The PMD Critical List: Doctors Leaving Greece in Droves

As the Greek government (and voters) defiantly reject the terms of a proposed European Union bailout, physicians from Greece are rejecting the instability and moving elsewhere. That story, plus a look at a new trove of doctor payment data, in this week’s PMD Critical List.

• Doctors Leaving Greece in Droves (The New York Times)

Thanks to the dire debt crisis in Greece, it’s not only the banks experiencing a run. Greek physicians are also hitting the road. Nearly 300,000 people have left Greece since 2010, including 5,000 doctors, with most medical professionals going to Germany.

• Dollars for Docs: Are You On the List? (ProPublica)

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) updated the numbers on the amount of money drug and device makers pay to American doctors and hospitals each year. In 2014, it was $6.5 billion. Doctors across the nation can search the list at this website.

• Fraud Crackdown to Focus on Smaller Medical Practices (Healthcare Finance)

With Medicare investigators planning to crack down on fraud in and among solo and small medical practices nationwide, these doctors must “identify and fund best practices to prepare for a potential investigation.”

• Culinary Medicine Sends Med Students to the Kitchen (NPR.org)

“When it comes to premature death and disease, what we eat ranks as the single most important factor … yet few doctors say they feel properly trained to dispense dietary/nutrition advice.” One medical school is trying to change things.

• Replacing Doctor's Visits with Apps Could Save $100 billion Annually (Business Insider)

According to Goldman Sachs analysts, moving minor doctor visits from the office to video conference platforms, similar to Skype or FaceTime, would massively reduce annual healthcare costs. And United Healthcare, the nation’s largest health insurance provider, is onboard.

• Q&A with Doctors From “America's Tiniest Towns" (Becker’s Hospital Review)

Rural physicians are a rare breed. Here’s a compelling Q&A with 3 country doctors on patient relationships, rural practice and the state of healthcare. In 50 years I've never experienced what they call "burnout,” says one doctor.

• “Motivational Interviewing:” When the Doctor Really Listens (90.9 wbur)

The physician goes “from telling patients why they should change or how they could change to drawing out from the patient their own ideas about why change would be beneficial to them and about how they might be able to do it.”

• Can You Crack a Medical Mystery? (Smithsonian.com)

An interesting Q&A with the brains behind a new website CrowdMed, which is “harnessing 'the wisdom of crowds' to help solve the world's most difficult medical cases online, many times less expensively and more quickly than the traditional medical system.”

• Time to Get a New Tax Professional? (Forbes)

The wise doctor knows that the price of success is taxes. Since summer is usually a slow tax period, it’s the perfect time to “think about your relationship with your tax professional.” Here are 8 helpful review tips.