Lifestyle

Despite sunny projections, the holiday shopping season got off to a choppy start, according to a trade group survey.

Lung cancer is a particularly tricky issue for physicians and public health officials alike. These states are struggling the most with the disease.

A 70 year old presents with apathy and depression. Diagnosis please.

For any major automobile manufacturer, having a large volume of customers lined up outside your dealerships waiting to grab the new models as soon as they hit the showroom floor would be a good thing. Not so in healthcare.

This week's list of must-read stories includes a novel way of measuring physician fatigue, a look at how high-deductible insurance plans squeeze doctors, and one doctor's take on the relative value (or lack thereof) of being on a "Best Doctors" list.

Despite their outsize role in choosing healthcare options for millions of Americans, a new survey shows most employers don't understand how to objectively assess insurance plans.

If the present is bad - and the future even worse - why take the risk? Because things aren't that bad. We live in a golden age... yet most people don't realize it.

The holiday shopping season brings the opportunity for great deals, but many Americans struggle to avoid overspending, according to a survey released by Credit Karma and conducted by Qualtrics.

You hear it so often it's almost a cliché: The nation is facing a serious shortage of doctors, particularly doctors who practice primary care, in the coming years. But is that really the case?

Retirement plan sponsors will always be concerned with financials, but a new survey shows their top concern is now ensuring that their employees are prepared for retirement.

Americans have long loved their televisions, but the silver screen now plays second fiddle to a decidedly smaller screen.

With the advent of ongoing audits for medical necessity and accurate coding, whose documentation is being scrutinized to ensure that the medical services being provided are reasonable and necessary? The answer: physicians.

With the holiday shopping season now upon us, the potential for damaging one's credit –- either via over-spending or being the victim of identity theft –- is high.

In more than 50 years of medical practice, I only have one memory of my physician-dad being involved in a medical malpractice case. Perhaps there were others, but nothing that I can recall. The one was bad enough.

Commoditycare is coming. To distinguish yourself, you will need to innovate and avoid the traps driving your competitors. Patients and payers will be watching you and voting with their wallets.

If you're able to predict the activity of Congress and the decision-making logic of the Supreme Court then you're probably in good shape for developing a strategy to prepare for the Affordable Care Act. In the absence of such knowledge, you may at the least want to focus on the following:

Bordeaux, France is the quintessential European city. It has a convenient On/Off Tourist Bus service, fantastic public transportation that comes along so frequently you really don't need to rent a car, and easy walking using the free tourist office maps or following, carefully, the tram routes that lead to destinations.

Tying patient satisfaction to reimbursement of hospitals and physicians continues to be one of the more complicated parts of the Affordable Care Act. Here's a look at some of the states doing the best -- and worst -- when it comes to patient satisfaction scores.

President Obama last week unveiled plans to shield millions of people living in the country illegally from deportation, but his controversial initiative doesn't address one looming – and complex – problem: Healthcare.

The issue of transparency in healthcare, particularly where pricing and payment information is concerned, has been widely debated for years. Is there a benefit to making this information readily available to the general public?

This week's list of must-read stories includes a book excerpt on pinpointing the moment death occurs, a call for docs to join the Twittersphere, and a look at drug companies' new emphasis on digital marketing.

Forty-two percent of consumers now say they've used online healthcare reviews, up 68% from last year.

"Black Friday" has become a misnomer, with most big chain stores opening their doors – and their sales – on Thursday evening. It also turns out that Walmart and Target are no longer the kings of Black Friday, at least when it comes to having the largest markdowns.

Only if you know where to shop, goes the old punch line. But a recent Wall Street Journal article cites new research on the long-argued subject that is worth riffing upon.

Stepping back in time in Haarlem is easy, cost effective, and exceptionally delightful. It belongs on the bucket list!

Physician career transitioning is a growth industry. How do you get there? Start by writing a SOAP note.

Job growth, increasing consumer confidence, and lower gas prices will fuel moderate spending growth this holiday season, according to a new study.

Recently, the International Energy Agency (IEA) published a report on total global investments in one specific form of "energy" in 2012. It pegged investment in this form of energy at between $310 billion and $360 billion. What is it? The answer might surprise you.

His name was Dr. Charles Augustus Leale. On the evening of April 14, 1865, he was a 23-year-old US Army surgeon and the first doctor to reach President Abraham Lincoln the night he was assassinated at Ford's Theatre in Washington, DC.

While the digital health industry continues to explode, there are significant barriers to widespread adoption. One formidable obstacle for private practitioners is creating a business model deploying digital health that creates a profit and delivers improved quality of outcomes.