Practice Management

It’s time to ban productivity from medicine

Policy

September 25, 2017

According to Wikipedia, “Productivity describes various measures of the efficiency of production. A productivity measure is expressed as the ratio of output to inputs used in a production process, i.e., output per unit of input. Productivity is a crucial factor in production performance of firms and nations.”

Please tell me how this relates to being a physician or a patient. We do not produce anything. Rather we work with individuals to …

For women physicians, is there a connection between productivity and burnout?

Diane W. Shannon, MD, MPH

Physician

September 16, 2017

Is the practice of medicine a different experience for male and female physicians? Two recent studies from athenahealth suggest that it is — in ways that should make us rethink what we value in health care.

The first study found that male physicians are more productive than their female counterparts. In an analysis of 47 million visits on the athenahealth network in 2016, male physicians generated 30 to 40 percent more …

The surprising sleeping arrangements of an emergency physician

Edwin Leap, MD

Physician

September 15, 2017

I used to practice locums medicine; which for the lay person means traveling to different jobs, sometimes several states at a time. During that time I stayed in a lot of hotels. But, occasionally, I had more unique accomodations. Obviously, if you travel enough, you’ll sleep in an airport here and there. No big deal. I actually like sleeping in airports occasionally. When you’re stuck, you’re stuck. Weather or …

Take back our practices with physician cooperatives

Maiysha Clairborne, MD

Physician

September 14, 2017

One of the biggest points of contention in the ongoing discussion of burnout is that the system of health care is flawed. The endless bureaucracy, decreasing physician pay, and increasing meaningful use requirements that spawn endless clicking on an already inefficient electronic medical record platform have become unbearable by most practicing physicians today.

Furthermore, all the talk about mindfulness only riles up more anger in physicians as they feel they are …

5 keys to a successful long-distance relationship during medical school

Sarah Epstein

Education

August 31, 2017

When my husband Brian started first-year of medical school at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, I jettisoned off to Thailand to spend a year teaching English and traveling. We figured if we were going to date long-distance, why not go all in? Why not ensure that we were a full 12 hours apart, on literal opposite sides of the world. What can I say? We like a …

Help me help doctors in recovery

Stephen F. Chambers, MD

Physician

August 24, 2017

Approximately 12 years ago, I hired my first physician in recovery. He had temporarily lost his license following a bout with alcohol. After a stint in a rehabilitation clinic, he was ultimately reinstated. My journey to hire this physician was arduous at best. During the interviewing process, I narrowed the field down to two candidates: one with a past and one without. I wrestled with the “in recovery” situation and …

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Help me help doctors in recovery

Stop the patient leakage in primary care practices

Fred N. Pelzman, MD

Physician

August 24, 2017

Yesterday, we had a meeting about leakage.

No, it was not about urinary or fecal incontinence, but it was about care that could have been provided within our institution that ended up, for a multitude of reasons, happening with providers beyond the walls of our institution.

Representatives from our accountable care organization had requested a meeting to go over some issues they’ve been having with our practice, including low levels of usage …

This doctor sings to her patients. And the results are beautiful.

Jessica Jameson, MD

Physician

August 22, 2017

I am an interventional pain physician. I spend most of my days doing spine injections with a fair amount of kyphoplasties and spinal cord stimulators thrown in as well. It seems to me that these are minor procedures that shouldn’t evoke anxiety in patients, but they do. Patients get nervous. They get anxious.

I am also a singer. I had the privilege of being classically trained through my college years. Like …