Resources: Articles

A Guide to Your Physician Job Search »

New physicians and experienced physicians continually wonder: How should I apply for jobs?  Should I go through a personal recruiter, search online, or contact hospitals directly?  Should I call groups in the communities in which I want to live?  Perhaps medical societies are the answer?

eMatchPhysicians has researched every avenue and compiled a step by step process for a successful physician job search.  Click here to access our full tutorial.

Hospitals Use Social Networks to Provide Superior Care »

Hospitals forming an accountable care organization (ACO) want the organization to be as cohesive and efficient as possible.  This means gathering physicians who can work well together.  Compatibility is crucial in ensuring that superior care is provided to their patients.  In the past, hospitals reached out to physicians who are or already have worked together.  Others have brought together physicians at random.  A new proposed approach is to evaluate physician relationships within a community by utilizing social network analysis.

The role of social media in provider care has become immensely prevalent and hospitals are beginning to use these networks to build ACOs.  Social networking offers an electronic representation of professional and personal relationships among individuals and groups.  Through these networks, participants can share information, ideas, and influences amongst one another.  Like everyone else, physicians join and create social networks based on practice affiliations, friendships, and other criteria.

Social networking has now become a tool for hospitals to track these connections and see who physicians prefer to communicate with.  A social network map will show how physicians influence other physicians and individuals in their communities.  By using social network maps, hospitals can also assess how many generalists and specialists a provider has access to.  These maps show physician clusters which represent pre-existing relationships between physicians as well as their relationships with hospitals.  Another advantage to social networks is that they facilitate the spread of information among providers and hospitals which can positively influence the practice of medicine.

Creating an ACO using social network analysis is a superior approach to the random selection hospitals used before because the social influences physicians establish in social networks exhibit their leadership, practice patterns, and affiliations.   Social networks give hospitals the opportunity to develop successful ACOs by combining the strengths of physicians who are compatible socially, and as a result, likely compatible professionally.

 

For more information, visit: http://www.hhnmag.com/hhnmag/HHNDaily/HHNDailyDisplay.dhtml?id=3230009892

  

iPhone Apps for Physicians »

We live in a world where there is an app for just about everything under the sun. The medical industry is no exception! There is a wide selection of medical apps available for download that will help physicians practice medicine in a more efficient manner. Yes, your phone can now help you be a better physician! Gone are the days of searching through heavy reference books and notes, now all you need to do is pick up your iphone or ipad and select the app of your choice! Listed below are some of the most popular apps being purchased by physicians today.

Medscape: This was the #1 downloaded free medical app in 2010. It is the largest, most comprehensive free medical app available for healthcare professionals. Along with a drug reference and drug interaction checker, it also contains a disease and condition reference and treatment guide. It provides a procedures reference, as well as continuing medical education (CME/CE) activities. These are just some of the many features available in this expansive app.

Epocrates: This is the #1 mobile drug reference resource used by healthcare providers 3 to 1 as their point of care drug reference choice. With trusted and accurate information, it assists physicians in making more informed medical decisions, leading to improved patient safety. It provides several unique features, such as a pill identifier, formulary data and dosing calculator that physicians require at the point of care.

Mediquations: This app was selected as a “Staff Favorite” by Apple. It is the original, most comprehensive medical calculator on the App Store. It contains 230 formulas and scoring tools. Users are able to reference full equations, detailed information, relevant pictures and Pubmed links for each scoring tool.

Medica Spanish (with audio): This is the #1 selling Medical Spanish phrase book. It was recently updated to add new features, requested by users. This comprehensive phrase book was written by physicians for physicians! It’s like having a personal interpreter on call 24/7 in your pocket. It assists you in obtaining full SOAP notes with “yes or no” questions and helps you become more independent and confident in using your Spanish, providing high quality translations with audio.

ICDMeister: This very popular ICD-9 coding reference is now an available in the app store! Its “Most Common Diagnosis” lists let you find most of the codes you need with 3-4 taps. Search for abbreviations and acronyms, full words or part of a word. Efficiency at the palm of your hand!

