Lee A. Resnick, MD, FAAFP As a young discipline and industry, urgent care relies heavily on its organizational leaders to advance the political, academic, and developmental agendas that are in the best interest of their constituents. These leaders represent the face and voice of their members on the national stage. Needless to say, we cannot become dependent on the work and vision of a few to dictate the direction and activity of the whole. Member …
Read MorePrimary Care Physicians…the New Middle Class?
Lee A. Resnick, MD, FAAFP With all the renewed talk of tax hikes on the “rich” to pay for everything from healthcare to job creation, I can’t help but see the with anger over how we define rich in this country. The top tax rate targets incomes of $150,000-$200,000. This despite a rapidly growing “ultrarich” class that consists of earners between $1 million and untold billions. Now millionaires and billionaires pay less as a percentage …
Read MoreTo Board or Not to Board…That Is the Question!
Lee A. Resnick, MD, FAAFP With the announcement of the Board of Certification in Urgent Care Medicine (BCUCM), an American Board of Physician Specialists (ABPS) member board, the urgent care community is abuzz about its meaning, value, and importance for specialty recognition of the discipline and professional identity for its physician practitioners. Some believe the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) is the only body with the authority to anoint specialty certification and provide board …
Read MoreIn Appreciation…
Lee A. Resnick, MD, FAAFP JUCM, The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine, is approaching its fifth year of publication (a feat not without reason for celebration). In an environment of tremendous financial pressures, increasing scrutiny, and decreasing ad revenues, medical publishing is confronting significant challenges. JUCMis not immune. Most casual readers remain unaware of the challenges behind the scenes. It is, perhaps, no concern of theirs. But that does not mean the efforts should go …
Read MoreA New Era for Urgent Care
Lee A. Resnick, MD, FAAFP Spring is here. It’s time to shake off the cobwebs of winter and take a fresh look toward the future. With clear eyes, and a little more daylight, our focus is more acute, and our visionary juices start flowing. The Urgent Care Association has always been a forward-thinking organization, trying to be a step ahead in a dynamic healthcare arena. Over the last seven years, UCA membership has grown sharply, …
Read MoreHealthcare Laws vs. Newton’s Laws
Lee A. Resnick, MD, FAAFP Newton’s Third Law: “To every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction.” Medicine applies Newton’s Third Law liberally, from physiology to pharmacology; negative feedback loops, down-regulation, compensatory states, and medication side effects all follow its principles. The body, as we well know, is inclined to homeostasis, and any upset to this balance is met with resistance and dysfunction. Unfortunately, well-meaning healthcare regulators, policymakers—and, yes, even fellow physicians—have ignored …
Read MoreA Crisis in Quality? Lessons from History
Lee A. Resnick, MD, FAAFP If history repeats itself, then we just may be in big trouble. Many of us remember the doc-in-the-box days of the early 80s, when the first urgent care boom occurred. There was a wild proliferation of urgent care centers, driven mostly by physician entrepreneurs looking to make a quick buck. By 1985, in excess of 3,000 centers dotted the country. The following decade brought significant contraction within the industry, before …
Read MoreFunding Healthcare Reform: Tax Sugar, Not Success, Part II
Lee A. Resnick, MD, FAAFP No one has more eloquently stated the case for carving out the so-called “unnecessaries” from the capitalist code of taxation than Adam Smith. Yet, more than 230 years after the publication of arguably the most authoritative text in defense of capitalism, we continue to struggle with the concept of taxation as a socialist plot. Last month, I examined the so-called “success tax.” I suggested that a tax on earned income …
Read MoreFunding Healthcare Reform: Tax Sugar, Not Success
Lee A. Resnick, MD, FAAFP Healthcare is the ultimate paradox for democratic and capitalist ideas, an epic clash between inalienable rights and free market forces. Most everyone agrees that basic healthcare should be attainable, affordable, and non-discriminatory for all citizens. But how can we achieve this somewhat socialist-sounding goal within a free market system? Well, the free market has proven incapable of making healthcare affordable, and government coffers have proven too empty to subsidize it. …
Read MorePhysician Mentoring: Making an Impact
“We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.” – Winston Churchill Physician mentoring sounds like an easy enough proposition. Who wouldn’t jump at the chance to opine and proselytize, in a position of power, to a new employee who is looking to impress his/her boss? Indeed, you can say most anything you want, with a very low risk of rebuttal or confrontation. Even well-intentioned mentors tend to …
Read More