Practice Management

How an insurance company auditor tried to destroy a physician’s career

Physician
February 6, 2019

It’s no secret that in today’s health care market, insurance companies are calling the shots. As a pediatrician in private practice for almost two decades, I’ve seen insurance companies transform into perhaps the single most powerful player in today’s health care landscape — final arbiters whose decisions about which procedures or medications to authorize effectively end up determining the course of patient care.

Decisions made by insurers, such as MassHealth, have …

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2 questions every physician should ask themselves

Physician
February 5, 2019

The numbers are in. Medscape National Physician Burnout, Depression & Suicide Report 2019 indicates that the rate of physician burnout is still at an all-time high. Forty-four percent of physicians reported feeling burnt out.

According to the report, 50 percent of women reported experiencing burnout versus 38 percent of men. Carol Bernstein, MD, a psychiatrist at NYU Langone Medical Center, states that the reasons for the difference …

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How physicians can use Marie Kondo’s KonMari Method

Physician
February 2, 2019

Marie Kondo, the best-selling guru of organization and “sparking joy” has established the foundation of getting a space organized and functional. Her do-it-all-once method, known as the KonMari Method, is considered healthy and life-altering for those seeking organization and productivity in their space. One of the ideal places to organize is the home office especially for doctors, nurses and medical professionals who have reading, studying and research to do. You …

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How to write a physician CV

Physician
February 2, 2019

This article is sponsored by Careers by KevinMD.com.

Academic and education environments tend to use the word curriculum vitae, or CV, more frequently than resume. But, a CV’s purpose is the same: to get you a job.

Although a CV generally contains more information than a standard resume, the keys to a successful CV are still brevity and …

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How to talk with a struggling physician colleague

Physician
February 1, 2019

My friend, Lello Tesema, and I were sitting in a restaurant in Harvard Square. It was the first, feverish bit of spring when it seems like the entire city has emerged en masse from their winter dens. We were sitting outside under patio lights, wearing regular clothes instead of our usual scrubs. I should have been happy.

As often happened in those days, I asked Lello if things were ever going …

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Treat your family like you treat your patients

Physician
January 24, 2019

Many times during difficult patient interactions — when I am not sure about the right thing to do — I let myself be guided by the question: “What would I do if it was my family member?” This internal dialogue usually cuts the clutter and lets me focus on the most important thing: the well-being of my patient. I can step away from the behavioral chaos and guide them in …

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This physician chose not to do a triathlon. Here’s why.

Physician
January 24, 2019

I posted on social media that in 2019, I would compete in Ironman. I wanted to hold myself accountable and was announcing “I could do this.” My primary reason, so I thought, was that “I wanted to grow mentally and physically.”

Since then, I have been training six hours per week on top of my usual daily routine. I have been mentally and physically challenged in ways I didn’t think possible. …

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It’s OK to care more about things outside of medicine

Physician
January 21, 2019

It seems like natural human tendency to explain ourselves.  When we are late to a meeting, we come up with an excuse in case anyone asks.  When our kid starts throwing a temper tantrum at the store, people stare at us expecting an apology.  In the same way, when we decide that there are things outside of medicine that are more important to us than the job – an explanation …

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5 powerful tips for women in medicine

Physician
January 21, 2019

As a woman in medicine, where the odds for pay, promotion, and leadership are stacked against me, I feel obligated to light the path for younger women who come behind me.  It has taken me a while to be comfortable with my style of leadership, own my own voice, be able to regroup after rejection, and tolerate feeling on display and yet often invisible.

I wish someone would have told me the following …

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How should salespeople sell to doctors?

Physician
January 21, 2019

Two device salesmen recently came unannounced to our small private gastroenterology practice. They were hawking a product that could quickly and non-invasively determine how much scar tissue had formed in a patient’s liver, a useful tool for assessing patients with hepatitis and many other liver conditions.

We are physicians, not entrepreneurs. We do not regard the colonoscope as a capitalist tool. Yet, these two salesmen were barraging us with facts and …

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The old days of medicine are gone

Physician
January 17, 2019

In the last decade, specifically in the last five to six years, we have seen the gradual disempowerment of America’s physicians as well as their unfortunate patients.

Starting with health management organizations, managed care, all the way to the insurance exchange, doctoring has been forcefully wrestled away from physicians only to be placed into the hands of large insurers, administrators and the United States government.

The common denominator was never about improving …

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The fallacy of work-life balance in medicine

Physician
January 15, 2019

Physician well-being, burnout, and “work-life balance” are pretty common topics in training.  We start at intern orientation, discussing how to work 80 hours a week, eat, sleep, exercise, and still have some semblance of social life.  It’s like we’ve forgotten the origins of our job title: “resident” or “house staff” — implying that, until recently (and even now, in places outside of North America), we, the physicians-in-training, lived at the hospital.  …

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How physicians can successfully wind down their practice

Finance
January 14, 2019

A retirement plan isn’t usually a top priority for fresh doctors looking for their first jobs, whether that final date is in five years or thirty. Perhaps knowing when to hang up your hat is immaterial so early in your career since most doctors will end up leaving their first job within the first five years anyway.  However, I do wish that I had some inkling about the career paths …

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Investing in the stock market is like playing that game of rock-paper-scissors

Finance
January 11, 2019

Rock-paper-scissors is a game that nearly all of us played as children.

It is a game with incredible opportunities to play mind games with your opponent.

There is no luck in rock-paper-scissors as with card games.

The game does not have complex rules like chess.

You simply have to figure out the patterns of your opponent (or induce patterns into them) and take advantage accordingly.

Can you beat the New York Times computer bot?

Back in …

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A financial checklist for the pregnant woman physician

Finance
January 11, 2019

Women physicians are disheartened when they discover the financial implications of having children. Most of us will not get paid leave. Many of us are the breadwinning partner. And most of us will not become stay at home moms so we will need to pay for high-quality childcare or have a stay at home spouse.

Certain things should be in place prior to becoming pregnant. So even if you’re single, I …

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What physicians should know about umbrella insurance

Finance
December 28, 2018

Asset protection is a term that gets tossed around quite a bit when we discuss how long and difficult the journey is for doctors to establish their careers.  You always want to protect what you’ve worked hard for, right? The principles for asset protection apply not only to doctors but essentially anyone who wishes to have some sort of security for their assets. The key is to make sure you don’t over …

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12 things you’ll need for a smooth credentialing process

Physician
December 25, 2018

Physicians receive rigorous medical training for the better part of a decade. However, we emerge unprepared for the real-world job application process to which our friends in other professions are accustomed. One of these logistics includes credentialing and verification for hospitals and clinics where your group intends to practice — a process that can take up to three months.

There are a number of items that are requested during the credentialing …

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