June 07, 2012
Posted by: Cory Kleinschmidt / Topic: Physician Careers
 Locum Tenens Daily, the first online blog created for locum tenens professionals, announced its official launch earlier this week. As the industry's first online blog, the site is targeted at industry professionals including physicians, midlevel providers, healthcare facilities and healthcare staffing firms.
With a mission of offering "news and perspectives for locum tenens professionals," the blog publishes original news and commentary about the locum tenens industry as well as curated news and resources from the best healthcare publications around the internet on a daily basis. The site also provides editorial coverage, focusing on the rapidly shifting landscape of healthcare.
Among the contributors to the site is Interim Physicians' own Vice President of Quality Assurance, Frank Phillips. Frank has published various articles on the site since its creation, ranging from criminal background checks on physicians to the delay in implementation of the new ICD-10 coding system. The site also features the first exclusive interview with Phillips as he prepares to take the helm of NALTO in 2013.
Interim Physicians is proud to be a sponsor of this valuable resource for locum tenens physicians. For the latest locum tenens news and trends, visit Locum Tenens Daily.
March 01, 2012
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
 ALBANY — Nearly 2,300 New York doctors retired in 2010, 44 percent more than in the previous year. Sen. Charles E. Schumer has proposed legislation that would help replace those physicians by increasing the number of new doctors being trained.
Read the full article
March 01, 2012
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
The physician of tomorrow must practice differently from the physician of today. Tools, work systems, even patient expectations are changing. As future physicians stride into their workplace, they will need to be:
•team-oriented;
•trained in evidence-based medicine;
•skilled in panel and population management;
•technologically facile
Read the full article
February 28, 2012
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
The federal government this week awarded $9.1 million to medical students in 30 states and the District of Columbia. The recipients will serve as primary care doctors. As CBS News correspondent Whit Johnson reports, fewer and fewer medical students can afford to become family doctors at a time of growing need.
With a looming shortage of family doctors, medical students like Sade Olowudeadeyi are in high demand.
Read the full article
February 28, 2012
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
As more providers continue to join the ranks of social media sites like Twitter, Facebook and Google+, they must be sure to pay extra attention to establishing their digital footprint, according to Gregg Masters, a healthcare social media advocate and consultant who spoke at last week’s Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society’s annual conference in Las Vegas.
Read the full article
February 28, 2012
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
Ryan Jones, MD, an internist in the Dallas-Fort Worth area who is less than two years out of residency, realizes it could come off as showy if she stands over the shoulder of older colleagues, offering suggestions on how to become more tech savvy.
"I do definitely try to be very sweet about it," she said. Her methods have proven successful as colleagues generally have welcomed the advice -- just as she welcomes their unsolicited advice on ways to be a better internist.
Read the full article
February 27, 2012
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
Looking ahead to the next several months, I’ve found myself frequently wondering how many physicians will make this their year to take the plunge and join an online social network. There are significant advantages that can be gained for doctors who embrace social media. Here are five ways you and your practice can benefit from such professional connections.
Read the full article
February 17, 2012
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
For the first time, a new policy of the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS), effective on January 1, 2012, establishes limits to the time that can elapse between a physician’s completion of residency training and achievement of Board Certification.
The policy establishes a window of no fewer than three years and no more than
seven years between training and certification. Within that timeframe, the maximum time allowed will depend on the specialty.
Read the full article
February 16, 2012
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
The future of medicine in the U.S. is clear. The days of the “do more, bill more” model of reimbursement are numbered as they have produced one of the most inefficient healthcare systems in the world. While there are many unknowns regarding the future model, one thing is crystal clear — highly effective communication will separate the winners from the losers.
Read the full article
February 16, 2012
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
The relationship between patients and doctors is at the core of medical ethics, serving as an anchor for many of the most important debates in the field. Over the past several decades, this relationship has evolved along three interrelated axes — as it is defined in clinical care, research, and society. Many of the pivotal discussions of these issues have appeared in the pages of the Journal (see Key NEJM Articles on Medical Ethics).
