Joseph B. Martin, former dean of Harvard Medical School, bemoans the lack of new primary care doctors, and offers suggestions for how to increase that number in coming years.

Read his article in The Boston Globe.

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From Medical Economics magazine, more on physician shortage ...

The medical community does a poor job of delivering end-of-life-care and helping patients die. Nor does it do a good job in helping them live, Kenneth Fisher, a physician and primary author of a new book, “In Defiance of Death: Exposing the Real Costs of End-of-Life Care” (Praeger Publishers), told the Kalamazoo Gazette.

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From Medical Economics magazine, more on clinical practice ...

A New York Times article citing high rates of physician negligence and suggesting that an apology from doctors who make medical errors can help head off court cases prompted this response from a plaintiffs’ attorney at a prominent law firm: “There is an abundant need for honest penitence and self-reflection on the part of doctors,” said Allan Zelikovic, director of the Medical Malpractice Unit at Weitz & Luxenberg, P.C. “The reality is in cases where a patient is left with hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical expenses and lost earnings—much less years of pain and suffering—it is unlikely that ‘I’m sorry’ will put food on the table.”

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From Medical Economics magazine, more on malpractice ...

The health plan touted by Senator Hillary Clinton would force people to buy something they cannot afford and then impose a heavy fine on them when they don’t buy it, says John G. Goodman, president of the National Center for Policy Analysis, a public policy research organization with offices in Dallas and Washington, DC. It’s Goodman’s view that at the end of the day healthcare consumers will be worse off than they were at the outset. In response, Clinton says that she’ll limit the amount people have to pay in premiums to 5 or 10 percent of their incomes. To read Goodman’s 10-point rejoinder, click here.

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From Medical Economics magazine, more on health insurance ...

Compared to compensation in the specialties and surgery, primary care is generally seen as the poorer step-child. But expect even less in the way of compensation if you’re a female PCP, especially one in family practice, says a new survey by Jackson & Coker, the Georgia-based physician staffing firm. Among other things, that income disparity has prompted some female PCPs to think seriously about leaving the profession down the not-too-distant road. To learn more about the trend and the survey generally, read Jackson & Coker’s press release.

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From Medical Economics magazine, more on primary care ...

Everyone has heard about the looming shortages in primary care, especially in family medicine. At the root of the problem are the lower reimbursements PCPs receive, as compared to their specialist and surgical colleagues. Now, in order to make primary care more attractive, Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Montana) has proposed boosting Medicare rates for PCPs. But some physicians see this as a robbing-Peter-to-pay-Paul approach. To read why, see this provocative entry from American Medical News.

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From Medical Economics magazine, more on physician shortage ...

Maybe you’ve seen the signs at your local pharmacy saying “E-prescriptions filled here” and “Give your prescription a head start” They’re part of a campaign to encourage patients to convert their doctors to electronic prescribing.

The organization behind the campaign is SureScripts, a company created by the pharmacy industry to promote e-prescribing. That’s technically defined as a prescription that goes directly from the doctor’s computer to the pharmacy’s computer (faxed prescriptions don’t meet the definition). SureScripts estimates that more than 40,000 pharmacies have computer systems capable of receiving e-prescriptions. The bulk of these pharmacies are in national chains such as Walgreens or part of discount retailers such as Wal-Mart. SureScripts operates a nationwide data exchange that connects these pharmacies to doctors who use compatible e-prescribing software.

The e-prescribing signs started appearing in pharmacies on April 29. The one that states “Give your prescription a head start” adds “Ask your doctor for an e-prescription” and invites customers to a SureScripts-sponsored website. Besides explaining the benefits of this technology, the website asks “Does your doctor e-prescribe?” By clicking on the question, a visitor can then enter his ZIP code and find out whether his doctor appears on a list of area e-prescribers. If his name isn’t there, the website invites the visitor to print a flyer about e-prescribing that he can give to his doctor.

Assuming that patients buy into e-prescribing, a lot of flyers could get printed. Only six percent of physicians have the kind of software that can transmit prescriptions electronically to pharmacies, according to SureScripts.

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From Medical Economics magazine, more on e-prescribing ...