Lifestyle

Social media has the potential to help a practice's bottom line, but it can also create an opportunity for misuse. The good news: The Federation of State Medical Boards has created guidelines for physicians to follow. The bad news: Many physicians don't know the guidelines exist.

Physicians spend hundreds of hours each year reporting data to insurance companies, for a total tab of more than $15 billion worth of time. That story tops this week’s PMD Critical List. Also making the list: Infection rates remain a stubborn problem, and one state outlaws paper prescriptions.

A surprisingly high number of Americans have bank accounts they keep secret from their spouses. This kind of secrecy can lead to problems that extend far beyond your wallet.

Every day, physicians in every type of practice are presented with hard evidence about the one inescapable truth: sooner or later, we’re all going to die. One might think, then, that doctors would exceed the national averages for those who maintain life insurance policies. One would be wrong.

Free (Grand) Standing ERs

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Free-standing emergency rooms are growing like weeds in many affluent neighborhoods. However, some of the centers are creating problems and attracting the interest of local lawmakers.

Whether you work in the medical profession or another industry, firing someone is one of the hardest things that a supervisor will ever have to do. And giving an employee the heave-ho due to performance issues is a particularly difficult task. It takes skill and savvy to avoid causing a scene, harming office morale and landing your practice in legal trouble.

Life as a third year, when you are just beginning to get a sample of the complexity, challenges, and opportunities in clinical care, is much different than life as a resident or a practicing doctor.

More outfitters are offering trips designed for women only. Here's a look at this mini-trend and some of the available options.

Riches and power top this week’s PMD Critical List. Our top story looks at the richest doctors in the world. Another story looks at a group of physicians who hold incredible power over the US healthcare system, even though they’re not household names.

The question of whether to be a generalist or a specialist occupies not only the minds of medical students about to choose their career paths on Match Day, but also the minds of physician entrepreneurs.