Read the full article
February 13, 2012
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
The federal government has awarded $9.1 million to medical students who are studying to be primary-care doctors, HHS announced.
The National Health Services Corps will disperse the money to students in 30 states and in Washington, D.C., according to an HHS news release. It's part of the National Health Service Corps' Student to Service Loan Repayment Program, which lawmakers established with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Read the full article
February 10, 2012
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
WHILE THERE'S A SHORTAGE of hospitalists across the nation, there’s an even greater shortage of intensivists. As a result, hospitalists often end up doing double duty by working the wards and the ICU. According to the 2011 Today’s Hospitalist Compensation & Career Survey, 71% of hospitalists say they work in the ICU. Here’s a look at how many hospitalists are working in the ICU and the roles they play.
Read the full article
February 08, 2012
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
Your accountant can email a specialist for advice about a specific issue in your tax return. Your doctor, however, doesn’t necessarily have the same access to easy collaboration. There may, however, be a Facebook-like solution in the wings.
Read the full article
February 06, 2012
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
The hospitalist model has evolved rapidly into an established, site-based specialization that serves as the pillar of inpatient care for a number of facilities across the country. In the 10 years since the advent of the hospitalist movement, there has been significant growth in the field, with approximately 20,000 hospitalist clinicians in the United States today [1]. Despite this remarkable expansion, questions about the model of care remain. With a growing repository of encouraging cost and outcomes data, inquiries about hospitalist medicine have slowly moved away from the merits of the model. A significant debate now centers on whether the use of hospitalists should be mandated at institutions or remain a voluntary practice.
Read the full article
February 03, 2012
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
Over the years, the growth in the number of hospitalists has spawned a number of other "ist" movements, from laborists to surgicalists. But the latest twist on hospital medicine—what some call "transitionalists"—may be the most important yet. That's because the new role promises to solve some of the most vexing problems facing hospitals and hospitalists alike: high readmission rates and gaps in post-discharge care.
Read the full article
February 03, 2012
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
Nearly two-thirds of hospitals in the United States are served by hospitalist physicians. How hospitalist work patterns and job satisfaction vary across various practice models is unknown.
Read the full article
January 30, 2012
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
Hospitals increased their physician hiring in 2011, and hospital employment of doctors shows no signs of slowing in 2012, with doctor hiring becoming a major strategy for hospitals getting ready for health system reform. Meanwhile, physicians already on staff may find hospitals providing financial and other incentives to keep them on board.
Read the full article
January 30, 2012
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
WellPoint is rolling out a new program Friday that’s worth keeping an eye on. The insurance company — the second largest in the country — will boost its spending on primary care doctors by nearly $1 billion, hoping to see a payoff in fewer trips to the emergency room and less hospital stays. And it will start reimbursing doctors for a lot things “non-visit” that often go uncompensated, things like preparing a care plan for a patient.
Read the full article
January 26, 2012
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
Medical professionalism is the basis of our profession's contract with society. The privilege of professional status with the opportunity for self-regulation comes with the obligation to provide care for the sick and maintain high professional standards. The core of this contract is trust, which is critical because the practice of medicine involves investigation and treatment of physical and mental conditions that are often fraught with fear, anxiety and doubt, and many decisions are made in the face of uncertainty. Medical professionalism is the set of values, behaviors and relationships that helps us maintain this trust.
Read the full article
January 25, 2012
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
Of course docs are stressed, not only from the nature of the job—saving lives (pretty stressful in itself)—but also due to the evolving nature of healthcare reform (which many don't like), mulling whether to get out of the business (especially if they are baby boomers), and considering whether to realign themselves with hospitals (which many are doing). Then there is the worry about malpractice litigation (often constant).
Read the full article
January 25, 2012
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
Despite a rise in the number of healthcare professionals migrating online to build a following on blogs and on social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook, dangers persist, as outlined in a recent article published in the British Medical Journal.
Read the full article
January 23, 2012
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
Washington -- Consumers continued to cut back on health care in 2010, which led to record-low growth in spending on physician services and moderate-to-low increases in spending on other health care services and products.
