The PMD Critical List: Doctors have 'No Influence' on Healthcare Reform

When it comes to healthcare reform, the vast majority of US physicians feel voiceless, according to a new survey. That story tops this week’s PMD Critical List. Also on the list, a call for an end to the “toxic treatment” of doctors, and a closer look at one of the physicians running for president.

• 82% of Doctors Say They Have No Influence in Healthcare Reform (Forbes)

The leadership at the Physicians Foundation believes that “physicians, while frustrated by excessive and unhelpful regulations, are more upset that legislators and health policy makers are devising legislative solutions to the biggest issues in our health care system without their input.”

• Toxic Treatment of Doctors Must End (Time)

A doctor’s mother asks: “What makes a man full of talent, full of empathy, and full of love, a man with no history of depression or substance abuse, end his life?” Must the medical profession “acknowledge the brutal and often thankless road of medical training”?

• Ben Carson, the Superior Outsider (Politico)

An insightful essay about the 2016 presidential campaign of Dr. Ben Carson. The Republican physician is nipping at Donald Trump’s heels and “is more gentlemanly and more conservative, with a more compelling life story.”

• 6 Tips for Physicians to Protect Patient Data (HIPAA, HITECH & HIT)

The integrity of HIPAA rules are vital to quality patient care today. And with an ever-intrusive digital world out and about, it’s equally as vital that doctors increasingly safeguard patient privacy. Here are 6 quick tips to do so.

• 916,264 American Physicians and Counting (News-Medical.net)

The Journal of Medical Regulation is out with its new Census of Actively Licensed Physicians in the United States and the number of licensed medical doctors is within shouting distance of 1 million. Plus, most physicians are older and male.

• A Physician for a Day (Becker Hospital Review)

An intriguing story about an Esquire writer who dressed like a physician for a day. ”Each of his different suits (priest, mechanic, and security guard, and doctor) gave him the power to assume an expected persona and elicited specific responses from the outside world.” Worth a look.

• ACP… the Anti-Trump ? (Philly.com)

As migration issues continue to take center stage in the 2016 presidential race, the nation's largest physician specialty group has announced formal opposition to “the mass deportation of 12 million undocumented residents due to the potential adverse health impact.”

• Questions Cancer Survivors Don’t Ask Doctors (US News & World Report)

One of the nation’s top oncologists says “we could be more proactive in addressing issues that patients are sometimes reluctant to bring up.” Even with all the great success in cancer care, too many patient “think they're alone in battling long-term” sensitive matters.

• Physicians Avoid Religion in the ICU (MD Magazine)

New research in JAMA shows that most critically ill patients would welcome a spiritual conversion with their doctors. And yet, the most common response by a doctor when the matter is brought up is “to change the subject.”