Practice Management

Leaders who elevate diverse employees create psychological safety

Policy

December 15, 2022

When I transitioned into a new role as a training faculty member at an academic medical center a few years ago, it didn’t take long to realize that the program had a problem with psychological safety. There wasn’t much.

As I got to know the trainees and heard specific feedback, I began to understand why. The trainees felt criticized and unsupported by the training faculty. And every time there was a …

Everything you need to know about a physician mortgage loan

Loretta Kilday, Esq

Finance

December 15, 2022

People might think having a medical degree can help you get a home loan. But it’s more complex and nearly impossible for physicians. Medical professionals, especially recent graduates, often have a high debt-to-income ratio because of student loans, making it difficult to qualify for conventional home loans. Doctors also have trouble when they don’t have any savings.

Fortunately, there is an alternative tailored explicitly for physicians called …

How clinicians can respond to the “big ask”

Susan MacLellan-Tobert, MD

Physician

December 15, 2022

“Between stimulus and response, there is space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
– Viktor Frankl

In the post-pandemic practice environment, the autonomy-squishing “big ask” within many organizations is for providers to see more patients and improve practice efficiency with dwindling resources so as to buffer the bottom line and allow for system recovery. This mandate may make us …

Don’t be like Elon Musk. Get a lawyer for your clinic.

Kristin Puhl, MD

Physician

December 13, 2022

Employers need lawyers. This doesn’t just apply in medicine — it’s true everywhere. For a recent high-profile example, let’s consider Twitter. If massive layoffs had been made without adequate notice as required by California law, they could be on the hook for millions of dollars in damages.

However, medicine likes to consider itself as different from other businesses. It’s a nice idea, this fantasy of the country doctor who delivers babies …

Every physician should own a timeshare [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

December 11, 2022

Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes!

“One of the biggest misconceptions about timeshares is the idea that you have to visit the same location every year. In reality, timeshare owners have access to a wide range of properties and destinations through timeshare exchange …

If the hospital CEO emailed employees like Twitter’s CEO

Jennifer Lycette, MD

Physician

December 7, 2022

To: [Group: all employees]

From: Office of the CEO

Subject: A fork in the road

Going forward, we will need to be extremely hardcore to streamline a restructured Health care 2.0 and succeed in an increasingly diseased world. This will mean working even longer hours at high intensity. Only exceptional performance will justify a new N95 mask each week.

Health care will also be much more profit-driven. Physicians and nurses will still be very …

A case against real estate syndications

Harry Nima Zegarra, MD

Finance

December 2, 2022

If you like real estate, you may have heard the term “real estate syndications.” This is a fancy term for group investment, where several people get together to acquire a big asset (like an apartment complex), they form an LLC, and there are active investors who manage the property and passive investors who help with the capital for the down payment, and they get to share the profits with the …

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A case against real estate syndications

Time constraints in physical therapy [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

December 1, 2022

Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes!

“Picture this. A patient in a hospital or rehab facility has just finished exercising with therapy. He is thirsty, and he thinks he might as well ask for a snack now because he will be hungry in 30 minutes. …

We get what we incentivize

Kristin Puhl, MD

Physician

December 1, 2022

We get what we incentivize.

This is a basic rule. I’d love to say it’s a basic rule of humanity, but unfortunately, I have a background in psychology, so I know it goes a lot deeper than that—it’s a basic rule of every living creature. Humans are, in many ways, just very big pigeons. We reliably prioritize certain rewards. We prefer smaller sooner rewards to larger later rewards; we push the …

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We get what we incentivize

Medical innovation: a serendipitous step toward gender equity

Samantha Lai

Tech

November 23, 2022

There has never been a better time to be a woman entrepreneur. With ever-growing numbers of venture funds specifically for women and nonprofits dedicated to advancing women in tech, the next Apple is ripe for the picking. However, there remains a wide chasm to cross. Currently, startups led by women command less than 3 percent of venture capital investment dollars.

Upon diving deeper into this disparity, a 2020 paper published by …

Ambulatory medicine today: Focus on what you can control

Robert Murry, MD

Physician

November 20, 2022

Patient volume has recovered across the country, and most medical offices are back to a steady state of care delivery—but ambulatory care has changed irrevocably. We’ve entered a phase shaped by crisis and marked by even more intense cost pressure and consolidation. What steps can independent medical practices take now to help ensure stability and prosperity moving forward?

