How could a doctor not stop for this car crash?
doc stops for car crash, finds out later that most coleagues wouldn't
Help your kids pick the right car
"I need my own car!" If you're ready to respond, "OK," then heed our test driver's shopping recommendations.
When I stopped yelling, everybody started listening
Slamming phones and confronting colleagues didn't work, so this doctor tried new approaches.
My name shouldn't be in the malpractice data bank--but it is
The author refused to settle after another doctor dragged him into a case. And now he can't wipe the slate clean.
"I have to kill you," my patient said
The author's abduction by a drug addict was terrifying enough. But his glimpse of the justice system was scary, too.
Practice Beat
Collective bargaining, lawsuits against HMOs, Tort Reform, health coverage, managed care, clinical guidelines, alternative medicine, looking aheadNovember.
"It's a physician's duty to expose fraud if he suspects it"
That's the belief of dermatologist Andrew Hendricks, who blew the whistle on a giant lab. After several tense years, his lawsuit reaped $182 million for the Feds.
Hospitalists: They've made me a believer
Once skeptical about inpatient specialists, this doctor has come to love what they do for him. Mostly, they give him time.
Help your needy patients get free medication
Enroll them in assistance programs offered by pharmaceutical manufacturersand watch the quality of their lives improve.
Washington Beat
Legislation; Medicare; Fraud'N'Abuse
Malpractice Consult
Should you tell patients if you've been addicted? Confidentiality for patients who use illegal drugs
Snake oil on the Internet
There's what we say—and what the patient hears
Here are one doctor's tips for bridging the communication gap between you and the people you're trying to help.
Memo from the Editor: A family physician's promise to himself
ed memo0906
After playing with fire, this group went down in flames
Founded on a dream in the 1930's, the Burns Clinic collapsed in a nightmare of the '90s, as the cozy collegiality of its physicians gave way to managed care anxiety and a me first attitude.
See Medicaid patients without going broke
This pediatrician's winwin partnership with his state bureaucracy gives indigent children a medical homeand the practice a profit.
On the notion that doctors are not God
Ed MemoOn the notion that doctors are not God
Remember when...Malpractice premiums were $150 a year?
Remember when malpractice premiums were $150 a year?
I was my patient's (very) best customer
Poor and uninsured, the author's dying patient found a clever way to pay her doctor bills.
"What I want now is a friend, not a physician"
So said the patient who taught the author a critical lesson: Some things are more important than diagnosis and treatment.
Letters to the Editors
Would a cost conscious physician order this MRI?
A "my patient comes first" attitude may deny care to patients who need it more, these experts say.
Doctors are selling the fountain of youth
The anti-aging movement attracts patients willing to spend heavily to look and feel younger -- and doctors eager to cater to them.
