Editor's Page

A Piece of Your Mind

Robert L. Edsall

I usually use this space to talk, but as I'm sure someone has said, I've never learned anything by talking. And as editor of a journal that is supposed to help family physicians practice, I have a pressing and continuous need to learn. I need to learn about the problems you're dealing with ­ both the ones you've solved and the ones you haven't. I need to know what's on your mind so that I can make sure FPM addresses those issues as best it can. I need to know how family physicians in the trenches have addressed the problems of practice today ­ what they have found to work and what they haven't. I need to know whether you have come up with a solution that could help a colleague and whether there's a solution out there that could help you.

While I have a variety of ways to learn all this, I'm always looking for new ones, and this strikes me as a useful one: I want to use the rest of this page to listen. What's on your mind? What you say will be taken down and used, not against you, but for you ­ in the planning of future FPM articles.

WHAT'S ON YOUR MIND?

A PDF version of this FORM is available. Download PDF now (1 pages /23 KB). More information on using PDF files. What are your two or three biggest challenges as a family physician right now? (What, besides care of individual patients, is soaking up the most time, energy and concern?) Please be specific. _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ What major professional challenge(s) do you see coming next for you as a family physician? (What are you worried about but not yet dealing with?) Please be specific. _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ Have you recently solved a problem in a way that you think other family physicians would benefit from hearing about? Please explain. _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ How would you rate the following? (Please check one box for each.) A major concern for me right now A secondary concern for me now A problem I don't have time to worry about HIPAA regulations Staff turnover Rising liability premiums Decreasing reimbursement levels Managed care hassles Medical errors in your practice Computerization Balancing your personal and professional interests Please return your comments to Robert L. Edsall, editor-in-chief, Family Practice Management, by fax to 913-906-6010 or by mail to 11400 Tomahawk Creek Pkwy., Leawood, KS 66211-2672. If you wouldn't mind our contacting you to follow up on your responses, please give your name and telephone number.

As you complete this form, please think in terms of the range of areas FPM is designed to help with ­ all aspects of family practice except the purely clinical. This includes everything from coding to career development and from clinical quality improvement to burnout prevention.

Thanks for sharing a piece of your mind!

Send comments to fpmedit@aafp.org.

Robert Edsall is editor-in-chief of Family Practice Management. Conflicts of interest: none reported.