Customer Reviews

The Successful Physician: A Productivity Handbook for Practitioners

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How wonderful to read a physician who has a writing style that doesn't cause nausea, retching, or confusion. My wife, also a physician in a by-gone era, and I laughed and laughed and laughed at this psychiatrist's insights into what is wrong with doctors. I particularly liked the concept of NIH (not invented here) because I was the Assistant Chief of Medical Neurology at NIH (The National Institutes of Health) and knew exactly what the author meant. If a certain group didn't think of a great idea first they would have nothing to do with it. The main trouble with most doctors is, of course, that they went to medical school. There they learned to do what they were told and not spend much time thinking about it. Consequently, they have become the easy prey of business interests whose general effect has been to transform and some say injure the profession by telling Doctors what to do. Doctor Zaslove's little gem of a book has the way out of this embattled situation for those physicians smart enough to read and take its advice to heart.

Many years ago, I had the opportunity to edit one of theWorld's most popular medical texts - the Washington University Manualof Medical Therapeutics. This book, I felt, had tremendous impact on the lives of health care professionals because it "cut to the chase" and told experienced pracitioners how to care for their patients.

Marshall Zaslove has written a wonderful book of a similar flavor that tells pracitioners how to care for themselves. It is an easy read that carries themes one will find in Stephen Covey, Peter Drucker, and many other works. This is a book that tells a busy practitioner how to stay engaged in both professional a private life. In many instances, the people who need this book will be too busy to order it. Spouses and friends of heroic but overworked health care professionals are urged to consider this a gift that will yield both great peace and "return on investment."

Short books that make sense and get to the heart of matters are hard to find. Dr. Zaslove has written such a book.

A recent article in the Archives of Internal Medicine concluded that American physicians believe the advent of managed care (HMOs) has had a serious negative impact on the quality of patient care and on the physician-patient relationship in general. The time available for each patient has also declined and much of it is taken up in discussing insurance issues rather than the patient's medical problems. Dr. Marshall Zaslove, a practising physician and renowned lecturer and seminar leader, has tackled these problems head-on in his new book The Successful Physician. Dr. Zaslove strongly believes that physicians must become more productive if they are to serve their patients well. His highly readable book clearly defines the problems facing today's physician and provides concrete, practical solutions for dealing with them. Dr. Zaslove starts with the premise that a doctor's three tools are time, knowledge and skills, and quality relationships. He goes on to critically examine all the things a doctor does and then gives sound and tested advice on how to become more efficient in doing them. I particularly liked his discussion of the relationship between physicians and computers and his down-to-earth advice about introducing "the monster" into the office and optimizing its usage. His comments about the relationships with patients and other professionals are also illuminating. The Successful Physician is required reading for any physician who feels that too many extraneous pressures are interfering with his or her primary mission of providing quality care to patients. The book is not only for physicians though. I personally found it a fascinating "peek behind the curtain" into the problems and pressures facing today's physician. So read it yourself and if your doctor seems to be drowning in paper and red tape give it to him for Christmas!

I was quickly overwhelmed after starting a practice straight out of training. This book has helped me manage my practice, my patients and my continuing education without feeling overwhelmed. I continually refer back to it. He quickly gets to the heart of the problem (too much to do/too little time to do it in) and helps you prioritize your goals. He then gives you very specific tools to help you control your practice and not have it control you. This book is for any physician who feels they are approaching burnout and resents the ever increasing demands on our time. Straightforward and to the point. Some of the time-saving tips seem obvious, but organizing the 'tips' into an overall game plan is what makes this book successful.

This book really "works"-it's getting rid of the stress in my medical practice. The text is fast reading, no-balony, actually entertaining-loaded with great examples, quotes, and vignettes that drive home the many pearls (and a fair scattering of diamonds) or practical wisdom. I was immediately able to tell this book was written by practicing docs just like me: no wheezy absrtractions, no boring theory-mongoring, and no long lists of desirable (but impossible-to -achieve) "ideal" practices. Instead this is smart, practical stuff I have been able to use immediately to save myself hassles and wasted time/motion/effort. I highly recommend to all physicians the section on how to leverage your relationships to produce more, and also the section on continuing education, which was an eye-opener for me. I personally feel that every practicing physician should have a copy of this book,and use what's in it. Get this book today-it will work for you.

Don't read this book if you can take a few hundred hours off from your practice and conduct your own research, surveys, and interviews with other practitioners to discover what they are doing to improve productivity.

This book is an outstanding collection of 140 ideas, insights, workarounds, and inspiration. Invest the time it takes you to read this book back into your daily practice. If you get through this book in four hours, and if you use just one idea out of the 140, and that idea saves you just 1/100th of your daily working time and effort--that will be a savings of 24 hours per year, or a net annual profit on time invested of 500%.

