KevinMD

Do online physician rating sites help patients to choose a good doctor?

Kevin Pho, MD

KevinMD

November 22, 2010

The following op-ed was published on October 27th, 2010 in USA Today.

When I ask new patients how they found me, frequently they say on the Internet through search engines such as Google.

Out of curiosity, I recently Googled myself. Numerous ads appeared, promising readers a “detailed background report” or a “profile” of me. Among the search results was information about my practice, whether I was board certified, had any lawsuits against …

Medical malpractice reform in exchange for paying doctors less

Kevin Pho, MD

KevinMD

November 11, 2010

The bipartisan debt commission appointed by President Obama recently released its recommendations on how to pare the country’s debt.

Of interest to doctors is the suggestion to change the way doctors are paid. Physician lobbies have been advocating for removal of the Sustainable Growth Rate formula — the flawed method by which Medicare, and subsequently private insurers, pays doctors.

According to this method, physicians are due for a pay cut of …

Primary care private practice will die, will patients benefit?

Kevin Pho, MD

KevinMD

November 8, 2010

Having more primary care physicians doesn’t necessarily improve the quality of care.

That may come as a surprise to regular readers of this blog, but that’s one of the findings that came from a recent analysis of the Dartmouth Atlas.

As reported by the WSJ’s Health Blog,

having regular primary-care visits isn’t a guarantee of receiving recommended care. There was “no relationship” between rates of breast cancer screening for women age 67-69 …

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Primary care private practice will die, will patients benefit?

Can a social media manager convince doctors to get online?

Kevin Pho, MD

KevinMD

November 8, 2010

A social media manager is becoming an imperative position for hospitals.

Medical institutions are waking up to the fact that they need to engage their patients and physicians online. No where is there more fertile growth than in the various social media platforms that are prevalent today — like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

American Medical News recently profiled the phenomenon, highlighting the position of social media manager, which some institutions pay between …

Screening for lung cancer with a CT scan: What the NLST results mean

Kevin Pho, MD

KevinMD

November 4, 2010

Lung cancer screening has been an area of considerable controversy. Before today, there had been no evidence that screening patients for lung cancer, either with a CT scan or chest x-ray, saved lives.

For years, doctors have been waiting for the results of the large, randomized National Lung Screening Trial (NLST), conducted by the National Cancer Institute.

This morning, it was announced that the trial was stopped early, with a …

Sick doctors who work are doing more harm to their patients than good

Kevin Pho, MD

KevinMD

October 28, 2010

Doctors: if you’re sick, don’t go to work.

The stereotype of doctors is that they go to work, despite whatever symptoms ail them. Calling in sick places strain on colleagues. Especially in residency, where team members are expected to pick up the slack.

In a recent column, the New York Times’ Pauline Chen discusses the image of self-sacrifice that a sick doctor going to work portrays:

Hacking, febrile or racked with the …

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Sick doctors who work are doing more harm to their patients than good

Specialist and primary care pay per hour

Kevin Pho, MD

KevinMD

October 26, 2010

Authors of a recent study from the Archives of Internal Medicine are unlikely to endear themselves to specialists.

As reported by Reuters, and provocatively titled, Do specialist doctors make too much money?, the study gives a per-hour breakdown of how much doctors make.

I think this is a good approach, since annual salary figures do not account for the number of hours doctors work — and in the case of primary …