Even if you can ’t see sexism immediately, it’s still there
For the most part, the sexism in medicine is not subliminal at all — it’s quite overt. Unless you’re a female physician, you probably are unaware that it’s still an ever-present reality for us. I want to note that there are very good men out there who are trying their best to be advocates for equality in our field even though they cannot fully appreciate the female physician plight. My father is one. My husband, an anesthesiologist, is one. The male physician-entrepreneur I met with last week to discuss a partnership in my new solo practice with his clinic system is one. These men are the “He’s for She’s” o...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - June 15, 2017 Category: General Medicine Authors: < a href="http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/shannon-tapia" rel="tag" > Shannon Tapia, MD < /a > Tags: Physician Primary care Source Type: blogs
The slow death of private practices
Doctors have been bemoaning changes in the practice of medicine for years and with good reason. It’s harder and harder to make a go of it in private practice. In recent years our area has lost several small practices — Hal Grotke’s Redwood Family Practice closed, Dr. Garcia retired, Teresa Marshall’s solo office shut its doors, Eureka Internal Medicine transitioned to Humboldt Medical Specialists (which then became St. Joseph Hospital Medical Group) and Beverly Copeland relocated to Ashland.
As I was writing this, Dr. Windham announced that he is ceasing the provision of primary care at his small office. Unfortunat...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - June 13, 2017 Category: General Medicine Authors: < a href="http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/emily-dalton" rel="tag" > Emily Dalton, MD < /a > Tags: Physician Primary care Source Type: blogs
Is the Direct Primary Care Model Dead?
By NIRAN AL-AGBA, MD
A recent Medical Economics article asked “Is the DPC model at risk of failing?”
The piece focuses on two large DPC-like organizations, Qliance Medical Management of Seattle, Washington and Turntable Health of Las Vegas, NV, working in partnership with Iora Health, which recently closed their doors. Qliance and Turntable were not actually DPC practices by strict definition; they were innovative large business operations providing healthcare services to patients and excluding third party payers. Their idea was commendable, but their closure indicates little cause for concern in regard to the growing ...
Source: The Health Care Blog - June 6, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: John Irvine Tags: Uncategorized Qliance Turntable Health Source Type: blogs
5 myths about emergency physician groups
Independent physician groups and solo physicians have been the historic bedrock of medical practice. While it is true that there is intense pressure on the single-physician group, and this market is shrinking, independent physicians are here to stay. Some single practice physician groups may merge with larger groups, some physicians will break off from the large contract groups, but there is no plan on them becoming extinct.
Independent physician groups have been staffing hospitals for decades. For these physicians, their practice and hospital is their home and community. They have worked at the same hospital serving the s...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - June 6, 2017 Category: General Medicine Authors: < a href="http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/roneet-lev" rel="tag" > Roneet Lev, MD < /a > Tags: Physician Emergency Source Type: blogs
A Backup Plan for Solo Seniors: Health Care Decision Making for People Aging Alone
Check out this free webinar by Linda J. Camp on June 12: "A Backup Plan for Solo Seniors: Health Care Decision Making for People Aging Alone."
Talking about the last life chapters isn’t easy for anyone, but it is especially difficult for “solos;” older adults who lack the traditional family support structure. When crafting wills, trusts, Powers of Attorney and Advance Care Directives, members of this group struggle with who to designate as a surrogate. Solos “with capacity,” are a largely invisible but growing group. Come hear about and discuss the foundational work on this ...
Source: blog.bioethics.net - May 25, 2017 Category: Medical Ethics Authors: Thaddeus Mason Pope, JD, PhD Tags: Health Care syndicated Source Type: blogs
Measuring MACRA
By STEVEN FINDLAY
With all the machinations over ACA repeal and replace, the new law that makes big changes in the way the federal government pays doctors—the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act, or MACRA—hasn’t garnered much attention lately.
But doctors nationwide are sure thinking about it. That includes many of the regular commentators on THCB. I think it’s accurate to say that most of them have been highly critical of MACRA since the law was enacted in April 2015, and even after it was significantly amended late last year to address physician complaints. (See, for example, Kip Sullivan’s most recent...
Source: The Health Care Blog - April 15, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: John Irvine Tags: Uncategorized MACRA MIPS Steven Findlay Source Type: blogs
Deloitte Survey on Value-Based Care
We have written for years about the transition in health care from volume-based to value-based payment models. But the process has been a slow one. According to the Deloitte 2016 Survey of US Physicians, a nationally representative sample of 600 US primary care and specialty physicians, confirms the slow pace of adoption of value-based payment models among physicians. Generally, physicians are reluctant to bear financial risk for care delivery. Yet many physicians conceptually endorse some of the principles behind value-based care, such as quality and resource utilization measurement. The survey results suggest that financ...