Offer employees a more rewarding work experience.

The great resignation—unprecedented turnover in the labor …

Let’s focus more on caring, rather than coding

Jay Anders, MD

Physician

November 16, 2022

Risk adjustment is a statistical method used by health plans to predict an individual’s use of health care services and the associated cost of care. Unlike traditional fee-for-service Medicare, Medicare Advantage (MA) plans receive a flat monthly payment for the individual beneficiary’s cost of care, with payments partially based on risk score.

Higher risk scores mean higher payments, and plans have financial incentives linked to more thorough documentation (coding) of their …

Common open enrollment considerations for doctors

Shane Tenny, CFP

Finance

November 15, 2022

Similar to most financial topics, benefit elections are not a one-size-fits-all recommendation. Open enrollment occurs at the end of each year and remains open for a month and a half. During this time, you can sign up for health insurance, flexible spending accounts (FSA) for health care and/or dependent care, health savings accounts (HSA), retirement plans, as well as other benefits. Be aware that employers often use the open enrollment …

Physicians are only good for 90 days

Aaron Morgenstein, MD & Victoria Brown, MD

Physician

November 14, 2022

“Nothing is certain except death and taxes.”

Physicians are commonly offered one, two, and three-year employment contracts that appear ironclad and have automatic renewal clauses. The length of these contracts encourages us to believe we can confidently make major financial decisions based on expected income. Moreover, we want to believe that enduring years of training and oppressive loans have finally resulted in financial success. So, we read contracts hoping these agreements …

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Physicians are only good for 90 days

The powerful role of administrative leaders in high-value primary care

Sara Pastoor, MD

Physician

November 13, 2022

The market for health administrators in the U.S. is projected to grow 28 percent from 2021 to 2031, growing more rapidly than the average for all other occupations.

Traditionally, those in health administration work in hospitals, large health systems, health plan organizations, and consulting firms. However, health administration has the potential to contribute value to every component of the U.S. health care …

Negotiating a raise with the right compensation data

Kyle Claussen, JD

Policy

November 13, 2022

As a physician, do you know the average salary for your specialty and location? What about the average signing or relocation bonus? If you don’t know or are unsure of how to get that information, you are not alone.

In a society where most employees hesitate to openly share compensation numbers, it can be difficult to determine what you should be earning, physician or otherwise. Unfortunately, employers benefit much more from …

3 pieces of advice to create a meaningful career

David Danhauer, MD

Physician

November 8, 2022

It’s never too early – or too late – to create a career that’s your own. It’s always the right time to keep the door open to learning, to try your best, and to allow yourself to grow through experience and time.

Over the last four decades of my career, I’ve learned a lot. And now, as I’m about to retire, I find myself reflecting. I’ve been a pediatrician and started …

Building individual health equity

Paula Muto, MD

Policy

October 28, 2022

Buying health insurance is a lot like renting an apartment. Finding the perfect place is hard, and the price is always higher than you expect. But if it is conveniently close to your employer and there are few other affordable options, you sign the lease and agree to all of the terms. Only after a few monthly payments do you realize electricity, heat, water, and snow removal are not included. …

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Building individual health equity

Leading an organizational culture change? Consider an apology first.

Beth Boynton, RN, MS, CP

Conditions

October 27, 2022

Leading an organization from a culture of bullying or blaming to a culture of safety is a daunting initiative. Unhealthy alignments are deeply embedded in toxic cultures, and informal power dynamics may influence how people behave. Instead of respectful communication where giving and receiving constructive feedback is ongoing, common behaviors include:

gossip
exclusion
humiliation
sabotage
withholding

All of which perpetuate a cycle of broken trust and poor conduct.

While patients, the workforce, …

Medical malpractice is a lot like running a marathon

Christine Zharova, Esq

Policy

October 26, 2022

A medical malpractice process is a lot like running a marathon.

The analogy makes it easy to understand why physicians are emotionally unready to go through years of litigation and often find themselves struggling.

To successfully make it through the grueling 26.2 miles, a runner has to be well-prepared.

It’s common for runners to join a running group. Sometimes, engage a coach who can help to train smart.

Runners will spend months building up …