Women's Dermatologic Society

Brian Tawney is a contract lawyer who works with physician clients and their practices throughout the country, helping his clients execute appropriate financial strategies. Read his career pearls about negotiating contracts where he answers questions like: >> Read the Full Interview What questions should I ask when negotiating a contract?  What is the basic structure of a contract?  Do I need a lawyer to review my contract? What general advice do you have before negotiating a contract?

The Practice Advisory Committee has put together a list of pearls to avoid burnout in your practice. Focus on Your Strengths You should spend your day doing what you were trained to do, and minimize the time you spend on regulatory and administrative tasks.  - Dr. Mark Kaufmann, MD Get the Support You Need We hired a coder/biller who reviews our notes after we are finished. She verifies that what we have recorded in the note meets the level of service that we have billed. This has saved me hours of tediously going through notes to make sure I have coded correctly. This has increased my job satisfaction tremendously. Well worth it! - Dr. Sarah Jackson, MD Expand Your Passions Find a passion (or a hobby) outside of medicine. My outside interests in art and design have led me to engage more in my community, travel, and improve the visual state of both my home and office. A happy visual space makes for a place I want to be in. - Dr. Elizabeth...

Dr. Arisa Ortiz, MD Arisa Ortiz, MD, is a board-certified dermatologist and director of laser and cosmetic dermatology at UC San Diego Health. She specializes in the latest noninvasive procedures, including laser skin resurfacing, dermal filler and toxin injections, body contouring, skin tightening, and the treatment of scars. Dr. Ortiz is a frequent speaker at the American Academy of Dermatology, American Society for Dermatologic Surgery, American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery, and currently serves as chair of a national aesthetic meeting. She was a guest editor for Journal of Lasers in Surgery and Medicine and serves as a reviewer for Dermatologic Surgery Journal. In addition, she has published over 30 original medical articles and chapters on new innovations in cutaneous laser surgery. She completed a laser and cosmetic dermatology fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School and Wellman Center for Photomedicine. She acquired ad...

By Dr. Mark Kaufmann On July 12, 2018 CMS published their proposed rule on the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule. This 1,440 page document is filled with some very broad ranging proposals. These proposals include a blended E/M code system (one E/M code to replace 99202-99205, and 99212-99215), a 50% cut in E/Ms billed with a modifier -25, and another call for comments on whether global period visits are happening, just to name a few. While many of these changes could have wide ranging effects on all of our practices, today’s pearl will deal with the one change that will definitely happen on January 1, 2019- 6 new skin biopsy codes to replace the 2 that we are used to using. Current CPT codes 11100 and 11101 will be deleted from the CPT book AND will be denied payment if used on or after January 1, 2019. Replacing them will be 6 NEW codes- 3 base codes and 3 “additional biopsy" codes. The three new categories will be “Tangential Biopsy of Skin" (think Shave Biopsy)...

The Practice Advisory Committee doesn't want you to miss these practice management courses at the AAD Summer Academy: F013 – Trends in the Practice of dermatology: Consolidation and the Role of Private Equity F016 – Coding and Documentation U020 – MACRA,MIPS, and Advanced APMs Also stop by the AAD Resource Center to check out Digital Derm Coding Consult Pro and the new 2019 coding resources. Check out the full list of session here: https://www.aad.org/scientificsessions/sam2018/

Spotlight on Esteemed WDS Member, Dr. Amy Paller By Kate Oberlin, MD   Dr. Amy Paller is the Walter J. Hamlin Professor and Chair, Professor of Pediatrics and Director of the Skin Disease Research Center at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. She received her undergraduate and graduate degrees from Brown University and her medical degree from Stanford University.   Dr. Paller completed residency training in both Pediatrics and Dermatology at Northwestern University and her postdoctoral research fellowship at the University of North Carolina.   She is an author of more than 400 peer-reviewed publications and serves on the Council for the National Institute for Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.   Her NIH-funded laboratory focuses on the use of nanotechnology for topically applied gene regulation in treating skin disorders and on the role of glycolipids in the impaired wound healing and cutaneous innervation of diabetes. She r...