Health & Wellness

In recent years, a concierge model of practice has gained popularity in the primary care world. Also called direct primary care, this model is set up so that patients pay a set amount, much like a membership, on a monthly or annual basis. In exchange they get comprehensive care from their physician. Doctors using this…

Neurologist Vanessa Baute, MD, loves food. Her favorite photo (which she graciously shared with us here) is one of her sitting down to her favorite Mexican dish. She says, “It’s literally the happiest I’ve ever been.” When her husband first saw the photo, she laughs, “He said ‘You never look at me that way.’” This…

Dr. Laurence Kinsella has some clever hacks to help you finish charting sooner without compromising patient care – and avoiding burnout in the process.

“There I was, blissfully unaware of my health, working like a dog, putting out fire after fire,” says Pittsburgh neurologist Neil Busis, MD. It was 2012, he was a step into his sixth decade of life, running a solo practice, and he had just gotten this funny feeling in his chest. “Not real bad pain…

“This is a fabulous supplement to a practice,” says neurologist Elaine C. Jones, MD, FAAN, about telemedicine. “It’s fun, and I do enjoy it.” Jones started doing telemedicine about four years ago, evenings and weekends at first while running a busy solo neurology practice. After a couple of years, she says, “It was going well,…

Every year, the personal coaching sessions offered at the annual AAN meeting fill up within hours of opening. One of the coaches explains why these sessions have become so popular.

Constantine Moschonas loves being a neurologist. ”Sometimes I feel guilty, though,” he recently told his colleagues at the 2017 meeting of the American Association of Neurology. “Because I feel like I’m getting more from my patients than they are getting from me.” No, Moschonas is not some doe-eyed new grad; he’s the director of Four…

Cauliflower rice. If you haven’t already eaten some, you’ve probably seen it proliferating in grocery stores and on social media. According to this Consumer Reports article, cauliflower is the new kale, with sales rising 71 percent last year. For a growing number of carb conscious eaters, chopped or “riced” cauliflower has become a popular substitute…

About 60 neurologists crowded (standing room only) around a small stage at the recent AAN meeting to learn about meditation—something that just a few years ago many would have dismissed as decidedly woowoo. Not only would they stay for the lecture, Meditation for the Practicing Neurologist, they would also stick around and participate in the…

We are just about a month away from the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, held this year, May 4–10, in Philadelphia. Most people are firming up their plans to attend by now (Neurology Insights team included), but you may still be on the fence. You’ve probably already weighed the value of all…

Raise your hand if these points hit a little too close to home: You see more patients per day to earn as much as—or even less than—you did just a few years ago. You spend additional time at work to manage EMRs, or your patients complain that you are staring at a screen during their…

“Looking at food to improve and maintain our health, and to prevent disease, is especially relevant to neurology,” says neurologist Vanessa Baute, MD, associate director of education at the Center for Integrative Medicine at Wake Forest Baptist Hospital in North Carolina. “I’m passionate about education. I think that training people in nutrition is really the…

In a perfect world, there should be a simple formula for neurology practice—see patients, get paid. But anyone who has spent a day on the job knows the real world formula is far more complex. Things like MACRA, MIPS, Meaningful Use, APMs and a slew of other acronyms are rightfully getting a lot of attention…

“I would have thought more people would tell their doctors,” says Dr. Nina Sanford on her findings that 29 percent of cancer patients using alternative medicine during treatment don’t disclose its use. Dr. Sanford is an assistant professor of radiation oncology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, and she is lead author of…

We’ve addressed physician burnout multiple times here on Neurology Insights. It’s a concern for every neurologist—whether you have it or hope to avoid it. One idea for beating burnout is diversifying your practice by adding clinical trials. When you become a site for clinical trials you can add a second source of income to your…