Lifestyle

Thanksgiving is still a couple of weeks away, but the holiday shopping season is already underway, albeit unofficially. The "official" start of the season, of course, is Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. A few days later comes "Cyber Monday," a day of deals and discounts by online retailers.

If you're one of those individuals – and there are many – who cringe at the prospect of yet another staff or department meeting, you can take heart that you're not alone in that regard. Or, you can do something about it, and your medical practice will be better for the change.

This week's list of must-read stories for physicians includes a look at burnout prevention, the importance of virtual "bedside manner," and how one doctor cut the bureaucracy out of his practice.

In the wake of the landslide Republican victory in the midterm Senate and Congressional elections, the stage is set for renewed attempts for pragmatic reform of the Affordable Care Act.

At this fall's most recent Health 2.0 Silicon Valley conference, the overall theme is that there is more excitement - and dollars - than ever in the realm of consumer healthcare informatics & technology.

It's no secret that cycling can be a great source of exercise, but that's easier said than done in many cities.

Several times a year my crack staff pulls together a mélange of the best and most useful bits of wisdom that we have come across. We put these together for your amusement, enlightenment, and hopefully, profit.

While basic homeowners, condo, or renters policies should provide ample protection for ordinary possessions, if you own collectibles, you may need to boost your coverage. Standard policies provide little coverage for collectibles.

Microsoft is making an aggressive push to convert its dominance of desktop business applications into dominance in the mobile world. The company will make its flagship Office applications free on most mobile devices.

According to many experts, 50% of the art on the market is fake. This gives us a moment for pause.

If you're a political junkie, election season in the United States can be something akin to a political Super Bowl. However, for many Americans, elections are a relatively minor event.

Ballot measures designed to increase malpractice payouts in California and allow medical marijuana in Florida failed Tuesday, though the latter had strong support.

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. And in the case of Joshua Dines, MD, and his father, David Dines, MD, the apple fell about as close to the tree as you can get.

All the recent news about the dreaded Ebola virus got me thinking about how my physician-father overcame another virus-one that nearly wrecked his medical career just when it was taking off. And if he had not beaten this illness so long ago, I wouldn't be alive to tell this story.

A couple of ballot initiatives up for a vote Tuesday could have significant impacts on how doctors provide healthcare in 2 states.

Despite wide differences between the richest and poorest countries in the world, the leading causes of death remain widely the same across the globe.

We are now in Blaye on the north side of the largest estuary in Europe, the Gironde. Blaye fortress, is a 17th Century citadel and a UNESCO tribute to the military genius who designed it, the engineer Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban.

Many physicians have an extremely high level of student debt. Fortunately, many are eligible for several types of forbearance programs and debt-reduction programs. The difficulty lies in choosing among them.

A significant portion of America's safety net hospitals have only a bare minimum supply of the personal protective equipment the government says is necessary for healthcare workers who treat Ebola patients.

Three in five Americans are using an "extreme" investment allocation for their retirement savings, according to a new study.

This week's list of must-read stories shows why a physician's EQ -- not just her IQ -- is increasingly important. The list also includes a look at a new kind of medical school and an explanation of why Medicare Advantage physician directories aren't always very useful.

The question of whether 2014 tax law changes will impact physicians is easily answered: Yes. The more difficult question to answer is, how significant will that impact be?

The end of Daylight Saving Time means an "extra" hour for most Americans. And while the vast majority of people will use that extra hour to sleep, Fidelity Investments is suggesting a different idea: Use the time to focus on your finances.

Any businessperson knows taxes can make a significant difference to their company's bottom line. And while recent tax inversions by multinational corporations have highlighted the effects of federal tax policy, local and states taxes can also play a major role determining whether a business thrives, fails, or even relocates.

Medicare physician quality reporting programs pose significant challenges to medical practices and don't bring any obvious benefits, so say a majority of medical practice managers in a new survey.

The term "venture capitalist" has been bannered across all media for years now, but most folks outside that cloistered sub-culture here in Silicon Valley know little about it.

There have been quite a few hot IPOs this year. Alibaba and GoPro to name just a couple. But the real money was made before these companies even went public.

Medical school enrollment in the US has hit an all-time high, according to data from the Association of American Medical Colleges. The data also show medical schools continue to become more diverse.