Michigan students launch peer-reviewed medical journal
A University of Michigan Medical School student, Sagar Deshpande, noticed a trend emerging in the student experience. He heard colleagues repeatedly voicing frustration at having spent time on methodologically sound research without getting their work published because their results were not what principal investigators had expected. So he had an idea: Why not start a medical journal run by students, for students ’ own research?
Deshpande shared the idea with a fellow student, Spencer Lewis, and in 2014 the two approached a faculty member, Mike Englesbe, MD, in the Department of Surgery.“I immediately appreciated how ...
Source: AMA Wire - September 20, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Timothy Smith Source Type: news
Building emotional intelligence in medical trainees
Medical schools around the world are working to help students develop resilience to not only make them better physicians but also healthier individuals. At Cardiff University in the United Kingdom, they are accomplishing this with a new program that focuses on building emotional intelligence.
At theInternational Conference on Physician Health ™ in Boston, Debbie Cohen, MD, OBE, an occupation health physician and director of student support at the Centre for Psychosocial and Disability Research at Cardiff University in the United Kingdom, explained the theory behind Cardiff ’s emotional intelligence development program...
Source: AMA Wire - September 19, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Troy Parks Source Type: news
Get the CPT ® 2017 Standard edition
TheCPT ® 2017 Standardcodebook helps professionals remain compliant with annual Current Procedural Terminology code set changes. This is the AMA ' s official coding resource for procedural coding, rules and guidelines, which can help readers perform accurate claims submissions.
It is designed to help improve CPT ® code competency and assist professionals in complying with current CPT® code changes, enabling them to submit accurate procedural claims.
The CPT ® Standard codebook covers hundreds of code, guideline and text changes and features the following enhancements:A comprehensive and updated index helps you in loc...
Source: AMA Wire - September 19, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Timothy Smith Source Type: news
Five ways to recognize patient cues, understand needs
When physicians show true empathy while listening to their patients in the exam room, patients and their families are often more satisfied and more open to adopting their advice —and it builds a much stronger patient-physician relationship. Though it seems simple, empathetic listening requires understanding how to recognize the cues that patients offer.
Practicing empathy can save time and help physicians navigate difficult situations that arise in practice. It can also forge deeper connections with patients that lead to greater professional satisfaction and joy in work for physicians.Listening with empathy, recognizing...
Source: AMA Wire - September 19, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Timothy Smith Source Type: news
Being in attendance: Where medicine and meditation merge
In a hospital setting, physicians are often called “attendings.” One expert in the merging of meditation and medicine recently spoke to physicians about the importance of making that word matter by being in attendance at each moment of the day to heal and maintain your own well-being so that you can be a better healer for your patients.
At the start of a session at the International Conference on Physician Health in Boston, Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD, professor of medicine emeritus and creator of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Clinic and the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at the Universi...
Source: AMA Wire - September 19, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Timothy Smith Source Type: news
Court overturns physical therapy decision
A positive decision for patients Thursday was made in the South Carolina Supreme Court to allow physician practices to employ physical therapists, ending a longstanding disagreement regarding how the practice of physical therapy should be regulated in the state.
At stake inJoseph v. South Carolina Department of Labor, was whether physical therapists in South Carolina can provide treatment as direct employees of physicians to make that service more easily available for patients. The ruling: Physicians in South Carolina can now employ physical therapists in their practice.“This patient-centered decision from the Court sup...
Source: AMA Wire - September 16, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Troy Parks Source Type: news
Salary comparison reminds residents: Plan now
An infographic comparing the incomes of physicians and teachers underscores the need for comprehensive financial planning early in physicians ’ careers.“The Deceptive Salary of Doctors,” published by bestmedicaldegrees.com, pulls data from the Association of American Colleges, the Bureau of Labor Statistics and numerous other sources to demonstrate the huge costs of becoming a physician and maintaining a practice.
It draws a stark conclusion: Over a lifetime, physicians make less per hour than teachers do. After loan debt, physicians can expect to make a little more than $4.7 million in their careers; teachers, a li...
Source: AMA Wire - September 14, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Troy Parks Source Type: news
Parental leave in GME: Two physicians recognized for research
Two physicians will conduct one of the first studies in more than 20 years on present-day parental leave across medical specialties in graduate medical education (GME). They were awarded the Joan F. Giambalvo Fund for the Advancement of Women grant for their work, announced Wednesday in conjunction with Women in Medicine Month.
