A study in Archives of Internal Medicine surveyed a national sample of internists and family physicians about cost issues in medicine. Over 600 responded. 42% felt that most patients in their own practices receive too much care, only 6% said too little. When asked why some patients received too much care,...
Read More »

I’m being a little facetious with this back-of-the-envelope calculation, but not much. In several of the PCMH demonstration projects, other providers of primary care services such as WeCare, the historical record of the Starfield work, and the experience of QuadMed primary care shows that just having a typical American population shift...
Read More »

The National Quality Foundation is a non-profit founded in 1999 as a collaborative effort between representatives of many healthcare entities. Its description of itself from its website reads: NQF’smore than 375 members represent virtually every sector of the healthcare system: consumers, purchasers, health plans, providers, healthcare professionals, suppliers, community health organizations,...
Read More »

I confess that I feel slightly guilty for writing this post. As a general rule, I don’t like overly critical people who create an ideal past world in their head, compare their forefathers (and mothers) to that world, then complain that the previous generation’s leaders did not live up to the...
Read More »

At the TAFP conference I attended last weekend, almost all the clinically oriented speakers showed data from their EMRs they felt proved they were providing high quality care. I’m sure their quality is excellent, but this won’t make healthcare more affordable. The measures most everyone showed included: how many diabetics had...
Read More »

I attended a Payment Reform Summit sponsored by the Texas Academy of Family Physicians this past weekend. It was a good conference and provided a snapshot of current views and attempts to grow family medicine and pay for it. There were some emotional ups and downs for me as I listened...
Read More »

Thanks to everyone who wrote me back on some of the “simple” screening tests that “just take a few minutes” that well-meaning special interest groups want family physicians to give away their time to administer. And remember, the family physicians’ nurses are busy also, so if a special interest expects only...
Read More »

I thought I’d try something different this week. Instead of me just going blah, blah, blah to the cyber world, I thought I’d ask for help compiling a list. It has always annoyed me when well-meaning special interest groups ask family physicians to give away their professional time and expertise. A...
Read More »

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms. In honor of this day, let’s talk about raising young family physicians. Though the match in family medicine for residency slots was a little better this year than last year, it is still miles from where it needs to be. Only a little over...
Read More »

My local newspaper prints the You Docs column 3 days a week and I’ve been reading it for over two years. I can’t say I’ve read every column in that time, but I can say most of them. There is a clear pattern to their writing and thinking. In the column...
Read More »