 

Is Our Healthcare System Prepared for an Aging Nation? »

Over the past 40 years, the age distribution of the U.S. population has gradually shifted upwards. According to the 2010 census, one in eight Americans is now over the age of 65, and one in three is older than 50. Most of this shift can be attributed to the aging of the Baby Boomers, who vastly outnumber current birth rates.

Women comprise the majority of this aging group because they typically outlive their male counterparts. Since many of these women were never part of the workforce and have limited financial resources, they are particularly vulnerable when it comes to the rising costs of health care. More and more elderly are forced to continue working due to financial strain. The current health care system—with its focus on curative care—is not equipped to handle the coming challenges of this aging population.

A greater emphasis on care giving will be needed to adapt to these changing demographics. As it is, the purpose of most medical care is curing illness. But what about the many elderly who suffer from incurable, chronic illnesses? What about the people who would rather live out the rest of their lives in peace rather than suffer through expensive and unpleasant medical procedures that would only prolong their life for perhaps a few more months? This area is currently neglected because caring for dying patients is not only depressing, but it also isn’t profitable. But as this population continues to age, the demand for caregivers and doctors specializing in geriatrics who can administer quality palliative or hospice care is expected to increase dramatically. Instead of trying to prevent death for the chronically-ill elderly, maybe we should instead focus on helping them come to terms with death and enjoy what life they still have left.

The elderly face the dilemma of a shortage of geriatric and palliative trained physicians. Unfortunately, the geriatrics subspecialty is the lowest paid, which has deterred physicians from pursuing training in this field. With the cost of medical school debt, physicians cannot afford a career in geriatric care. Aside from low compensation, Medicare doctor reimbursements do not cover the cost of patient treatment. With the aging Baby Boomer population and a lack of incentive for physicians to practice geriatric medicine, a lot of people will not be able to receive the care they need.

Sources:

http://www.hhnmag.com/hhnmag/HHNDaily/HHNDailyDisplay.dhtml?id=8150006606

http://www.medicareresources.org/blog/2010/12/15/shortage-of-geriatric-doctors/

Major Metropolitan Cities vs. Small Towns »

Trying to choose between a big city and a small town? Read this article about Major Metropolitan Cities vs. Small Towns so you weigh your options objectively.

Physician Employment »

Physician employment is supposed to be easy to find. Like the old Cole Porter song goes, “It Ain’t Necessarily So”. Employment may be easy to find, but the kind of job that you want may not be easy to find at all. Full physician employment article here.

Primary Care Sees a Hike in Compensation »

Primary care physicians are in high demand and in short supply.  They are the doctors we see first when not feeling well.  Unfortunately, there is little motivation for physicians finishing medical school to focus on primary care.  Many physicians complete their training and are faced with a great amount of debt, and a residency in just internal medicine or family medicine will not lead to a salary that will cover those costs.  This is why so many doctors go on to fellowships, as the financial potential of specialized training exceeds that of primary care by a significant margin.  In a 2010 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, less than 2% of medical students are interested in internal medicine and less than 5% in family medicine.

The good news is that primary care physicians are seeing an increase in overall compensation since 2009.  The median salary for internal medicine physicians is now over $214,000, versus the $191,000 doctors were earning two years ago.  This increase in compensation is due to the new health care reform legislation which aims to improve primary care salaries.  The bill also adds that Medicare will pay physicians a 10% bonus if most of their time is spent caring for the elderly.  And in 2013, Medicaid payments, which reimburse for low-income patients, will be raised about 20% depending on the state.

Our family and internal medicine physicians are an essential part of our health care system and the US is facing a severe shortage.  This 12% increase in compensation and additional increases in reimbursement are a good start toward motivating doctors to practice primary care.

Things to Consider Before Taking a Physician Job »

There are more things to consider when accepting a physician job than what is in your offer letter. This article will help you look at your job search from a more holistic standpoint.

Top 10 Modern Health Discoveries »

When we think of medical discoveries, most of us think back to the early twentieth century to discoveries like penicillin and the polio vaccine. We should be giving credit to the more recent breakthroughs in medicine; the problem is nobody really knows what they are.

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