Christopher Burton, MD

When it comes to finding the perfect gift for someone, sometimes the best thing you can give them is your time and attention.

Very few people actually see their resolution through to success. Here's how to become one of them.

Everywhere you turn there are colored lights, advertisements, glittering tinsel, shopping, delightful holiday get-togethers, and dreaded holiday parties. For physicians, we face a flood of patients wanting to get their procedures, work-ups, and surgeries done before their deductible starts over in January.

This article is going to be different than most. This week I’m not going to be throwing out a bunch of sage advice. What I am going to do is ask questions.

It is nice to reflect on the reasons that many of us went into medicine. We value helping people. We value improving quality of life. We value making a difference in the world around us.

You may be wondering what brand has to do with you as a physician, but in reality, despite whether you are in private practice, employed by a hospital or still in residency, your brand is more important now than ever.

As a physician, you may be wondering why you need a personal mission statement. Just about every big business has a mission statement that, in one sentence or a few sentences, boils down how they do business and often what a consumer can expect from them.

Values. We all have them, and we all live by them. Some people do it intentionally, and others haphazardly.

One of the things that most successful people have in common is that they create daily habits that help them to earn and maintain the success they have in life. The time is now for you to start utilizing these daily habits to help attain the success that you desire.

So, you know that you want to branch out from just practicing medicine. You want to find the perfect entrepreneurial opportunity for you, but you are not positive what options are out there.

Many physicians think about the opportunities that exist for them when it comes to starting a business, but they often get caught up in one reason or another for why they can’t start a business and fear is a big stumbling block.

Delegating tasks to your staff is often viewed as a last ditch effort to create more time in your day, but it’s a very valuable skill to have at your disposal.

Everyone has priorities during the day. You usually sort the tasks that you are going to be doing by their priority, but how exactly do you determine that? Sometimes it can be difficult to decide what tasks need to be handled first and so on. Here are some tips to help you to start determining how to set your priorities in the best order possible.

Most people think that multitasking means that they’ll save time and get all the tasks that they need completed done in a quick and efficient manner. But researchers are finding that that's not true.

Do you feel like you are waiting for the right time to strike that important task, but it just never seems to come? You know yourself, so be honest with yourself.

One of the hardest things about time management and productivity is keeping track of everything that needs to be done in a day. As a physician, there are always circumstances that pop up that can throw off what you plan to accomplish in a day.

The Federal Trade Commission has outlined laws in what is referred to as the CAN-SPAM Act. This law establishes guidelines for commercial messages as well as outlines the rights of e-mail recipients.

E-mail marketing serves as one of the most valuable marketing resources today. The number of e-mail users rises exponentially every year. In fact, research suggests that this number will reach 4.3 billion accounts in 2016. Because of its profound popularity and numerous benefits, it is essential that e-mail become an integral part of your marketing plan.

Last week I discussed a the importance of implementing a social media marketing plan. Here are a handful of do’s and don’ts to help your practice develop a social media presence and gain more exposure.

Marketing represents an incredibly important aspect of the business of medicine that doctors often overlook. But implementing social media marketing can be beneficial to your medical practice.

Keeping up with emails, the newspaper, and medical journals is a full-time job in itself. Here's how to master getting the information that you actually need.

As physicians, we may not have been taught certain leadership skills during our training, but we can learn them. There have been some great historical examples of leaders that we can use today to help us grow into the kind of leaders that we need to be in order to affect positive change.

Through modeling leadership behaviors and teaching the right methods to be a leader, medical training staff can make a huge difference for the success of coming generations of physicians.

No longer should physicians believe that being outside of the management team stops them from being a leader

Physician burnout isn't just a problem for physicians, it's also a huge cost-driver for healthcare organizations. In this second part of a two-part series, we look at those costs, and how healthcare systems can avoid them.

Physician burnout is not just something that physicians have to deal with in isolation. There is a bigger impact on the entire healthcare system.

Everyone knows time is money, but have you ever stopped to think how much time you spend doing things that aren't productive and don't help you achieve your goals?

Big-time athletes earn huge salaries, but that doesn't always translate into financial security and a comfortable retirement.

Coaching brings out the best in people, regardless if you are a professional athlete, entertainer, CEO or doctor.

The common thread among successful leaders and practices is that they have a clear vision of what they want to develop.