Fostering wellness: Tips and practical advice from front line physicians

“If physicians aren’t happy, they can’t heal others” – Vivek Murthy Last year, nearly 400 physicians committed suicide, a rate higher than other professions. Our nation is facing an epidemic of overwhelmed physicians subjected to increasing external stressors. Modern medical practice has evolved into a system driven by incentives to meet care quality measure benchmarks, implement incomplete electronic systems, provide care that is satisfying to patients and more. To keep up, physicians must be equipped with the knowledge and tools to practice, but equally important, the skills to self-nurture and remain well in this changing environment. In 2015, more than

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Direct primary care physicians are trying to rescue other doctors

In a recent interview, Dr. Farzad Mostashari (former national coordinator for health IT and current CEO, Aledade ACO) gave some advice to physicians on how to avoid burnout and “restore their role as caregivers”: The key is two things. One, if you’re in a kayak in the rapids, you have to lean in and dig your paddle in and push ahead. If you lean back, you’re done. You’re going to flip over. So be more active. Don’t be passive. Take control. Step two is join together with others to increase your power, increase your control, increase your ability to have

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Accountable care organizations: Who are the winners and losers?

Recently, CMS sent out press releases touting over $1 billion in savings from Accountable Care Organizations. Here’s the tweet from Andy Slavitt, the acting Administrator of CMS: The link in the tweet is to a press release. The link in the press release citing more details is to another press release. There’s little in the way of analysis or data about how ACOs did in 2015. So I decided to do a quick examination of how ACOs are doing and share the results below. Basic background on ACOs Simply put, an ACO is a group of providers that is responsible

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A culture of rape: What can we do as doctors?

Around the U.S., millions of college age kids head back to start their fall semester in college. Their courses carefully selected months ago and their packing completed in a frenzy of activity. But, little thought is given to the most violent crime that happens on college campuses: rape and sexual abuse. Estimates show that approximately 25 percent of college women have been victims of rape. In fact, every 21 hours a woman is raped on a college campus somewhere in the U.S. The most likely times these occur are during the first few weeks of the freshman and sophomore years.

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What physicians can do about EpiPen

When I found out my daughter was allergic to peanuts, she was a year old. She couldn’t have cared less. She was smiling and happy, sitting on my lap in the allergist’s office, blissfully unaware of the big red mark on the side of her face. And I was crying and sad, crushed for that moment that the first challenge had been put in her path. I wasn’t sad that she was different, that her cheeks would never be covered in sticky PB and J or that Reese’s cups would now be off limits on Halloween. I was sad because

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