The PMD Critical List: Burnout Prevention, Virtual Bedside Manner

This week’s list of must-read stories for physicians includes a look at burnout prevention, the importance of virtual “bedside manner,” and how one doctor cut the bureaucracy out of his practice.

• Overcoming Physician Burnout: A Step-by-Step Guide (The Doctor Weighs In)

Surveys show that 1 in 3 doctors are experiencing serious career burnout. Here’s a thoughtful and helpful profile of a family physician who quit medicine and began a “physician burnout coaching” practice.

• A Key Thing Doctors Can Do To Reduce Hospital Errors (CBS News)

Bad hand-offs in football lead to disaster. Turns out it can be just as awful in hospital medicine. Calling shift changes by caregivers a “particularly vulnerable time” for patients, researchers found the “I-PASS Handoff Bundle” communication method innovative.

• Do Doctors Have Telehealth Bedside Manner? (mHealth News)

About 50% of physicians “don’t get the comfort level and professionalism involved in telehealth (care via video feed or via e-mail or text).” Success lays in making the consumer/patient comfortable—putting “all the pressure” on the doctor.

• The Doctor Is In; Insurance Is Out (The News & Advance)

Entrepreneur and physician Doug Farrago has become “the doctor I want to be” thanks to his new direct primary care practice. With insurance bureaucracy eliminated, his delighted patients enjoy “a more personal kind of medical care.”

• I Forgot to Save For Retirement! (The White Coat Investor)

More and more doctors want “the day” to come, but aren’t nearly ready for it. Popular doctor blogger and Physician’s Money Digest contributor James M. Dahle, MD, offers some useful tips for those physicians who are behind on their retirement savings.

• Here's What Happens When Doctors Play God (Business Insider)

The monumental matter of end-of-life care is one all physicians must contemplate. Here’s an expert from a new book, The Good Doctor: A Father, A Son, and the Evolution of Medical Ethics. Interesting and controversial.

• Midterm Ballot Initiatives Mostly Favor Physicians (Clinical Psychiatry News)

Elections have consequences. Here’s a quick review of how voters cast their ballots on several important medical matters across the nation last week. Good news for Republicans and doctors.

• How Much Caffeine Is Too Much? (Wall Street Journal)

For many doctors a cup of coffee can make all the difference in the world. A physician expert on the matter says: “If you’re drinking under four cups a day and not having any side effects, then you’re probably OK.”