Physicians, practices, and other health care providers seem to face a continual decline in reimbursements. According to an AMA analysis, inflation-adjusted Medicare reimbursement rates for physicians dropped 22 percent from 2001 to 2021, and insurers of Affordable Care Act plans denied 17 percent of in-network claims in 2021.
The gut reaction is often to increase growth, but that brings on problems of its own, like reduced profitability from increased overhead and …
Have you ever marveled that a new patient will share with you their most intimate secrets just minutes after you initiate their medical history in the exam room? Patients will discuss what they might not share with friends, spouses, significant others, and even their clergyperson. This privilege should not be taken for granted.
It is time to pause and think about patients’ trust in physicians. This article will describe the current …
Just imagine when you felt hurt or betrayed by a colleague, patient, staff member, friend, or family member. Now, picture life if you could somehow free yourself of that hurt, pain, or discomfort. This article will discuss the concept of forgiveness and how it applies to our medical practice.
Examples of forgiveness
A white male racist burned down a predominantly African American church. The arsonist was convicted and sentenced to prison. He …
Our nation and the health care industry have been in shock following the assassination of the CEO of one of the largest insurance companies in the U.S. The brazen killing of Brian Thompson and the suspected shooter Luigi Mangione has captured America’s attention. The assassination has focused public outrage toward the health care insurance industry and revealed a lack of empathy for the victim and his family. A recent survey …
Health care is enjoying an abundance of positive attention as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. My question, my challenge, is how can we sustain this love-fest between the public and the health care profession even after we obtain a vaccine or an effective treatment for COVID-19?
Let’s be perfectly honest: six months ago, the American health care system was considered, even by physicians, as broken and in dire need of …
Today, the public has criticized health care as too high in technology and too low in touching. Computers take patients’ histories, provide a differential diagnosis, supply educational materials and even submit a bill for the services that we render. A new specialty — telemedicine — offers health care service to rural areas that were previously underserved or couldn’t afford the latest diagnostic technology. Telemedicine, a technology in its infancy, offers …
Recently, a Leonardo Da Vinci painting, Salvator Mundi (Savior of the World), was sold for $450 million, making it the largest fee for a painting ever sold. Was it a good investment? The painting was sold by Leonardo’s heir to King Francis I of France for 4000 gold ducats in 1519, which according to the American Numismatic Society would be equivalent to $575,000 at today’s price of gold at $1277 …
No one needs to know the value of multitasking more than a physician. At any point in time, we have to juggle a myriad of tasks and obligations. As a younger physician, I was able to recall multiple requests and obligations without writing them down. As I have grown older and the memory is starting to fade, I find it necessary to …
How do you describe the feeling when you are at a restaurant, and the waiter sees your coffee cup at less than half full (never half empty) and without asking they refill the cup or better yet, bring you a fresh cup of coffee? If you are like most customers, you have a nice feeling about the restaurant and the waiter as they have anticipated your needs. Usually, this anticipatory …
I don’t think so. I read with great interest the blog by Dr. Michael Kirsch defending physicians’ salaries: “If you think doctors make too much money, think about this.” Unfortunately, the public’s perception of physicians’ incomes has been that physicians make too much money.
Whenever I hear this remark from patients or even non-physicians, I show …
I am an email junkie and spend more time than I would like to admit on emails every day. I start my day by looking at emails, and I end every evening reviewing emails. And yes, I spend time during the day checking the computer for pertinent emails that need my attention. I think many physicians are of the same ilk.
According to Alexandra Samuels, who is the author of Work …
Sticks and stones may break my bones but two words — thank you — will not hurt you but will certainly help you.
We, myself included, are often so busy and always in a hurry rushing from one task to another that we often forget common courtesies. I believe that we can accomplish so much more with our patients, our staff, and even in our personal lives by not forgetting to …
Today so many physicians are not able to see pharmaceutical representatives (PRs). However, PRs do serve as a great resource and finding a way to make their visits more efficient and focused is an objective we all need to strive for.
I recall requesting an interview with Lou Holtz, then the head coach at Notre Dame, and was told by his secretary the date and time that the interview would take …
Have you ever tied your shoes and found that the bow unraveled and you almost tripped over your own laces? Learning to tie your shoes is a life skills task that you learned as a toddler unless you were trained on Velcro straps! You performed the task of tying your shoes nearly every day of your life believing that you were …
Many of our patients are besieged with unsolicited Internet advertisements offering them unbelievable solutions and cures to most of mankind’s medical maladies. Patients come to and ask for advice about these promises to magically restore their health.
Since I receive so many requests from patients to evaluate these offerings, I have put together five questions that patients should ask themselves before proceeding to buy from websites offering outlandish claims, including restoring …
I see nearly 100 patients a week. Of these, easily 35% are overweight and 15-20% are obese with a BMI greater than 30. I live in New Orleans, Louisiana, which along with Mississippi has the highest rate of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, arthritis, and other diseases commonly associated with obesity. There are many explanations for the obesity academic in America but certainly poor nutrition and lack of exercise are at the …
As a medical student I was in awe when a professor looked at a patient’s hands or nail beds and described their medical condition without taking a history. I was also enthralled by a TED talk by the best selling author, Abraham Verghese, where he described a lesson that Arthur Conan Doyle, author of Sherlock Holmes, learned as a medical student at the medical school in Edinburgh, Scotland from the famous physician …
We also know the basics of the beehive containing a single queen bee, hundreds of worker bees, and several hundred to several thousand drones with their only function is to mate with the queen (and after they perform this function they die!), each with their own degree of specialization and place in the honeybee society. However, there is …
Americans are notoriously generous and good tippers. However, there are some servers who get “over the top” gratuities. How do they do it?
1. They make a concerted effort to reach out and touch someone. How many physicians enter a room and never touch a patient? They are touching more keyboards than hearts. I have learned from complementary healthcare providers that there’s a medicinal value of touching the patient. Every chiropractor, …
Several years ago I wrote an article for physicians on the topic of balance, and one of the suggestions was to place family first. There are two stories that I have learned since the publication of that article that I would like to pass along.
Balance in a doctor’s life is best achieved if there is balance between family and work. One of the best suggestions is to place family …