Read the full article
January 16, 2012
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
Here's the good news: Hospitalists' total compensation growth continues to outpace inflation, the U.S. economy and the salaries of most other physicians.
Read the full article
January 11, 2012
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
Rural doctors enjoy some daily benefits, among them fresher air, low crime rates and the chance to raise children who can count a blanket of stars in the night sky. A paycheck also may stretch further than in urban-based practices, enabling a down payment on one of the area's most elegant houses and the opportunity to build a practice and reputation as a pillar of the community.
Read the full article
January 11, 2012
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
Recruiting enough physicians to rural communities can seem daunting, to say the least. One out of every five Americans lives in a rural region. Yet, only 11 percent of doctors practice there, according to a 2010 study in the journal Academic Medicine.
Read the full article
January 10, 2012
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
Three-quarters of hospitals and health systems report increased physician staffing last year and plan to continue the trend in 2012, according to consulting firm SullivanCotter. Healthcare providers over the past 12 months reported adding an average 12 specialists and nine primary care physicians to their staff. Three-quarters of them also said they plan to increase physician staffs and mid-level providers during the next 12 months.
Read the full article
January 09, 2012
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
Nine medical specialty societies are joining with the American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation and Consumer Reports to curtail waste in health care and improve patient outcomes.
Read the full article
January 09, 2012
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
Hospitals' physician employment jumped 32 percent from 2000 to roughly 212,000 physicians in 2010, according to the 2012 edition of AHA Hospital Statistics. That means hospitals employ almost 20 percent of all physicians, notes a Hospitals & Health News Daily article.
Read the full article
January 09, 2012
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
It's the rare doctor who wants to talk about it, but being "fired" by a patient happens to nearly all hospitalists at some point in their careers.
The natural tendency may be to either blow it off as a one-time anomaly caused by a particularly challenging patient or family, or assume that it's something that happens to only "bad" doctors and is something to be ashamed about. But hospitalists and health care experts focused on improving quality say that physicians should not suffer alone.
Read the full article
January 03, 2012
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
As we redesign the overall health care delivery system from volume to value, the role of rural hospitals needs to be addressed.
Read the full article
December 28, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
As accountable care organizations sprout up nationwide, locum tenens physicians are likely to find themselves more in demand -- and have more demands placed upon them.
Growth in locum demand is expected because, with more money tied to various quality measures, health systems will be under more pressure to maintain full staff coverage.
Read the full article
December 28, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
In an ideal world, Lorna Dyk would have a pediatric surgeon and pediatric anesthesiologist on speed dial, no more than a local call away to treat young car accident victims or premature infants needing surgery.
But those physician specialists haven't been available for at least three years at St. Vincent Healthcare, with no relief in sight, says Dyk, service line director for women's and children's services at the 286-bed nonprofit hospital in Billings, Mont. The nearest pediatric surgeon, and, in fact the only one serving the sprawling state, practices 350 miles away in Missoula, she says
Read the full article
December 27, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
Physicians with a significant amount of experience have fewer offers to choose from than their younger counterparts when it comes to employment opportunities with hospitals or medical groups, according to a search firm.
Read the full article
December 19, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
For some physicians, a job with a hospital is a dream come true. A physician can practice medicine and have a steady paycheck, regular hours and none of the hassles that may come with a solo or small practice.
But to make it less likely that this dream will turn into a nightmare, physicians need not only read the contract but also be wary of potential land mines hidden within.
Read the full article
December 13, 2011
Posted by: Cory Kleinschmidt / Topic: Physician Careers
In the 2011 Today's Hospitalist Compensation & Career Survey, 40.5% of responding nocturnists claimed they admitted between six and 10 patients per night—while almost 25% of them reported admitting more.
Among nocturnists who provided cross coverage, almost half (42.9%) were responsible for 50 or more patients. And close to one in five nocturnists (23.8%) reported having more than 21 patient encounters per shift.
