Florida Supreme Court Overturns Legislative Reforms By Tom Murphy Florida employers have enjoyed a series of decreases in workers’ compensation rates since the 2003 legislative overhaul that has led to a reduction of over 50% in rates over the past 13 years. It appears the good times are about to come to an end for

By Bill Gompers During the last decade, many of my friends and clients have made the decision to abandon their own practices and move to the employment model.  Some have gone to academic settings while others have opted to join hospitals, larger independent groups, or corporations.  The driving factors compelling these actions include declining reimbursement

Confused by cyber threats to your practice?
You just might consider the Orient Express! By Matt Gracey According to the Ponemon Institute Sixth Annual Benchmark Study on Privacy & Security of Healthcare Data, published in May 2016, “Data breaches in healthcare are increasingly costly and frequent, and continue to put patient data at risk. Based on

MedMal Direct settles 95% of their medical malpractice claims with payments to the plaintiffs, recent study in Florida shows. By Matt Gracey This is a classic story of cheap vs. good. With the extremely competitive climate in the Florida professional liability insurance market for physicians and surgeons, one can often lose sight of the most-important

By Tom Murphy We are reminded almost daily of the consequences of a mentally ill person is being allowed to work in a profession in which they place others at risk, in addition to themselves. Some examples are police, military, aviation, and even school-bus drivers. This sometimes-fatal combination reminds us of the ongoing argument about

By Tom Murphy The Office of Civil Rights (OCR), a division of Health and Human Services (HHS), is the entity within the federal governments responsible for enforcing HIPAA. This is the storing, accessing and sharing of personal health information (PHI). The OCR has provided a list of the top five HIPAA compliance issues they have

By Tom Murphy Behavioral healthcare, and specifically addiction treatment, is rapidly growing and changing as the United States tries to move away from the failed “war on drugs” to the “demand reduction” model. Additionally, the Affordable Care Act has not only increased the number of insured patients seeking care, it has managed to bring behavioral

By Tom Murphy Along with the evolution of electronic health records (EHR) comes the potentially expensive reality of data breaches and theft for all medical practices, both large and small. Many physicians and practice administrators still believe their practice is too small to be a target for hackers. Everything we have seen over the past

By Bill Gompers Healthcare providers, by the nature of their business, always face liability risks. Although many of these risks can be lessened through implementation of risk-management practices, they can rarely be eliminated. Thus, it is prudent to implement a liability-insurance program that addresses the healthcare provider’s needs and ensures your peace of mind should

By Wes Caldwell What is Business Overhead Expense? Business overhead expense (BOE) disability coverage reimburses the practice for the fixed practice expenses attributable to the disabled physician. The policy is short term in nature with a 60 to 90 day waiting period and a 12 to 24 month benefit period. For the solo practitioner, it