SPOTLIGHT -
Investment Consult : A better way to take the stock market's pulse
Most investors use the Dow Industrials or the S&P 500 to follow Wall Street's ups and downs. But a lesser-known index is better.
"It's a physician's duty to expose fraud if he suspects it"
That's the belief of dermatologist Andrew Hendricks, who blew the whistle on a giant lab. After several tense years, his lawsuit reaped $182 million for the Feds.
Hospitalists: They've made me a believer
Once skeptical about inpatient specialists, this doctor has come to love what they do for him. Mostly, they give him time.
Help your needy patients get free medication
Enroll them in assistance programs offered by pharmaceutical manufacturersand watch the quality of their lives improve.
Washington Beat
Legislation; Medicare; Fraud'N'Abuse
Lighten up on large-cap growth stocks
Lighten up on largecap growth stocks
Malpractice Consult
Should you tell patients if you've been addicted? Confidentiality for patients who use illegal drugs
Snake oil on the Internet
When I'm old, give me a real doctor
Thinking about retirement, this country FP wonders if he'll be able to find an oldfashioned physician for himselfinstead of a "provider".
There's what we say—and what the patient hears
Here are one doctor's tips for bridging the communication gap between you and the people you're trying to help.
Maybe doctors can't beat HMOs at their own game
Full financial risk for Medicare services torpedoed two physician groups. Are more such failures ahead?
Financial Beat
Memo from the Editor: A family physician's promise to himself
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Tropical vacation? Try the polar opposite
The stark beauty of ice, tundra, walruses, and polar bears makes the Arctic Circle a "hot" travel destination, says the author.
After playing with fire, this group went down in flames
Founded on a dream in the 1930's, the Burns Clinic collapsed in a nightmare of the '90s, as the cozy collegiality of its physicians gave way to managed care anxiety and a me first attitude.
Practice Beat
See Medicaid patients without going broke
This pediatrician's winwin partnership with his state bureaucracy gives indigent children a medical homeand the practice a profit.
Believe these bromides, and I'll sell you a bridge
Misconceptions and misinformation can wreak havoc with your portfolio, our columnist says.
On the notion that doctors are not God
Ed MemoOn the notion that doctors are not God
Remember when...Malpractice premiums were $150 a year?
Remember when malpractice premiums were $150 a year?
I was my patient's (very) best customer
Poor and uninsured, the author's dying patient found a clever way to pay her doctor bills.
Say No to health plans? These doctors did
Physicians who lose a power struggle with a big insurer may have to cut loose and hope for a soft landing.
"What I want now is a friend, not a physician"
So said the patient who taught the author a critical lesson: Some things are more important than diagnosis and treatment.
Letters to the Editors