Due diligence during the integration of physician groups.

While contemplating physician group integration, providers should perform due diligence and ask questions in several key areas to ensure successful integrations: Financial--Is the group producing the revenue expected, and is the revenue cycle managed effectively? Statistical--What are the numbers of encounters, procedures, surgeries, and ancillaries? Compliance--Has the group developed and operated a sound compliance program, and has compliance been a priority? Succession--How many physicians are within three to five years of retirement?

Heads up! How you can model financial uncertainty in anticipation of health care reform.

A flexible budget model can prepare your practice and your profits for changes in revenue and expense streams.

The ties that bind. What you should know about the operational, ethical issues of restrictive covenants.

Restrictive covenants--also called noncompete clauses--in physician contracts can be a contentious issue, sometimes inspiring litigation. They pose many questions for medical practice administrators. Are restrictive covenants really necessary to protect a medical group? Are they ethical? Does their use deny medical care to patients? And how do they apply to medical practice administrators? This article reviews restrictive covenants from all these perspectives and provides a worksheet to figure your practice's protectable interests.