Read the full article from Today's Hospitalist
December 08, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
Preparing for a shortage of medical talent to treat the expected influx of patients in coming years is difficult work. It’s made even more difficult by the traditional doctor-first attitude that imbues the healthcare workflow. That often means the physician is the bottleneck—all treatment decisions need to filter through him or her. Many systems are trying a myriad of ways to take some of the workaday functions off the physician’s plate, with the difficult task of providing a method of physician oversight of such functions.
Read the full article here
December 07, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
As a locum tenens physician, you have the advantage of a high degree of flexibility in that you can choose when, where, how much to work. As you consider what you want for your career in the coming years, answer the following questions to gain clarity as you map out your goals.
Read the full article here
December 05, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
With final regulations released for the Medicare shared savings program and commercial insurers designing accountable care organizations, the decision is whether to sign up.
<Read the full article here
December 05, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
With a struggling economy and imminent Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement cuts, physician practices nationwide are embracing employment at the hospitals and health systems they once eschewed. Doctors are being warmly welcomed by healthcare organizations eager to augment market share and leverage large numbers of employed physicians for payer rate negotiations. With growing numbers of physicians joining hospitals and health systems, how does the shift from independence affect the physician, the hospital, and the patient?
Read the full article here
November 30, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
Healthcare reform, the unsteady economy, and an increased value on lifestyle balance are factors driving more and more physicians to favor employment over running an independent practice. Strategically this is good news for hospitals, but marketers and physician recruiters need to hone their tactics to appeal to this growing group of in-house providers.
Read the full article here
November 22, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
With some hospitals struggling to fill a physician void, more institutions are turning to nurse practitioners (NP) and physician assistants (PA) for a solution. In fact, hospital outpatient visits handled by only NPs or PAs jumped 50 percent from 2000-2001 (10 percent) to 2008-2009 (15 percent), according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Meanwhile, the percentage of visits involving a physician and a nonphysician clinician remained at 3 percent.
Read the full article here
November 21, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
Thomas Lee's business cards are stamped with the link to his Facebook page. The orthopedic surgeon actively tweets, checks in regularly on FourSquare, and maintains a GooglePlus profile. And he does it for his patients. "It's an electronic way of extending the conversation," says Lee, who practices at Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Center in Westerville, Ohio. "It creates a vibrant sense of community and a wonderful back-and-forth dialogue."
Read the full article here
November 16, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
Everyone knows that hospitalists are integral to the hospitals where they work, but just how important are they? One proxy measure is how many of a hospital's patients they admit and follow. When we asked those questions on the 2011 Today's Hospitalist Compensation & Career Survey, respondents told us that just over 70% of the patients in their facilities were being admitted and followed by hospitalists. While that percentage was fairly consistent across categories like employment models, some interesting differences did emerge. Here's a look at the data.
Read the full article here
November 14, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
In the last several years, medical specialty boards have implemented maintenance-of-certification requirements to provide ongoing education and assessment of physicians. Now the American Board of Medical Specialties plans to make information about whether individual physicians are meeting those requirements available to the public.
Read the full article here
November 14, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
Physician employment continues to rise. This year, physicians increasingly sought employment by hospitals, and hospitals increased efforts to employ physicians. In fact, Irving Levin Associates reported a 200 percent increase in physician group mergers and acquisitions in the second quarter 2011 compared to the same period the year before. Furthermore, physician group M&A activity increased 50 percent from Q1 2011 to Q2 2011. An article, “Hospitals’ Race to Employ Physicians — The Logic Behind a Money-Losing Proposition,” published in The New England Journal of Medicine in May, reported that more than half of practicing U.S. physicians were employed by hospitals or integrated delivery systems. A study by Accenture in June estimated only 33 percent of physicians will remain independent by 2013.
Read the full article here
November 09, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
Despite the widespread belief that the U.S. medical education system produces superbly skilled clinicians, a recent survey of department chiefs from Kaiser Permanente reveals some surprising insights into challenges new doctors face in providing office-based care.
