Generalsurgerynews.com— Kevin Petersen, MD, a private practice surgeon in Las Vegas, grew more frustrated each year. And like many general surgeons, the things that frustrated him about his practice had little to do with performing surgery. He became most frustrated when trying to get reimbursed by Medicare for a patient on whom he had operated and whose surgery had been preapproved by the insurance company. Dr. Petersen dedicated increasing hours to wrangling with insurance companies and Medicare. His clinical decisions sometimes sparked long disagreements with payers. His office costs soared as he took on staff to deal with the bureaucracy of third-party payers. Meanwhile, almost every year, he faced another threat of cuts in reimbursement.   To continue reading click here.