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CAREERS Since its launch in 1990, the American Board of Internal Medicine's (ABIM) maintenance of certification (MOC) program has been criticized by many internists who say its requirements are burdensome [...]

Like many primary care doctors, family physician Sarah Nosal, M.D., FAAFP, routinely counsels patients on a variety of behavioral issues such as anxiety, attention deficit disorder and mild depression. But [...]

From insulin to remote blood pressure monitors, today's family practitioner or general internist has medications and diagnostic tools at their disposal undreamed of a century ago. With a few clicks [...]

After a long stretch of relative stability, the U.S. economy has hit a rough patch in recent years. Inflation and interest rates have reached levels not seen in decades, and [...]

Medicine is not merely a science but an art,' the Renaissance physician and philosopher Paracelsus once said. 'The character of the physician may act more powerfully upon the patient than [...]

Between 2011 and 2015 the government spent upwards of $35 billion subsidizing doctors' purchases of electronic health records (EHRs) through the Meaningful Use program. It did so mainly in the [...]

Is value-based care having a moment? Health care policy experts and institutions have long agreed that fee-for-service (FFS) medicine is wasteful, outmoded and at least partially responsible for the U.S. [...]

'I wish I could do more paperwork,' said no doctor, ever. Tasks such as filling out forms, checking boxes and fighting with insurance companies have long irritated physicians. But several [...]

Although it's been 30 years, pediatrician Maria Chandler, M.D., MBA, can still recall when she realized she needed to learn about the business of medicine. Soon after landing her first [...]

The expanded use of telehealth for combatting opioid addiction is part of a recent update to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) regulations governing opioid treatment programs (OTPs) [...]

When it comes to working on behalf of health data interoperability, few people are better qualified than Micky Tripathi, Ph.D., M.P.P., the new head of the Office of the National [...]

When it comes to winding down a medical career, Robert Eidus, M.D., knows he's in an enviable position. After spending most of his career in New Jersey, Eidus, 72, and [...]

The COVID-19 pandemic is the biggest crisis to hit American health care in a century, resulting in more than half a million deaths and millions of people postponing needed care, [...]

Many independent practice owners today are in a difficult bind. By training and temperament, they are fiercely devoted to maintaining their autonomy. But survival in today's environment requires the financial [...]

As part of our 100th anniversary issue, we wanted to compare medical practice in 1923 with practice today. The first doctor we thought of was Melissa Lucarelli, M.D., one of [...]

Doctors and health care organizations know the importance of social factors in determining patients' health outcomes, but they often are frustrated by their inability to securely exchange this information in [...]

Six months into the COVID-19 pandemic, its impact on medical practices is becoming clear: fewer in-person visits, more care provided via telehealth and, for many, lower revenue. But even as [...]

On March 3, Susan Coker, the practice administrator of Tri County Internal Medicine in suburban Atlanta, and Kelly Stopek, the practice's medical director, left for a vacation in Costa Rica. [...]

In 2019, after 20 years in practice, Laurie Montague, M.D., was growing restless. The Manchester, New Hampshire, family doctor found she was spending more time on paperwork and administrative responsibilities [...]

The Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA) extended health insurance to previously uninsured millions of Americans. Yet many insured adults, even those with employer-sponsored coverage, find they still can't afford [...]

Efforts to combat physician burnout usually focus on individual doctors through programs aimed at building resiliency and dealing with stress resulting from systemic factors such as heavy workloads and loss [...]

Ada Stewart, MD, has a lot of experience dealing with obesity and its effects on patients. About 75 percent of the patients she treats at the Columbia, South Carolina, Federally [...]

James Ellzy, MD, FAAFP, is a board-certified family physician, an assistant professor at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and served for 22 years in the U.S. Navy, [...]

Doctors frequently worry about getting sued for malpractice, and with good reason. Although the number of lawsuits has been declining in recent years, there were still more than 11,500 filed [...]

A recent AMA study found that in 2018, for the first time, employed doctors outnumbered those that owned, or had an ownership stake in, a practice. For independent practices, this [...]

When Gary LeRoy MD, FAAFP, signed on as medical director of a community health center in Dayton, Ohio, it consisted of a single physician and dentist, a nurse practitioner and [...]

It wasn't long ago that a primary care practice's calculation of whether to provide an ancillary service, such as lab work or sleep testing, was relatively simple: would patients use [...]

In his 24 years of practice, family physician Rob Danoff, DO, has noticed a significant change in `the way patients approach their medical care. Early in his career, patients viewed [...]

Doctors rarely have the time or inclination to follow developments in federal healthcare policy, but 2019 may well be a year where physicians start paying more attention to events in [...]

The growing use of telehealth following the COVID-19 pandemic was expected to give patients flexibility and the choice to obtain care in person or remotely. Researchers in a new study, [...]

Doctors have enjoyed more than a decade of relatively affordable medical malpractice premiums. But for many, those good times are ending. The turnaround is documented in a white paper published [...]

Burnout has been a widespread and growing problem among doctors in recent years, brought on by frustrations with paperwork, electronic health records and other distractions from patient care. Now, doctors [...]

James Ellzy, M.D., FAAFP, is a board-certified family physician, an assistant professor at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and served for 22 years in the U.S. Navy, [...]

Public health officials and physicians are focusing their energies now on stopping the spread of COVID-19 and treating patients who are ill with the disease. But what will be the [...]

Mobile health (mHealth) apps are exploding in number and popularity, a development that presents new challenges for physicians: How do they determine which among the thousands of health-related apps on [...]

If the Coronavirus pandemic contains any silver lining for primary care doctors, it may be to speed the adoption of telemedicine and other alternatives to in-person patient visits. While technology [...]

Doctors have long known that patients' expectations have a significant impact on the effectiveness of treatments prescribed for them. But much less is known about the effect of providers' expectations [...]

Pediatrician Karen Ailsworth, MD, began her career with a multi-specialty practice in Baraboo, Wisc. She enjoyed the job at first, but a couple of years after she started an HMO [...]

When doctors talk about the biggest challenges facing the profession, they generally focus on topics such as burnout, the shortcomings of EHRs, and the transition to value-based care.Often overlooked, however, [...]

Getting paid has never been so complicated for primary care doctors. An uncertain policy landscape, ever-changing regulatory requirements, and evolving practice and reimbursement models mean that physicians must constantly stay [...]

INTERNIST ANN CORDUM, MD, belongs to a seemingly endangered species of primary care doctors--those who enjoy their work and look forward to coming to the office every day. It hasn't [...]

Patient portals once were seen as a solution to overworked staff and lack of patient engagement. But even though they've been available for decades, portals have yet to meet those [...]

The epidemic of opioid-related deaths sweeping the country has lawmakers and regulators in Washington, D.C., and state capitals scrambling for answers. And while doctors generally welcome the attention to the [...]

The opioid epidemic and the fate of Obamacare occupy most of the public's attention but outside the media spotlight many primary care practices face the more basic challenge of staying [...]

As a solo primary care doctor, Melissa Lucarelli, MD, rarely turns down an opportunity to increase her practice's revenue. But that's what she did when, in 2015, Medicare introduced its [...]