Read the full article here
November 09, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
By investing 90 minutes per week to reaching patients via Twitter, YouTube, Google+, and three Facebook accounts, Dr. Vandna Jerath said she's been able to build her credibility and build a bond with patients before they ever step through the door to her office, Optima Women's Healthcare Practice in Colorado.
Read the full article here
November 08, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
The proverbial statement, “You only get one bite at the apple” couldn’t be truer than when negotiating a Physician Employment Agreement. Whether you’re the head of a medical practice inviting an experienced physician to join the group, or a resident contemplating a Letter of Intent, fair and effective negotiations are paramount to establishing a long-term working relationship.
Read the full article here
November 04, 2011
Posted by: Frank Phillips / Topic: Physician Careers
 With imminent changes coming to healthcare reimbursement, it’s an opportune time to examine what can be done to ensure the payer receives maximum benefits. As a healthcare provider, what can you do to help control patient outcomes and satisfaction? This article will discuss what providers and facilities can do to influence these results.
Not much has changed over the years when it comes to disgruntled patients’ dissatisfaction over the service they receive from providers, facilities and other healthcare staff. The difference now is that reimbursement will be partially tied to the patients’ satisfaction of the care they receive.
To combat dissatisfaction, the provider must always be thinking about patient safety. Most providers work in a team environment, which calls for clear and explicit communication between the physician and the rest of the staff. As a locum tenens provider, the unfamiliar environment and staff may present this as a challenge. You may need to go the extra step and make certain a nurse understands your order, and if he or she seems puzzled, have the nurse repeat the order back to you. It is vital to take that extra step on the front-end rather than having an undesirable outcome with the patient on the back-end.
As a provider, patients really do expect excellent customer service from you. Embrace them as valuable, contributing partners in their healthcare. Learn to ask them about their concerns and listen to them carefully. Speak to them in laymen’s terms so they understand their condition as well as any treatment options available. Ask for patient feedback and encourage the patients’ families to proactively participate in the treatment plan.
Some of the obstacles that stand in the way of a patient’s satisfaction include: inconsistency in treatment team membership, insufficient information sharing, lack of coordination and follow ups, distractions, and workload. Do not assume your team is doing the right thing – take 30 seconds to ASSURE it! A few key phrases that mean, “stop and listen to me, we have a potential problem,” are included in the United Airlines CUUS program.
I’m Concerned
I’m Uncomfortable
This is Unsafe
I’m Scared
The teams that perform well all have clear roles and responsibilities, optimize resources, exemplify strong leadership, engage in regular discipline of feedback, develop a strong sense of collective trust and confidence, and optimize performance outcomes. As a locum tenens provider, all of these aspects can be more difficult given your unfamiliarity with the environment.
The patient’s satisfaction will encompass the dimensions of nurse and physician communication, hospital responsiveness, pain management, communication regarding medicine, facility cleanliness and quietness – just to name a few. As a locum tenens provider, you have the opportunity to make a difference every time come in contact with a patient. At Interim Physicians, we have adopted a new concept to go hand-in-hand with all of this – we call it Advanced PeopleCare. You will hear more and more about this in the coming months, but it all starts with you, the provider.
As you move forward in your locum tenens career, do your best to increase your professionalism and training around patient safety, quality and service. Understand the importance of teamwork and effective communication, demonstrate your compassion and provide a high quality servant attitude with every patient you see.
October 28, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
Changes in Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, healthcare reform, and market competition are all driving change not only in how hospitals and health systems approach patient care, but also in how physician compensation models are taking shape, according to a new HealthLeaders Media Intelligence Report.
Read the full article here
October 28, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
If you’re looking for detailed information on hospitalist compensation, work hours, patient volumes and more, you’ll want to visit the Today’s Hospitalist Web site. Detailed data from the Today’s Hospitalist Compensation & Career Survey feature more than 100 charts giving details on hospitalist pay and productivity, as well as hospitalist attitudes about the specialty, their jobs, burnout and more.
Access the information here
October 28, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
Hospitalized patients are increasingly being seen by someone other than their own doctor, and experts say the trend can benefit patients, physicians and the bottom line.
