Memo From The Editor

New!

Marianne Dekker Mattera

New Year. New Look. That's what we've been promising you, and here it is. What we hope you'll feel from the new look is a new energy. As we enter our 80th year serving physicians, we've translated what we've heard in focus groups over the past two years into a bolder, cleaner, faster read for today's busier-than-ever physicians.

Starting with the cover. The redesigned and repositioned logo will help you spot Medical Economics immediately in the pile of journals that flood your mailbox. The cleanly divided cover allows you to see clearly the wealth of information inside and where to find it as well as focus on the bold graphics that illustrate the cover story. The tan box next to the logo gives us a place to call out articles of particular value to patient care, like this month's piece on compliance.

Inside, you'll find the new look and feel of the new cover and its distinctive red square translated to the Contents pages and departments. Those pages, too, have a bolder, more open look.

The look isn't all that's new, though. We've combined our news pages into a single unit, UPDATE. You'll still find a clear distinction between items that help you manage your money and those that help you manage your practice, but the combination lets us bring you some new elements, like Fast Facts, that don't fit easily into the forced break of two separate departments.

Also new is an increased emphasis on short articles that you can digest and act on quickly. Examples: "Got cash for emergencies?" and the first installment of our new feature series "Financial Problem Solved!". It's a Q&A series. We're depending on you to feed us the questions; then we'll have a financial consultant answer them in more depth than you get in our popular department Money Management Q&A.

Beginning next issue, we'll debut another department. Last Word will alternate every other issue with Last Laugh on the last page of the magazine. It will be an op/ed piece from a physician and will assure that you and your colleagues truly have the last word in what is really your magazine.

You'll see other changes as we move through the year, but they'll all echo the goal we've set for ourselves with this new design: to bring you the same authoritative help in running a successful practice that you've come to depend on us for, but in a brighter, bolder, more accessible, more exciting package.

We'll say what needs to be said, but we'll say it more succinctly. To prove that point, we've even found a new way to express what's been our mission for 80 years. You'll find our new tag line, bold and strong, in the red square on the cover: Smarter Business, Better Patient Care.

We'll help you achieve the former so you can better provide the latter. And that's not new!

 

Marianne Mattera. Memo from the Editor: New!. Medical Economics 2003;1:7.