This surgeon loves her job. But it’s killing her.

This surgeon loves her job. But it’s killing her.

What do you do when you love your job, but it’s killing you?

That’s an easy question if it’s asked by someone else.  It’s a hard question when you’re asking it of yourself.  As a physician, I give advice to people all the time — other people.  If you have diabetes, control your diet.  If you are obese, then lose weight and exercise.  If you have COPD, then you better not continue smoking.  Common problems.  Obvious solutions.

What if burnout is your problem?  When your cell phone rings, you get tachycardia wondering what catastrophe awaits you.  You work 80 hour weeks and have no time to recuperate between catastrophes.  When you’re not working, your mind is still there, wondering what you could have done differently; feeling responsible for any bad outcome; feeling thankful and lucky (more relieved than proud) of any good ones.  Even when you’re not at work, your mind is.

Read more at KevinMD.

http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2016/01/surgeon-loves-job-killing.html

Fee cuts pushing #Ontario doctors to close methadone clinics

Fee cuts pushing #Ontario doctors to close methadone clinics

doctorsThe dispute between Ontario doctors and the province over billing rates is threatening access to methadone treatment, with two private Toronto clinics closing their doors and patients in some rural communities facing an uncertain future.

The threat to service follows a 1.3-per-cent rate reduction imposed by the province last month on all fee-for-service billings. The money-saving measures also included targeted reductions, among them a 50-per-cent cut to rates paid to doctors for urine tests that are done once a week or more frequently as part of methadone therapy used to treat heroin and other opioid addictions.

Now at least one Toronto doctor says the fee cut amounts to roughly 25 per cent of his total revenue and means his smaller clinics are losing money. First Nations leaders also are warning access in rural and Northern communities is in danger because private clinics – where most methadone treatment is given – are not as financially attractive. Others say this latest battle over money points to deeper problems with how methadone treatment is delivered in Ontario that go beyond the current billing battle.

Click here to read more.

Do you trust your health data in the cloud?

Do you trust your health data in the cloud?

Microsoft has launched a new platform dubbed Microsoft Health and a band that’s designed to track your health data and serve out insights. Microsoft Health also comes out of the gate with Android, iOS and Jawbone, MapMyFitness, MyFitnessPal and Runkeeper compatibility, but the real win may be in the cloud.

If Microsoft’s health effort and wearable sounds familiar that’s because the tech titans are all deploying similar efforts. Apple has its HealthKit effort—to be complemented by Apple Watch in early 2015—that has a long list of app and wearable partners sans Fitbit. Google Fit is another effort to aggregate the health data being tracked by a bevy of wearable devices and apps.

Read more online at ZDNET