By Kevin Sack http://www.nytimes.com AMHERST, Mass. — Once they discover that she is Dr. Kate, the supplicants line up to approach at dinner parties and ballet recitals. Surely, they suggest to Dr. Katherine J. Atkinson, a family physician here, she might find a way to move them up her lengthy waiting list for new patients. […]

By Kristina Fiore http://www.medpagetoday.com INDIANAPOLIS, April 4 — Angie’s list, an online repository of customer-service ratings for plumbers, electricians, home contractors, and the like, sees physicians in the same light — whether they like it or not. Angie’s list pays no heed to the age-old debate over whether physicians are service providers or professionals, whether […]

http://www.illinois.gov CHICAGO – As part of his efforts to improve Illinois families’ access to quality health care, Governor Rod R. Blagojevich today announced the launch of a new physician profile feature available to the public at www.IDFPR.com, the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation’s website. The new feature allows health care consumers to review important […]

OSN SuperSite Breaking News http://www.osnsupersite.com CHICAGO — With the number of glaucoma cases expected to rise significantly in the next several years, and government funding facing possible cuts, physicians will need to focus more energy on the financial aspects of their practices, a physician said here. Bradford J. Shingleton, MD, spoke at Glaucoma Day, held […]

http://www.huliq.com Seasoned primary care doctors are abandoning their practices and scores of recently trained physicians are eschewing primary care for more lucrative specialties, creating a severe shortage that’s putting the nation’s health at risk. That’s the unsettling problem examined by a WBUR “Inside Out Documentaryâ€? initially airing at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Friday, […]

charles a. ball http://www.tennessean.com To the Editor:Two recent articles (“Nurse practitioners fill key role,â€? March 28, and “Advanced nursing fills gap in doctor shortage,â€? March 9) in The Tennessean with opinions by Colleen Conway-Welch, Dean of Vanderbilt School of Nursing, have suggested that the issues in health-care access and primary-care management of patients can be […]

Toronto Star http://www.ihealthbeat.org On Tuesday, the Canadian Medical Association launched a Web portal designed to help physicians and patients better manage chronic conditions, the Toronto Star reports. Patients can use the secure portal, created by Practice Solutions, to input their health information and track their blood pressure, asthma and weight loss. Larry Mohr, president and […]

By LAURA LANDRO http://online.wsj.com/ As the shortage of primary-care physicians mounts, the nursing profession is offering a possible solution: the “doctor nurse.” More than 200 nursing schools have established or plan to launch doctorate of nursing practice programs to equip graduates with skills the schools say are equivalent to primary-care physicians. The two-year programs, including […]

East Bay Business Times http://www.bizjournals.com/ A new study by the Center for California Healthcare Workforce Studies at the University of California San Francisco shows just how few minority physicians there are relative the overall population. The report, called “Physician Diversity in California: New Findings from the California Medical Board Survey,” is the first analysis of […]