by Michael Matray, editor of Medical Liability Monitor Consumer demand for convenience, access and affordability is changing how episodic-care and preventative medicine is delivered in the United States. A novelty 15 years ago, today there are more than 3,000 convenient care clinics in the United States, most located within the nation’s largest big-box retail outlets. […]

During an office visit, patients often look to their physicians for answers as to what ails them.  To help them, physicians look to their patients for answers to their questions.  So, everyone has questions and is looking for answers.  But, how can everyone get their questions answered well and efficiently?  The answer lies in helping […]

  When talking about doctor-patient communication, we often focus on bedside manner and teach physicians to give information in an understandable and professional, yet sincere, manner.  But, according to a new study, this might only be half the battle.  While it has been well-established that patients don’t always remember everything they’re told, especially in stressful […]

Defensive medicine has become an increasingly common practice, particularly in the United States, where malpractice litigation is most common. It takes two distinct forms: avoidance and assurance. In an avoidance mode, the practitioner simply opts not to practice medicine in a field that is prone to high levels of litigation, is inherently high-risk or where […]

News about the economy is everywhere. As a national medical malpractice insurance agency, we are constantly talking to physicians and we are constantly hearing about the current state of practicing medicine. And, right now, we are hearing a lot about how physicians are feeling the effects of this terrible economy on their practices. We are […]

Times are tough. And, physicians are seeing more and more patients having a hard time paying their bills. As you are probably well aware, many patients have taken to calling the office asking to negotiate their bills. How does you office handle this? Do you have a formal policy in place to determine which bills […]

Side Note: A new database has just gone live in Illinois and it contains information on all of Illinois’ 46,000 licensed physicians. The database, available at the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation’s website, at idfpr.com under the “physician profile” link, is a reincarnation of a previous website the state shut down last year. […]

Side Note: The article below discusses a recent study in the Archives of Internal Medicine that discovered that there are a lot of reasons why physicians order overly aggressive medical care for their patients. As one would expect, fear of medical liability and having to use one’s medical malpractice insurance was the number one reason […]

Side Note: The article below reviews a new book, Out of Practice, by Frederick M. Barken, M.D. The book is a narrative of one upstate New York primary care physician’s decision to retire early and his reasons why. The book discusses many frustrating scenarios that are very familiar to most primary care docs. Specifically, Dr. […]