By Patricia A. Costante

Every time I speak with physicians, I get the sense that they are feeling a loss of control and even a loss of status. Physicians in small practices don’t see a long-term solution for continuing to function in their current structure, and many are considering selling to hospitals or giving up their practices. More often than not, physicians indicate that they do not recommend their sons and daughters to follow their footsteps into a medical career. Clearly, this is an anxious time for physicians, filled with much …

By Michelle Andrews

Medical tests can reveal critical information about a person’s health, but only if the results are communicated to clinicians and patients. Sometimes, the ball gets dropped somewhere between the lab or the radiology department and the clinician who ordered the test and the patient.

In Peggy Kidwell’s case, a mix-up over doctors’ names led to a year-long delay in a breast cancer diagnosis.

After her annual gynecological exam and mammogram several years ago at a medical center near her Virginia Beach home, she got a letter from her doctor saying …

By Nicholas Gaudiosi

I’ve thought for months about how to write this article and actually get my point across without sounding like a psychic, because I certainly don’t possess an ability to perceive information hidden from the normal senses. The fact is, I’m not a psychic and I don’t have a crystal ball; if I did, I wouldn’t be working for a medical malpractice insurance company. But, since I’m just a regular guy and I work for HPIX, I feel it is my obligation to raise awareness among physicians and their …

By Rebecca Roberts, Ph.D.

Bisphenol A (BPA) is an environmental estrogen that can affect development and health by disrupting normal hormonal signaling.  Estrogen, working at very low blood concentrations, triggers responses in cells and tissues and is critical during fetal development and in normal health and reproduction.  BPA binds to the same cellular receptors as estrogen and may lead to detrimental health effects.

In June of this year, the American Medical Association formally recognized BPA as an endocrine-disrupting agent.  Physicians can play an important role in educating their patients about this pervasive …

By Lucia Francesca Bruno, JD, LLM, MBA

The proverbial statement, “You only get one bite at the apple” couldn’t be truer than when negotiating a Physician Employment Agreement.  Whether you’re the head of a medical practice inviting an experienced physician to join the group, or a resident contemplating a Letter of Intent, fair and effective negotiations are paramount to establishing a long-term working relationship.

Forethought, preparation, and the ability to listen are essential to success.  Regrettably, by the time most physicians realize that the terms of their Agreement are less than propitious …

By Patricia A. Costante

Thanks in part to the widespread attention of concussions among high-profile professional athletes, the medical community, many states and other groups have recognized that these types of head injuries can also have a devastating impact on young athletes. Second and third concussions could have long lasting and even catastrophic effects. As the 2011-2012 school year gets into full swing, physicians have an opportunity to take a proactive role in addressing what’s become a serious medical issue among those 18 and younger.

Startling statistics

Research on the prevalence and impact …

By Franklin Rooks Jr., PT, MBA, Esq.

Introduction

Health savings accounts (HSA’s) were created under “The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003, as a consumer-driven mechanism to combat rising medical inflation.  They promote savings for future health related expenses and allow consumers to be more judicious with their health care expenditures.  HSA’s are becoming increasingly popular.  In 2011, 35 percent of organizations provided health HSAs, up from 29 percent in 2007.[1] Two reasons may be behind their rise in popularity.  First, HSA’s are accompanied by a generous tax …

Not all “own-occupation” definitions are the same, and understanding the subtle differences between each contract is critical to selecting the correct policy.

By Lynn Lucas-Fehm, MD, JD

Most of us recall the literary character Dr. Watson who served as the steadfast confidant, supporter, physician and assistant to the brilliant detective Sherlock Holmes.  Now there is a new Watson in our midst, an artificial intelligence computer developed by IBM and named after IBM’s first president Thomas J. Watson.

After handily defeating the formidable human Jeopardy champions, Brad Rutter and Ken Jennings, Watson’s developers have expanded the computer’s medical databases to create what may become the ultimate digital collection of medical information. However, what truly sets …

Larry C. Kerpelman, Ph.D.

As a result of a freak fall while jogging, my wife, Joanie, sustained a subdural hematoma.  It took three emergency room visits, two hospitalizations, one neurosurgery, and several months of rehabilitation before she regained her lost capacities. During her first hospitalization, we became acquainted with the hospitalist’s role which, while not new in the United States, was new to us.  In the book I wrote about our experience with her injury, treatment, rehabilitation, and recovery, I included a commentary on the hospitalist phenomenon as we experienced it …