Direct patient care
by Greg Markway, MD This is the first article contributed a member physician in lieu of our yearly printed newspaper supplement, dealing with the topic of direct patient care. Thank you, Dr Markway! The evolution of the practice of family medicine is occurring on many different formats. At the basis of all of these changes is the recognition that the most important part of family medicine is the patient-physician relationship. These changes are being driven in some measure by the patients’ sense of loss of that integral part of their medical care. Too many times in recent years the forms of practice are driven by governmental, insurance and EHR (Electronic Health Record) dictates. All of these are examples of the economic pressures that physicians face to continue to keep their practices economically viable. The result of these pressures is that physicians have increased the volume of patients seen on a daily basis thereby extremely limiting the amount of time they able to spend w