Professionalism

Withholding Life Sustaining Treatment, an Ethical Paradox

CMS is allowing reimbursement for healthcare providers who have stand-alone discussions with patients about their health care options near the end of life, including life-sustaining treatment. Lack of reimbursement has likely represented one barrier to these important discussions. Another obstacle…

Abnormal Uterine Bleeding

Abnormal Uterine Bleeding (AUB) accounts for nearly 30% of all visits to the gynecologist and 70% of all visits in the perimenopausal and postmenopausal years [ACOG, 2014]. Recent advancements in diagnostic modalities and new terminology warrant an up-date on this…

When is a Patient Not a Patient? The Legal Physician-Patient Relationship

How is the legal relationship between health care practitioners and patients defined? The relationship is primarily based in contract law and highly dependent on an analysis of specific facts and state law. In some cases, the law may define a…

Opioid Mortality: What Prescribers Can Do

Deaths from opioid overdose have risen to epidemic levels, leading to a proliferation of many regulations and counter-measures, such as the pharmacy drug monitoring programs (PDMPs). This monograph will assess the effectiveness of these measures, review existing clinical practice guidelines,…

Hepatitis C Screening, Testing, and Referral: What the PCP Needs to Know

It is estimated that only half of those infected with Hepatitis C Virus in the US are diagnosed and perhaps a third receive treatment. The arrival of new direct-acting antiviral medications with high cure rates has spurred the creation of…

Patient Satisfaction Ratings: Is There a Punchline for Physicians

H-CAHPS and CG-CAHPS are patient satisfaction surveys in the hospital and office settings. They are being collected, published and used by payers in determining hospital and physician reimbursement. Criticisms have been raised about the validity of the surveys and their…

Jousting Mistake: Blaming Other Providers

Every physician in medical practice has at some time seen situations of patient past medical care that seemed inappropriate. In such situations physicians are immediately placed in the position of determining the immediate requirement for continuing medical care and the…

UpToDate

UpToDate is an electronic learning tool that provides current, authoritative, and clinically focused information available on 10,000+ topics covering 22+ medical specialties. We integrate the best evidence with clinical experience to produce practical and detailed topics to answer physicians’ questions…

Physician in Management: Resolving Conflict

Experts say some conflict is healthy, and they’re right. When not managed well, however, conflict can become disruptive and lead to medical errors, poor patient satisfaction, increased cost and higher turnover. Learn the skills you need to make conflict productive….

DocCom Module 41: Professionalism: Boundary Issues

Mutual caring between clinician and patient only thrives within the mutually understood boundaries of a professional relationship. Occasionally, unexamined feelings or misinterpreted communications by patient or clinician lead to incursions beyond those boundaries, and such incursions always threaten the relationship….