Book Club: The E Myth Physician

I love to read, especially anything related to business and medicine.  I have finally realized, after 15 years in practice, that is not enough to just be a doctor.  Whether we like it or not, we are all small business owners, and some of us are even entrepreneurs.  Today I will review The E Myth [...]

Hip Hip HIPAA–Myth Busting 101

Photo: starpulse.com
As far as I am concerned HIPAA has added another layer of useless paperwork on to the backs of physicians, and I particularly resent the cost it has added to primary care.  Therefore, I was excited to see an article on HIPAA myths.  Below is my summary of HIPAA myth bustin’:
Myth 1: You can’t [...]

10 Things Patients Love To Hate About Their Doctors

Patients have a love/hate relationship with their physicians.  They love some things and hate others.  Here is a list of things they hate, and actually take as a sign of incompetence, rather than just poor bed side skills.

Being a slouch.  Patients take the lack of eye contact, hands in pockets and crossed arms as a [...]

Staying Afloat in Tough Economic Waters Part 2

So, continuing on with my tale of my little business…I left off describing how ExtraMD ( my local locums company) was going to weather these stormy economic times.  I have noticed a drastic drop in shift requests.  Over the past two years, we have typically had 10 shifts per month unfilled, almost enough for a full [...]

And Now A Little About Me: How ExtraMD is Weathering the Financial Crisis

If only I could get paid for worrying!  I was up last night at 1:30 am, worrying about my company, ExtraMD.  I formed ExtraMD five years ago, when I left the large hospitalist group I was working for.  The hospitalist group was (and still is!) made up of intelligent, caring physicians.  I earned a nice [...]

Win an Amazon Gift Card: What Are Your Goals for Your Practice in 2009?

As a way to encourage goal setting and planning for medical practices, I am hosting a contest.  I will email a $15 Amazon gift card to the person who sends in the best plan for improving their medical practice in 2009.
Here are the rules:

Under the comments section for this post, list the goal your practice will [...]

Link Fest: Updates on group visits, RVUs, Medicare and the ‘Physician Shortage’

I’ve been storing up some links and today seemed to be a good time to have at ‘em!  They range from the scary (Health Policy and Market) to the fun (the Efficient MD’s slide show.)
Read The Country Doc Report for another take on the group visit.  Country Doc relates how his practice does a group diabetic [...]

10 Reasons Your Medical Practice is Failing, and How to Fix It

As the ExtraMD, PookieMD has seen lots of practices.  I have also been asked to evaluate failing practices to see where they got off track.  There are some common themes amongst failing practices.  For once, I will NOT carry on about reimbursement, but rather focus on where the physician owners of these failing practices went wrong. [...]

How Did I get Here from There?

I started out at age 5 wanting to be a doctor, and so that is what I became.  However, it’s not what I expected.  I thought I would save the world, but am not really sure if I have saved anyone.  I have learned that medicine is really a business, and will use this blog [...]