Health Care Reform With Out High Tech: Changing a Culture of Fatness to a Culture of Fitness

 
President Obama has a stimulus package all ready to roll out.  Reportedly, it will include money ear marked to expand COBRA.  If this is true, there will be precious little left to fund the ‘everybody has to have an EMR’ mandate.
Good, I say.  Let’s work on some low tech solutions that will reap true benefits.  [...]

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 [...]

Enter to win a Amazon gift card–list a goal for your practice this year and a plan to achieve it!

See the December 29 post and enter your practice’s goals for 2009.  Include a plan by which your will achieve the goals.  The best plan wins a $15 gift card from Amazon.

Power to the Punctual! How Physicians can be on Time!

Patients have a pet peeve: they hate waiting for the doctor.  I hate waiting for the doctor, and hate it when patients wait for me!  It’s very funny, but in my personal life I tend to run late, but at work, I’m usually on time.  Reflecting on what helps me be on time, I came [...]

Enter the YOUR plan to improve your practice and win an Amazon Gift Card!

See the December 29 post and enter your practice’s goals for 2009.  Include a plan by which your will achieve the goals.  The best plan wins a $15 gift card from Amazon.

Don’t Write Off E-prescribing

I may appear to be somewhat of a troglodyte, but I actually have  committed myself to learning to love technology.  I am the proud owner of a smart phone, have mastered my email, and actually use two different EMRs.  So, you see, this qualified me as an expert on EMRs and e-prescribing (wipe that smirk off your [...]

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 [...]

State CME Guidelines

State
MD/DO
CME Credits
Required
Term
(years)
AMA PRA
Category 1 Credit(s)TM
required
Required Topics

Alabama
MD/DO
12
1
12
 

Alaska
MD/DO
50
2
50
 

Arizona
MD
40
2
 
 

DO
40
2
24(AOA 1-A)
 

Arkansas
MD/DO
20
1
Not specified
 

California
MD
100
4
100
1 time requirement of 12 hrs. pain mgmt. and end of life care; If >20% of patients are over 65, 20 hrs. in Geriatric medicine required

DO
150
3
60
(AOA 1-A or B
1 time requirement of 12 hrs. pain mgmt. and end of life care; If >20% of patients are over 65, [...]

Walk the Talk: the Patient Encounter

I am fascinated by how we physicians communicate (or not) with each other and with our patients.  As a medical student and resident NO ONE ever thought about how physicians communicated with patients.  We were always so focused on nailing the disease process and treatment that the patient was nearly ignored.  I don’t think I [...]

Allow Natural Death v. Do Not Resuscitate

“Allow Natural Death”
There is a movement afoot to replace DNR with “AND” or Allow Natural Death.  The idea is that patients and families are put off by the verbiage of DNR–that agreeing to a DNR is a death sentence.  Families and patients do not want to sign such an order committing them to what appears [...]