The PMD Critical List: 'Nothing Short of a Disaster'

This week's list of must-read stories takes includes a critical look at a Obamacare, and a sports physician looking at the game of football from a new perspective:

Consider 3 lessons from the President’s Healthcare Affordability Act: 1) Healthcare costs have skyrocketed; 2) The law has reduced competition; and 3) The number of citizens actually insured remains unknown.

• Harried Doctors Hail the Rise of the Medical Scribe (Minneapolis Star Tribune) Are you a doctor or a data entry clerk? With physicians embracing electronic health records, the computer may be getting more attention than the patient. Medical scribes allow docs to focus and reduce errors.

• Healthcare “Consumerization” Reshaping Healthcare Real Estate (Healthcare Finance News) Patients are becoming more proactive about where they go for medical treatment. Thus, more healthcare providers of all types are branching out to far-away retail locations. And business is finally improving.

• Liberal Bias in Academia Destroying Integrity of Research (New York Post) It’s the wise doctor who knows what it is to be a lifetime student of medicine. It’s also prudent for docs to understand that many of today’s “peer-reviewed” academic journals are in fact unbalanced and biased.

• Nobel Prize 2014 — Discovering of the “Inner GPS” (Wall Street Journal) This year’s winners of the Nobel in Physiology or Medicine are not physicians, but they’re pretty smart folks anyway. The scientists were recognized for their work on how we use the brain to “navigate” our surroundings.

• Mortgages for Physicians (New York Times) For most young people in deep debt, the likelihood of getting a home mortgage is remote. But some lenders are stepping up their efforts to make loans to one group with these characteristics—medical school grads.

• Tired Doctors Tend to Overprescribe (Tech Times) Physicians are not superheroes. They get tired like all of us. A new Brigham and Women's Hospital study found that docs were more prone to make prescribing miscalculations toward the end of their work shift.

• Why Americans Are Drowning in Medical Debt (The Atlantic) Nearly half of all Americans will be chased by a medical-debt collector in 2014. Debt from healthcare is now the chief cause of bankruptcy, passing credit card and educational debt, and money owed to the government.

• Rural Communities Struggle to Keep Doctors (Anniston Star) Rural health officials say the biggest obstacle to recruiting physicians is “culture shock.” With most medical students coming from big cities, a “small community, country feel” medical career can lack grandeur.

• Football Team Physician: From Sideline to Press Box (NewsOK) It’s common for football coaches to monitor and execute games plans from high in the stands—with better results. Now Oklahoma State University is putting a doc there hoping to afford them a better seat to spot injuries.

• Obamacare: Nothing Short of a Disaster (National Interest)