Do you know of any other investment that nets you 500% annually?

Yuval Lirov, Medical Billing Networks and Processes - Profitable and Compliant Revenue Cycle Management in the Internet Age

Overall there are some good tips in this book. However, the author completely misses the point on one very important aspect: he states that "the cottage industry of fee-for-service is gone forever" and he suggests that managed care is here to stay. However, later in the book, he discusses the "award winning clinical style" and gives an example of behavior to avoid: a physician puts his stethoscope on a patient but tells the patient to "be quiet, I'm trying to listen".

The problem is that when we work for managed care, we are driven by volume. We make money by seeing as many patients as possible. The worst part is that we as physicians continue to accept this awful system of payment that leads to such poor bedside manner. However, during the last few years hundreds of physicians have switched to "concierge" medicine, where patients pay the physician directly[...]. Therefore, the way to restore excellent bedside manner is to restore the "fee-for-service" system and avoid manage care.

While there are many books out there that talk about the business of health care delivery, there are very few books that talk about making the physician more efficient. Medical school does a lousy job at teaching practice management and economics, which hurts us from day one. We know how many proteins sit atop the influenza virus envelope, but may have no clue what claims made vs occurrence malpractice means.

A couple of sections about information technology may be more useful to the older physician who is not familiar with computers, but I found other sections on time management and organization helpful. Some parts may be a little simplistic, but only so much can go into a small paperback. It gives the reader a 'springboard' off which to jump and look for other ideas.

I'm always looking for texts and journals on how to make my practice more efficient, so if anyone out there has any comments or suggestions, please share here.

It is very well written and helpful especially for young physicians starting or in the early years of their practice. I should have gotten and read it earlier but then there are still so many nuggets of wisdom that are very useful for me.

Once you get through reading all the latest on how to be a successful physician, I suggest anyone in the medical profession try relaxing with this 1923 copy also titled, THE SUCCESSFUL PHYSICIAN. Here is the review that I wrote after I read it. It's truly a keeper.


THE SUCCESSFUL PHYSICIAN by Thomas C. Verlin was published in 1923. It would make a great gift for any physician to receive, as the information about going about practicing medicine is such a contrast to what medicine has become today.

See the photos of the Table Of Contents. This will give you just a glimpse of what this book discusses. It will make you feel amused at how drastically the approach to medicine has changed.

I will outline a few of the Chapters to give a better idea of what this book covers:
Chapter I PERSONALIty--What is Personality and How Can It be Developed?--SIncerity--" THe history of every successful man shows that sincerity is one of his outstanding characteristics. Before you can approach others with sincerity you must be sincere with yourself. You must believe in your profession, in the decency of people, in the world in general. Yor outlook on life must be optimistic and you must search for the good even in those whom you consider bad." (p. 13). ----Integrity---Loyalty--Good Nature--Confidence---Environment--Temperament--Memory--Language--Dress and Personal Appearance--Broadmindedness--Habits ("Form the habit of making quick decision. Your patiens expect you to know. They do not want you to guess--they can do that for themselves. Did you ever notice the anxious look in a patient's eyes after you have examined him and while he is waiting for your diagnosis? Decide quickly and positively. Never hesitat or doubt your own powers of decision and you willincrease the respect of all with whom you come in contact" (p. 38).

CHAPTER II HOW TO ATTRACT AND HOLD PATIENTS.........
...CHAPTER VI THE VARIOUS FORMS OF PRACTICE----Hotels and Apartments--Industial Accident companies--Life Insurance Companies--Commercial houses, Stores, Etc.--Commercial Houses and Banks--Manufactures--Railroads("The railroads have hospitals in all the centers of traffic. These hospitals are devoted exclusively to the care of the railroad employees..in towns situated along the railroads there is always an opportunity for doctors to be put on the staff for a section of the road...") (p. 128-129). --Street Car Companies---Laboratories--Anesthesia--Mines--Ships--Societies--Assistant to Another Doctor.

CHAPTER VII THE OFFICE--"The reception room should contain most or all of the following things: a center table, a jardineire with a potted plant or an ornamental lamp....do not have the old standard picture of the bewiskered doctor sitting at the side of a sick youngster on an improvised bed of chairs. Patients have enough miseries of their own without inflicting those of others on them..." (p. 139).... "Telephone--This instrument has become of equal importance in practice as the stethoscope." (p. 146)....

p. 201 states, "No matter how competent a nurse my be, it is a mistake to assume that she is capable of applying a surgical dressing as well as you or one as satisfactory to the patient."

I could go on with more examples, but this is getting a bit long, so I will end with saying that this book is quite entertaining to read and also has some very mindful things to remind today's medical practitioners about medical personality and ethics.

Again, this book is a great read to contrast the changes that a physicians practice has gone through since the 1920's. I recommend this book. It was great to read.