I have complained about the stupidities and excesses of the American health scare system for over 5 years now on this blog. Today, I present a concrete, novel, disruptive solution. I have created an entirely new way for family physicians (and internists) to document, code, and bill for their work. It’s...
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On a recent flight, I sat next to a woman of about 30 who was originally from France but has lived in London for a number of years for work. After exchanging the usual pleasantries, she found out I am a family physician and it became clear she wanted to give...
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After my last post, a reader with the stage name “Spring Texan” wrote the following: Ummm, don’t you mean “the Trump tax cuts are just another trip to the candy store” for rich people and corporations? Comparatively little goes to ordinary people and that phases out. Don’t see any “candy store”...
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I’ve been working to meet a lot of deadlines in my day life recently. I’ll have exciting news soon. But for now, the bad news. The National Bureau of Economic Research in 2012 found that half of seniors die owning less than $10,000 in assets. According to the Federal Reserve in...
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First, a history lesson. Back in the mid 2000 oughts, the AAFP launched a wholly owned subsidiary called TransforMed. It was originally started to help practices implement the “new model of care” from the Future of Family Medicine Report. Soon after it was launched, the joint principles of the patient-centered medical...
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A fantastic new study 😉 has once again documented the incredible burden of EMRs on U.S. family physicians. Researchers observed 982 family physician-patient encounters in clinics associated with 10 family medicine residencies. They recorded the times required for the physicians to complete each clinic visit. They did not record times for...
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Family physicians know a lot about a lot of symptoms, diagnoses, and healthcare system issues. I think the AAFP and other FM organizations have generally done a lousy job explaining the breadth of the work we do, but now we have numbers to tell the story better. A study by the...
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I’m back. My WordPress site got hacked (first time). Sorry if this disrupted anyone’s email or other computer functions. The malware is gone now. A new study from the National Bureau of Economic Research reports on the results of a large randomized controlled trial of a large employer with over 12,000 employees....
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I have criticized the AAFP many times in previous posts. As a member-driven organization, I guess I’ve essentially criticized U.S. family physicians in general, though I also think there is an inner circle in the AAFP ranks that have an inordinate influence on policies. From gatekeepers in the HMO era, to...
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In a very unique study, researchers have tabulated how often family physicians provide patient care that is not covered with a CPT code. This is a little complex, for the non-physicians and even for many physicians to grasp, so I will provide a little more background first. CPT stands for Current...
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