Hot topics at the MGMA

This coming Monday and Tuesday (10/29 and 10/30), I'm heading to Philly to attend the Medical Group Management Association's annual conference. As usual, I'm expecting it to be an intriguing show.

Things are always colorful on the front lines of medical practice--after all, while industry changes can filter down for a while, they've really hit home when physicians get involved--but often medical practice debates boil down to hand-wringing over long-term managed care conflicts or pending state and federal regs. This time, however, I think there's some industry shifts afoot which could be more empowering than overwhelming, including:

* Pay-for-performance incentives
* Physician ratings by consumers, health plans and other outside organizations
* Electronic medical records adoption
* The growth of retail clinics

As FierceHealthcare readers know, these are the topics that (understandably) get physicians hot under the collar, as each stand the chance of changing the way their already-threatened business works. Still, each could also be seen as trends which can be ridden by physicians to grow their revenues.

If physicians there are kind enough to chat with me, I'm eager to pick up some inside stories of how they're coping with these challenges to their business. I'll let you know what I find out. And if you see me there, please feel free to say hello! - Anne

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