A new report predicts hundreds of millions of smartphone owners will be using mobile health applications by 2015. Health apps can not only help patients track their own behaviors in order to improve their health, they can give physicians information that can ultimately help them provide better healthcare.

If you’ve ever loaned money to a family member, you know how awkward -- even uncomfortable -- it can be. Sometimes the risk outweighs the reward. The same holds true when it comes to leading money to colleagues. If you're considering helping a junior associate out with a loan, here are some ways to protect yourself.

Medical matchmaking? Why not? At a time when physicians are looking to promote themselves and the services of their practice to a wider audience, having a chance to meet with prospective patients in a relaxed environment is an opportunity to forge new relationships. And while it might resemble, at first blush, a night of speed dating, the focus here is on healthcare.

It’s easy for doctors to get caught up in the day-to-day regimen of providing the best medical care for their patients. After all, that’s your job. What sometimes gets lost in the shuffle, however, is that physicians should also be enabling to their staff -- helping them be as productive and efficient as possible.

Many in the medical community have come to realize that social media is about communication. That’s a key factor in building online communities between physicians and their patients. Before you engage in social media, however, you need to understand how to “talk the talk” and determine what kind of communications your patients want from you.

Some are predicting the use of videoconferencing by physicians is about to boom, and experts say acceptance of the technology by physicians and their patients is growing. While physicians who use videoconferencing tools are able to realize significant efficiency and productivity gains, finding a reimbursement model that works can be a challenge.

Migrating to a cloud-computing service can give smaller and mid-sized medical practices access to IT management expertise and advances in technology typically available to much larger organizations. But practice managers need to consider security and regulatory issues before they take to the clouds.

Too often, the focus on the medical practice billing process is whether or not it’s efficient. The first question really should be, "Is the process effective?" Taking the time to make these basic observations will help in understanding both effectiveness and efficiency of your billing system.

The risks inherent in inaccurate coding are two-fold: On the financial side, it often means that medical practices are not properly reimbursed. Of greater importance, however, is the growing danger of poor coding resulting in fraud charges.

A multidisciplinary practice -- one that includes both licensed medical doctors and other healthcare professionals, such as chiropractors, acupuncturists and other alternative medicine practitioners. But these non-traditional practices can face a number of challenging considerations.