Source: Policy and Medicine - March 24, 2017 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan - Policy & Medicine Writing Staff Source Type: blogs
OIG Reviews QPP
Conclusion
This report is a mixed bag for CMS and stakeholders of the new QPP. On one hand, CMS is clearly trying to avoid the same kind of problems that impacted the ACA roll out. However, with such a massive undertaking, there are many vulnerabilities and it is not clear that CMS has the track record worth believing the agency’s promises to be ready. There will likely be technical challenges associated with the QPP and that may only further the calls to reform the program, especially with friendly staffers leading HHS and CMS in the Trump Administration.
Related StoriesSenate Fin...
Source: Policy and Medicine - February 28, 2017 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan - Policy & Medicine Writing Staff Source Type: blogs
10 Tips for Building a Thriving Solo Practice
Ever thought of starting your own private practice—but then asked yourself the following:
“Where will I find a space?”
“How will I afford the rent and materials?”
“How do I build my clientele?”
“Who do I hire and where do I find the right clinicians?”
What if I said you don’t need space, staff or rent money to create a successful practice? You can not only pull off having your own private practice, but you can thrive! I know, because I’m doing just that after two years in my own private practice.
Here are 10 steps that worked for me to build a thriving solo practice!
Hire a talented web designer to ...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - February 7, 2017 Category: Speech Therapy Authors: Annick Tumolo Tags: Audiology Speech-Language Pathology Practice Management private practice Professional Development Source Type: blogs
Medicare Physician Payment: Why It ’s Still A Problem, And What To Do Now
When the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) passed Congress in 2015, most people felt it was better than the old “Sustainable Growth Rate” (SGR) approach to setting physician Medicare fees that had been in place for more than a decade. After all, MACRA avoided what was to be a double digit reduction in Medicare physician payment rates in 2015. Instead, the new legislation provides five years of a 0.5 percent payment rate update, followed by five years of no increase (but also no decrease) in the payment rate. In addition, beginning in 2019, physicians will be able to pick from two novel payment approa...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - January 27, 2017 Category: Health Management Authors: Robert Smoldt, Denis Cortese, Natalie Landman and David Gans Tags: Costs and Spending Featured Medicaid and CHIP Medicare Payment Policy Quality MACRA Physicians Source Type: blogs
Physicians! 7 steps to financial freedom
I grew up studying my physician parents. My dad, a pathologist, was a hard-working hospital employee with multiple odd jobs on the side. He always worried about whether he’d have enough for retirement, though he never really wanted to retire. My mom, a psychiatrist, is more of an entrepreneurial businesswoman. She had her own private practice (even though all the other employed doctors warned she’d never make it going solo). Guess who earned more money? And retired early? My mom (she retired 30 years before my dad).
As a family doc in my clinic, I do a ton of psychiatry. In fact, psychology dictates our financial succe...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - January 19, 2017 Category: Journals (General) Authors: < a href="http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/pamela-wible" rel="tag" > Pamela Wible, MD < /a > Tags: Physician Primary care Source Type: blogs
Why We Do It
Medicine is a business. Of course we have bills to pay to keep the lights on and the phones running. No, as a rule, doctors are not starving. But if money were what we were out for, we sure wouldn’t have opted for seven (or more) grueling years of training followed by the 24/7 call of solo private practice. No; we’re in it for our patients. Aside from the still small voice that tells us when we’ve done well, there are those wonderful times when we get to hear our patients say it explicitly.
A recent email:
…I just wanted you to know that both the care and kindness you provided to me throughout my li...
Source: Musings of a Dinosaur - January 18, 2017 Category: Primary Care Authors: notdeaddinosaur Tags: Medical Source Type: blogs
Work stress could be making your commute dangerous
By Alex Fradera
British workers spend on average one hour commuting each day, and 57 per cent of commuters make their daily journeys by car. But this is a part of our lives we don’t talk much about, beyond the odd epithet about the traffic; maybe because it’s a strange time, betwixt home and work but not fully either. Potentially, the drive to work is a haven: I recall my mother’s glove compartment crammed with audio books, so she could enjoy those stretches of solo time. But it’s more liable to be caught in a crossfire of worries, fretting about Daniel’s pensive moods at the breakfast table, or anticipating crit...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - January 18, 2017 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: BPS Research Digest Tags: Mental health Occupational Source Type: blogs
Stop pushing doctors out of practice!
Since finishing my residency several years ago, I’ve worked in almost every type of hospital up and down the East Coast, from big urban academic medical centers to more rural community outposts. Although I primarily practice hospital medicine, working with both smaller private groups and being a hospital employee, I empathize a lot with my independent practice colleagues and brethren. I almost certainly would have gone down the route of trying to open up my own practice had the conditions for doing so been more favorable (and had I also been able to suppress my desire for travel and moving to different places whil...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - January 12, 2017 Category: Journals (General) Authors: < a href="http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/suneel-dhand" rel="tag" > Suneel Dhand, MD < /a > Tags: Physician Hospital Primary care Source Type: blogs
