Practice Management
Joshua Russell, MD, MSc, FACEP Until recently, I’ve had the rare luxury of working in busy urgent care centers where I was virtually always working side-by-side with another provider. However, with changes in my career and UC staffing models in the wake of the pandemic, I find myself working in single coverage situations the majority of the time nowadays. While I do miss the camaraderie of multi-coverage practice, I miss the unfettered access to a …
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Taylor wore her embroidered sorority sweatshirt and a mask below her nose when she came to see me. She was 19 and had just finished her freshman year at the local university. Her story was cliché, as well: cough, runny nose, and sore throat “that wouldn’t go away.” She’d been sick for 8 days and she’d come in to get antibiotics. This isn’t a story about antibiotic stewardship, though. “Have you been tested or vaccinated …
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Remember the fall of last year—when the nation and world pined for an expedient end to 2020, as if such an arbitrary change as turning a page on the calendar could somehow reverse our collective fortune? Unsurprisingly when January 2021 arrived, all our woes were not magically and immediately remedied. In fact, the start of this year was among the most grim in U.S. history: nearly a quarter of a million new cases were being …
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I took up smoking for about 6 months in college, but not for the reasons you’d guess. This was during my freshman year shortly after I got a job waiting tables. It was a hard job. There was always work to be done—refill a drink, check how the food was cooked, and, most importantly, bring the check post-haste when the customers wanted to leave. The shifts always seemed like a blur. I’d run around non-stop …
Read MoreCredentialing has become a recurring nightmare for physicians of all specialties, in every state and in every practice setting. Eager for a fresh start, and energized by new opportunity, we decide to make a job change. Recruiters colorfully praise these openings, as if every job pays more than our current one, is closer to parks and culture, and exists in a region with a lower cost of living and, of course, better weather. After a …
Read MoreIt’s easy to think that all the steps we physicians and advanced practice providers must take before we are professionals make us great. After all, doesn’t everyone admire our impressive signature with its collection of professional certifications at the end? Not so fast. Greatness is not conferred or bestowed by degrees or certifications, and often it isn’t officially recognized. Instead, greatness is practiced, like yoga or karate. It is never a final achievement; it is …
Read MoreIt comes as no surprise to anyone that health care is broken. Too many interest groups, too much regulation, too many poorly aligned incentives, too many unrealistic expectations, and too many myopic solutions. Worse, the physician voice has been weakened and handicapped by a combination of our patient-first mission and by the distraction inherent in a profoundly complicated professional discipline. Think of it this way: If your primary mission was profit and the financial engineering …
Read MoreLee A. Resnick, MD, FAAFP Private payor reimbursement trends nearly always follow Medicare’s lead, and at no other time in history has the physician reimbursement model been so scrutinized. In an attempt to control unwieldly healthcare spending, payors are understandably looking to be creative. When they look at the drivers for increased health spending, one thing is clear: Diagnostic testing and imaging services grew far faster since 2000 than any other health-care service. According to …
Read MoreLee A. Resnick, MD, FAAFP In the beginning, interoperability and health information exchange (HIE) were key selling points for physicians considering adoption of and investment in electronic health records (EHRs), but today most are left feeling misled, stranded on a bridge that leads nowhere. The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMMS) defines EHR interoperability as “the ability of different information technology systems and software applications to communicate, exchange data, and use the information that …
Read MoreLee A. Resnick, MD, FAAFP In my last column I covered the 3 main causes of poor communication in transferring patients from urgent care centers to emergency departments (EDs). I discussed how poor communication creates risk, disrupts work flow, and erodes professional satisfaction. Poor interprofessional relationships and inadequate planning and structure are creating an environment ripe for these breakdowns. Reversing the trend requires a focus on rehabilitating relationships, initiating outreach, and developing coordinated policies and …
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