Physician Placement Starting Salary Survey: 2012 Reported Based on 2011 Data
  

Advocacy

• MGMA Healthcare Reform Resource Center  

Orthopedics Resources

• MGMA Cost Survey for Orthopedic Practices: 2011 Report Based on 2010 Data
  
• Get the data you need to succeed – participate in the 2011 Cost Survey. 
  
• Operating Policies & Procedures Manual for Medical Practices, 3rd edition. Natural disasters, declining reimbursement and more diverse patient populations have made the need for specialized medical practice policies and processes even greater.
  
• HR Policies & Procedures Manual for Medical Practices, 4th edition. Human resource issues in the medical practice setting have a reputation for being more complex than the mainstream; thus, the need for specialized information has never been greater.
  
• Electronic Health Records: Transforming Your Medical Practice, second edition. While some electronic health record (EHR) implementations proceed on schedule with the team’s full participation and – seemingly – little effort, others flounder, stall, or struggle, experiencing only limited success or, in extreme cases, no success at all. What accounts for the difference?
  
• Data Sanity: A Quantum Leap to Unprecedented Results. Far too much emphasis has been placed on “tools, tools and more tools” (especially statistical techniques), resulting in rampant waste caused by poor everyday organizational use of data. This book offers a new way of thinking via a common organizational language based in process and understanding variation to motivate more productive daily conversations for everyone.
  
• Integrated Delivery Systems: Ensuring Successful Physician-Hospital Partnerships. As medical groups, hospitals, and health systems position themselves for the new marketplace, they must be proactive in establishing new relationships and affiliations. Because the outcomes of health system integration vary widely, this book will help steer organizations toward a common purpose – in a way that is meaningful to providers, administrators, and health care leaders, and most of all, to patients.
  
• See additional group practice management resources