A natural part of life is emotionally growing (hopefully) with experience. If I was to look back at my own journey, when I was in medical school and just graduating, I would say that without doubt, one of the biggest things I would tell my younger self, would be to not take things too personally. This […]
Category: primary care
A strong doctor-patient relationship: why it matters
Writing in Annals of Family Medicine a few years ago, Chicago obstetrician Benjamin P. Brown vividly described his mentor’s interaction with a patient who had just emigrated from Mexico and had no family support. “When he asked earnestly how she was doing, her hard-won defenses seemed to crumple, and all of a sudden she was […]
Physicians must reclaim the medical record
A guest column by the American College of Physicians, exclusive to KevinMD.com. I recently saw a new patient who came to our practice following a lengthy hospitalization. He is in his 80s with a fairly complex medical history typical of many in this age range. Yet, after carefully sifting through my first introduction to this […]
Sorry doctor, you’re already an actor
Following one of my recent articles on how physicians can improve their communication skills and ultimately help attain better patient outcomes, I received an interesting comment from a physician. It went something like this: “Sorry, but I’m not an actor.” This response typifies a small (but not insignificant) subset of responses I get when I’m […]
Making the world a better place for new medical interns
It’s that time of year again. The start of a new academic year, marked by the arrival of a brand-new class of interns starting out in their training. Clutching their freshly-minted medical degrees, they appear so ready, so anxious, so excited, so eager to learn. Now it’s our job to make sure they stay this […]
The nuances of a primary care visit aren’t always appreciated
I subscribe to a financial newsletter that happens to be written by a non-practicing physician in a highly specialized field. His daily updates are a mixture of financial and health advice, and he is a proponent of evidence-based medicine. Based on the letters from subscribers, they are willing to follow his advice eagerly, and when […]
Atul Gawande’s prescient 2012 TED talk
Health care is buzzing as Atul Gawande has been selected as CEO of the Berkshire-Hathaway/Amazon/JP Morgan strategic venture. I was thrilled they picked a physician, like myself, in the trenches to run their gig. After hearing the news, I remembered Gawande’s TED Talk from 2012 and decided to catch up on it during my flight to the Healthcare […]
Don’t throw the E&M baby out with the bath water: the proposed CMS changes
By now everyone has heard that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has proposed to dramatically change the way physicians get paid for evaluation and management (E&M) services in the office as part of the proposed 2019 Physician Fee Schedule Rule. In fact, as of the end of July, CMS has received over […]