Read the full article here
October 28, 2011
Posted by: Frank Phillips / Topic: Physician Careers
Although patient-centered care and patient satisfaction are becoming a major focus in healthcare, doctors and nurses around the world are struggling with the concept—though providers in Denmark may be further along than in other countries, according to a report in BMJ Quality & Safety, a journal co-owned by the British Medical Journal Group and the Health Foundation, a British charity.
Read the full article here
October 27, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
The percentage of organizations offering physicians a salary combined with a bonus structure has stopped increasing after several years of growth. These plans are placing a greater emphasis on factors that probably will play a role in reimbursement under health system reform.
Read the full article here
October 26, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
It is easy to say that patients are at the center of healthcare, but a difficult challenge facing healthcare leaders centers on the question of responsibility for the patients’ care. Some providers are evaluating the patients’ role, moving ahead with commitment and resources to help educate them as to their central place in healthcare and what that is all about. Others are still struggling to understand the impact of patient-centered approaches.
Read the full article here
October 24, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
Physicians looking to bring current residents into their practices are going to find them asking for stability and quality of life -- that is, if they can find one interested in something other than hospital employment.
Read the full article here
October 21, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
Conflict between emergency department (ED) and hospitalist physicians seems almost inevitable, according to Dickson Cheung, MD, an emergency physician at Sky Ridge Medical Center in Lone Tree, Colo. “The emergency physician and the internist are wired a little differently. It gets to basic innate personalities and workflows and work habits,” he said.
Read the full article here
October 17, 2011
Posted by: Cory Kleinschmidt / Topic: Physician Careers
Hospitals are typically supportive of developing a hospitalist model in many specialties even though it appears that all specialties require some funding from a hospital or other source. A common scenario is that a hospital has historically paid on-call stipends to doctors in a given specialty and gotten poor responsiveness and service in return.
Read the full article here
October 07, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
The study by the large physician staffing company Merritt Hawkins comes just as the job market for doctors would appear ripe for a spike in salaries. A physician shortage looms at the same time that there may be more than 30 million paying customers coming in their doors once federal health care legislation brings broader coverage for uninsured Americans in 2014.
Read the full article here
October 06, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
Many primary care physicians in the United States believe that their patients are receiving too much medical care, and that the pressure to do more than is necessary could be reduced by malpractice reform, adjusting financial incentives, and spending more time with patients.
Read the full article here
October 04, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
Although some hospitals are limiting social media use among their physicians in fear of possible legal repercussions, the University of Buffalo is encouraging its surgeons to tweet, according to an article in the Bulletin of the American College of Surgeons.
Read the full article here
October 04, 2011
Posted by: Lara Person / Topic: Physician Careers
 As more nurses, pharmacists and physical therapists claim this honorific, physicians are fighting back. For nurses, getting doctorates can help them land a top administrative job at a hospital, improve their standing at a university and win them more respect from colleagues and patients. But so far, the new degrees have not brought higher fees from insurers for seeing patients or greater authority from states to prescribe medicines.
Read the full article here
September 30, 2011
Posted by: Cory Kleinschmidt / Topic: Physician Careers
Hospitalists in adult medicine reported an increase in median compensation from $215,000 to $220,619 in 2010, according to the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) and Society of Hospital Medicine’s (SHM's) State of Hospital Medicine: 2011 Report Based on 2010 Data.
Read the full survey results
September 30, 2011
Posted by: Cory Kleinschmidt / Topic: Physician Careers
AMIA—the association for informatics professionals—announces the success of a multi-year initiative to elevate clinical informatics to an American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) subspecialty certified by an examination administered by the American Board of Preventive Medicine and available to physicians who have primary specialty certification through the American Board of Medical Specialties. Joining such subspecialties as pediatric anesthesiology, medical toxicology, sports medicine, geriatrics medicine, and cardiovascular disease, clinical informatics (CI) certification will be based on a rigorous set of core competencies, heavily influenced by publications on the subject that were developed by AMIA and its members, many of whom have pioneered the field and supported CI’s new status as an ABMS-recognized area of clinical expertise.