The AMA Women Physicians Section (WPS) hostsWomen in Medicine Month each September to acknowledge pioneering women, celebrate their accomplishments and help cultivate future women physicians. TheJoan F. Giambalvo Fund for the Advancement of Women was established by the AMA-WPS and theAMA Foundat...
Source: AMA Wire - September 14, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Troy Parks Source Type: news
Physician efforts to reverse opioid epidemic quantified
When patients present with issues, physicians look to the most effective tools for treatment. The same is true in addressing an epidemic. While much more work remains to reverse the nation ’s opioid epidemic, using tools such as prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMP), medication-assisted treatment and naloxone, physicians are making progress. A new fact sheet provides some evidence of that progress on a number of fronts.Focused prescribing practices
In a fact sheet released by the AMA,physicians ’ progress to reverse the nation’s opioid epidemic was quantified showing new trends in the use of available tools. ...
Source: AMA Wire - September 14, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Troy Parks Source Type: news
Meaningful Use gets a meaningful change: 90-day reporting
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have issued a proposed change making Meaningful Use more flexible for physicians by allowing them to report only for a 90-day period in 2016. Also included in the change is a hardship exemption for first time Meaningful Use participants to report once in 2017 to satisfy both Meaningful Use and the Advanced Care Information (ACI) performance category in the upcoming Merit-based Incentive Performance System (MIPS).
Physicians have long called for the Meaningful Use program to be more flexible among other characteristics. In itsOutpatient Prospective Payment System propose...
Source: AMA Wire - September 13, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Timothy Smith Source Type: news
Ethics and interprofessionalism in medical education
According to a 2015 Institute of Medicine report, interprofessional education (IPE) happens when health professions trainees learn, “with, from, and about each other to improve collaboration and the delivery of care.” Examine how IPE is benefiting physicians, students and patients and informing the ethics of collaboration for enhanced educational opportunities.
TheSeptember issue of theAMA Journal of Ethics ® considers the roles of medicine in motivating the clinical and ethical benefits of interprofessionalism for physicians, other health professionals and patients. Articles featured in this issue include:“Teamwor...
Source: AMA Wire - September 12, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Timothy Smith Source Type: news
Medicare fee schedule proposed rule needs work
Physicians last week submitted comments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on its proposed rule to revise the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule and Part B. Some of the provisions align with physicians ’ previous recommendations while others will require some changes, especially those that mean more costs for patients and undercut the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA).
The AMA last weeksubmitted a letter to CMS urging changes throughout the proposed rule while also citing areas of agreement that should be finalized.
Three of the proposed policies that physicians recommended changes ...
Source: AMA Wire - September 9, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Troy Parks Source Type: news
Treating the community as your patient
Community health intervention can be a highlight of medical school for many students. But what differentiates successful programs from unsuccessful ones? Students with experience in both recently shared their thoughts, with advice distilled down to a simple concept: Listen to your community as you would an individual patient.
The students were from Morehouse School of Medicine, in Atlanta, which offers a first-year Community Health course. They were speaking to medical and health professions students at the student-led Health Equity and Community-based Learning meeting, hosted by the University of California, Davis, Schoo...
Source: AMA Wire - September 9, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Timothy Smith Source Type: news
MACRA penalties can now be avoided, CMS says
Avoiding penalties under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) just got easier. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt Thursday announced that the final MACRA regulation will exempt physicians from any risk of penalties if they choose one of three distinct reporting options in 2017.
In ablog post, Slavitt announced that CMS heard physicians ’ concerns about the proposed start date for performance reporting under the new Medicare payment system and that the agency will offer three reporting options for the Merit-based Incentive Performance System (MIPS)...
Source: AMA Wire - September 9, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Troy Parks Source Type: news
New model of care offers MACRA advantage
Applications are due on Sept. 15 for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) five-year primary care medical home model, Comprehensive Primary Care Plus (CPC+). This model builds on experience with an ongoing five-year pilot model by making significant improvements that could help participating physician practices succeed —and it could also help your practice during the upcoming Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) transition.
Under MACRA, physicians can either participate in the new Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) or an Advanced Alternative Payment Model (APM). Qualifying APM par...
Source: AMA Wire - September 7, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Timothy Smith Source Type: news
