The PMD Critical List: A $99 House Call?

A California startup offers on-demand house calls for less than $100 bucks. More doctors are opting for temporary jobs, and do physician harm patients when they over-simplify? Those stories and more in this week’s PMD Critical List.

• The $99 House Call (CNN)

A medical startup in the LA area is promising to get a physician to a patient’s home in an hour or less for a flat fee of $99. It’s “on-demand doctors” without the “insane expense,” says the nephrologist co-founder.

• 2 Out of 3 Doctors Want Obamacare Gone (LocumTenens.com)

After just a year in existence, 66% of US physicians think the Affordable Care Act should be abolished, according to a new survey. Lower pay, higher patient deductibles, and increased regulations and compliance are the whys.

• Physician’s Age Could Impact Breast Cancer Care (CancerNetwork.com)

Older doctors are “more likely to believe self breast examination was effective and less likely to feel that mammography at all ages was effective.” According to the study “conflicting recommendations … can be confusing for physicians.”

• Younger Physicians Practicing as Locum Tenens (Staffing Industry Analysts)

A new survey finds that a large number of newly-minted doctors (21%) are electing to practice medicine on a temporary basis. “It’s a way to ‘test drive’ a practice before they buy.”

• 10 Questions Some Doctors Are Afraid To Ask (NPR.org)

The answers provide a patient’s ACE (adverse childhood experiences) score. Some think the test is too invasive, overly traumatic, and time consuming. Others think it is so predictive “it should be part of a routine physical exam.”

• Is That “Quality Time” With Patient Gone? (PR Newswire)

Maybe, according to the latest Physician Misery Index. A recent survey found that 84% of physicians think “the ability to create meaningful patient relationships, which is why they entered the practice of medicine in the first place,” is gone forever.

• When Physicians Explain Things Too Simply (Forbes)

Good medical communication is “simple but not too simple. Comprehensible, but not so straight forward it prompts fast thinking.” Doctors must “recognize the art of medicine and embrace the relevance of social science” to best bond with patients.

• Not Enough Physicians Use Drug Monitoring Programs (Forbes)

Only about 53% of primary care doctors admit to consulting their state’s prescription monitoring program before they write an Rx, according to Health Affairs. “Truth is … many would be shocked by what they’d find.”

• Physicians Need Engagement, Too (MedCityNews.com)

About 90% of national healthcare CEOs think the best way to improve the overall system is to better engage with their doctors. Meaningful change “is impossible without buy-in from the clinicians on the frontlines of patient care.”