Dina Strachan is a dermatologist and author of Moxie Mindset: Secrets of Building a Profitable, Independent Physicians Practice in a Competitive Market.  She can be reached at her self-titled site, Dr. Dina Strachan, and on Twitter @drdinamd.

Why is it hard to find a good dermatologist in a competitive market?

Physician
May 30, 2020

We’ve all heard the phrase, “survival of the fittest.” It suggests that in the competitive, “free market” world, it is the “best” who survives and it’s “the cream” that rises to the top.  But is that true for doctors?  Do patients get better care when competition rules the health care marketplace?

A few years ago, a doctor from a large primary care group contacted me to give a talk to the …

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Why is it hard to find a good dermatologist in a competitive market?

Alexithymia: patient satisfaction, doctor burnout and health care costs

Physician
December 26, 2019

My next patient was a healthy man in his early 20s following up for eczema.  His case had not been severe, so I had anticipated that the prescription strength steroid cream I had given him would have addressed his symptoms faster than I had promised.  His chief complaint had been itch—a symptom—something that he was experiencing.  He hadn’t even noticed the rash.  It was what one would call “bread and …

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Alexithymia: patient satisfaction, doctor burnout and health care costs

I don’t apologize for being a fast doctor

Physician
September 30, 2016

When we think about the technology revolution, we often get excited at the thought of getting what we want instantly. We wait in line for new smartphones. We instant message. We love fast. Getting something done faster, with as good a result, is usually seen as a virtue — unless one is a doctor.

In these times of fast information, we find ourselves bombarded with surveys. Part of the downside of …

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I don’t apologize for being a fast doctor