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 [...]

Survival Tips for Primary Care: How to Save Money

Now that I have vented/ranted/opined on the demise of primary care, let’s move to some survival tips. Following are PookieMD’s two fundamental. most important, and most loathsome rules of survival in primary care medicine.
The money is in the numbers.
Time is money.
Yes, you have to see patients to  make money, and given today’s reimbursement you have to [...]

Wand Waving Part 2: Common Sense is Uncommon

Let’s jump right  into the second part of PookieMD’s dissertation on the Medical Home.   As you recall, I was reviewing the 10 rules of the medical home, as set forth by the National Committee for Quality Assurance.  The next three concepts are NOT new, and are, you guessed it, common sense.  (Why is common sense so uncommon?)
4.  [...]

Another One Bites the Dust: Dr. T. Leaves Primary Care

I received a disturbing email from one of the doctors in my group, Dr T.  My group is made up of internists and family practice physicians that fill in locally through out the large city we live in.  All the physicians are board certified and have been out of residency for five years or more.  Several of [...]

PookieMD Airlines: How aviation check lists apply to medicine

I am married to an electrical engineer that loves to fly around in a small airplane.  Because I hang out with him, I’ve been forced to observe the intricacies of not crashing into other planes and landing safely.  I’ve learned a lot.
Pilots have a check list for everything.  Plane manufacturers include an entire book of checklists [...]

21 Primary Care Time Wasters

In my travels as the ExtraMD, I have seen many different practices, different styles and hundreds of ways practices waste time and annoy patients.  In my quest to help primary care physicians stay afloat, I will list my observations of time wasters that suck the joy out of medicine.  I will also include my incredibly astute [...]

What We Didn’t Learn in Medical School and Residency

One of my favorite rants is “What we didn’t learn…”  I remember finishing my residency in internal medicine, thinking I had learned everything I needed to go out and cure patients, save the world, and get paid while doing it.  Boy was I wrong.  It was just the beginning!  Some of the lessons have come [...]