The Transparent Practice

• Payment Perils in Primary Care   With lower reimbursements for exchange plans and the cut in Medicaid payments for primary care services, Dr Bob Morrow often gets only half of what it costs to run his practice. How are you faring?
  Medscape Family Medicine, January 28, 2015
• Big Pharma Brandishes a Big Whip Bob Morrow argues that professional medical societies need to stand up to the pharmaceutical industry.
  Medscape Family Medicine, August 18, 2014
• The 17% Solution for Primary Care?   What does the commercial insurance industry's loss ratio have to do with primary care?
  Medscape Family Medicine, April 24, 2014
• Docs and Collective Bargaining: Has the ACA Opened a Door?   In his latest commentary, Bob Morrow talks about why the Affordable Care Act may provide an opening for physicians to organize for a greater voice in how they are paid.
  Medscape Family Medicine, September 20, 2012
• Dramatic Rise in Drug Prices Greeted With Silence -- Why?   Robert Morrow asks why no one -- not the professional societies nor government -- is questioning the dramatic price increases in common drugs.
  Medscape Family Medicine, September 13, 2012
• Managing BP in the CKD Patient: Check Out Proteinuria   Lynda Szczech, National Kidney Foundation president, answers Robert Morrow's questions on kidney disease. The topic this week: managing blood pressure in the patient with kidney disease.
  Medscape Family Medicine, August 16, 2012
• Interpreting Urine Albumin: Who Lives? Who Dies?   In this primary care consult, Lynda Szczech, President of the National Kidney Foundation, answers Robert Morrow's questions on kidney disease. How do you interpret albumin measurements?
  Medscape Family Medicine, August 14, 2012
• Worsening Kidney Function -- What to Do With ACEIs and ARBs?   In this primary care-nephrology consult, Lynda Szczech offers Robert Morrow some advice on the use of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor blockers in the patient with chronic kidney disease.
  Medscape Family Medicine, July 31, 2012
• EHR: Forget Billing and Go for the Registry   Bob Morrow, MD, a family physician in the Bronx, has had a lot of experience with EHRs and now advocates a registry-based system.
  Medscape Family Medicine, April 19, 2012
• Contraceptives and Government: PCPs, Add Your Voice   Robert Morrow weighs in on the government's current role in oral contraception and abortion and urges physicians to voice their opinions.
  Medscape Family Medicine, March 21, 2012
• The Impact of Minute Clinics: Are You Feeling the Pain?   Robert Morrow discusses the issues surrounding Minute Clinics, including taking acute care visits away from small practices and other consequences.
  Medscape Family Medicine, May 12, 2011
• Infant Deaths in the US: The Worst Score Among Nations   Robert Morrow asks why some people in government are cutting money for women's health, given that the United States is number 33 out of the 33 nations monitored for infant mortality.
  Medscape Family Medicine, May 05, 2011
• What Happens in Wisconsin Doesn't Stay There   Robert Morrow, MD, talks about losing the right for collective bargaining in Wisconsin and whether this issue applies to physicians.
  Medscape Family Medicine, March 17, 2011
• What Obama Didn't Say -- The Supportive Position   Robert Morrow, MD, stressed what Obama left out and is encouraged by the future implementation of many positive changes, particularly for primary care.
  Medscape Family Medicine, January 26, 2011
• Docs Can't Bargain Collectively: How About Negotiating?   Robert Morrow, MD, claims that given the current healthcare environment, physicians should have a way to bargain (or negotiate) collectively with health plan carriers.
  Medscape Family Medicine, December 03, 2010
• Something Old, Something New -- ACOs Are Lumbering Down the Aisle   Robert Morrow, MD, recalls Risk Sharing, a decade old initiative that reminds him of the new Accountable Care Organizations -- and he's worried.
  Medscape Family Medicine, November 29, 2010
• Why Are Antipsychotics the Best-Selling Drugs in the United States?   Robert Morrow, MD, asks why sales of antipsychotics beat the sales of all other drug classes, particularly given their black box warnings for kids and seniors.
  Medscape Family Medicine, November 19, 2010
• Are Higher Health Costs in the Interest of Health Insurers?   Robert Morrow, MD, has his own take on why health costs are going up -- and he focuses on private insurers.
  Medscape Family Medicine, November 15, 2010
• Overcoming Therapeutic Inertia -- Is This Just About Selling Drugs?   Robert Morrow, MD, wants you to consider the idea that, in many cases, overcoming therapeutic inertia might be playing into the hands of the sales rep.
  Medscape Family Medicine, June 28, 2010
• PCPs Need Payment Equity -- Are You Ready for Collective Bargaining?   Robert Morrow, MD, laments the lack of equity in payments by commercial insurers to primary care practitioners vs those negotiated by big institutions.
  Medscape Family Medicine, June 22, 2010