Read the full announcement here
September 28, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
Such schedules may attract older men who are considering retirement and young women taking time off to raise a family, a study says.
Read the full article here
September 27, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
Although most are active on sites personally -- and many professionally -- they have been reluctant to engage with patients.
Read the full article here
September 26, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
More physicians are seeking to cut back from full-time schedules. How can physicians make sure that move benefits themselves -- and their practices?
Read the full article here
September 12, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
The nation's system for training physicians is in dramatic need of a complete overhaul to adequately provide future patient care, says a report from the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation, which issued 14 recommendations to make that happen.
Read the full article here
September 09, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
There were 83,466 physician assistants practicing in the United States in 2010, a 100% increase over the past 10 years, according to a survey from the American Academy of Physician Assistants.
Read the full article here
August 22, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
A survey finds many altering their end-of-career scenarios because of flagging investments and a changing medical system.
Read the full article here
August 03, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
The healthcare workforce shortage isn't going to magically solve itself in the next decade. At the same time, job descriptions will be changing, and even top executives will need to update their skill sets. Healthcare leaders need to change the way they recruit — right now.
Read the full article here
July 27, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
Meeting the patient demand fueled by health system reform would require overhauling medical practice and shifting tasks, a study says.
Read the full article here
July 27, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
Although the overall job market was weaker than expected in June, health care continued to be a leader in adding employees -- particularly in physicians' offices. The health care sector added 13,500 jobs in June, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a division of the U.S. Dept. of Labor
Read the full article here
June 30, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
Physicians are seeking employment stability while hospitals are seeking a closer alignment in response to health system reform.
Read the full article here
May 25, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
The uncertainties around a sputtering economy have prompted the nation's healthcare workforce to delay retirement, a new study shows.
Read the full article here
May 23, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
Their adoption of smartphones and tablet computers has resulted in demand for systems in which they can use them.
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May 23, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
Neckwear, watches and even white coats could be forbidden under legislation that aims to reduce health care-associated infections.
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May 19, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
With hospitals hiring more physicians, the American Medical Association wants to ensure that contracts governing these arrangements are understood.
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May 09, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
Rates must be fair market value to avoid violating rules on doctor-hospital alliances.
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May 06, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
High medical school debts and relatively low compensation are driving even more away from the specialty.
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May 04, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
There seems to be a majority belief that internal medicine is the preferred training route for aspiring hospitalists. Of course, many would beg to differ. Given the new "FP-Hospitalist" subcategory in the physician recruitment section of the New England Journal of Medicine, some might suggest that the bias toward internal medicine is moot.
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May 03, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
Large hospitals and health systems are luring doctors with flexible work schedules.
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April 28, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
Control the urge to post any information on Facebook, Twitter or any other social media sites that could indirectly identify your patients. Or, just never post anything about your hospital duties at all in any public venue. Easier said than done, right? Of course.
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April 25, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
Physicians are participating in Medicare pay-for-reporting programs in growing numbers, according to the 2009 Physician Quality Reporting System and e-Prescribing Experience Report from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
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April 25, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
The AMA and others in organized medicine have joined the HHS Partnership for Patients, which focuses on reducing hospital-acquired illnesses and readmissions.
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April 21, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
Physicians employed by hospitals want more say in hospital management, according to a survey by the consulting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers US.
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April 18, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
Office-based physicians contributed $1.4 trillion in economic activity and supported 4 million jobs in 2009, an AMA report says.
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April 13, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
Survey of 843 Americans shows few patients would like to communicate with physicians online, but a majority would like to schedule appointments online.
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April 11, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
Practices added more than 16,000 jobs in the first quarter, according to government figures.
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March 30, 2011
Posted by: Mary Jo Schweitzer / Topic: Physician Careers
U.S. hospitals have begun responding to the implementation of health care reform by accelerating their hiring of physicians. More than half of practicing U.S. physicians are now employed by hospitals or integrated delivery systems, a trend fueled by the intended creation of accountable care organizations (ACOs) and the prospect of more risk-based payment approaches.
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