FPM at 25: Our favorite articles and covers from the last 25 years

In the October 1993 inaugural issue of FPM, founding editor-in-chief Robert L. Edsall declared that “FPM is not an ordinary practice management journal.” It was about more than that.

For the last 25 years, FPM has published practical, authoritative, peer-reviewed articles devoted to better practice, healthier patients, and a rewarding career for family physicians while helping make sense of the constant changes in health care. To mark this milestone, we’ve picked some of our favorite covers (see above) and 25 of our favorite articles from the archives (see below), which together tell a story of family physicians’ strengths, innovation, and resilience.

Whether you have been reading FPM since the beginning or have only recently discovered us, thank you for reading, interacting, and sharing these ideas. We hope to serve you for another 25 years. And if these past articles inspire you to write for FPM, contact us with your article idea or visit our Authors Guide.

The top 25:

1. Five Communication Strategies to Promote Self-Management of Chronic Illness
Harriet Boxer, PhD, and Susan Snyder, MD

2. Six Payment Opportunities You May Have Overlooked
Terry L. Mills, MD, FAAFP

3. Don’t be a Target for a Malpractice Suit
Edward G. Zurad, MD

4. Improving Office Practice: Working Smarter, Not Harder
Christine A. Sinsky, MD

5. Eight Ways to Lower Practice Stress and Get Home Sooner
Dike Drummond, MD

6. Rethinking the Difficult Patient Encounter
Jennifer Edgoose, MD, MPH

7. What Should You Do When Your Patient Brings a List?
Sarina Schrager, MD, MS, Sue Gaard, RN, MS

8. Breaking Even on Four Visits Per Day
Brian R. Forrest, MD

9. The Danger of a Dysfunctional Medical Practice
John-Henry Pfifferling, PhD

10. Documenting and Coding Preventive Visits: A Physician's Perspective
Timothy Owolabi, MD, CPC, and Isac Simpson, DO

11. Getting to No: How to Respond to Inappropriate Patient Requests
Michelle Kane, PsyD, and Lee Chambliss, MD

12. How to Lead Up in Your Organization
John P. Franko, MD

13. A New Approach to Making Your Doctor-Nurse Team More Productive
Peter Anderson, MD, and Marc D. Halley, MBA

14. Improving Communication With Older Patients: Tips From the Literature
Thomas E. Robinson II, PhD, George L. White Jr., PhD, MSPH, and John C. Houchins, MD

15. Have You Really Addressed Your Patient's Concerns?
Ronald M. Epstein, MD, Larry Mauksch, MEd, Jennifer Carroll, MD, MPH, and Carlos Roberto Jaén, MD, PhD

16. Reducing Frustration and Increasing Fulfillment: Reframing
Jay Winner, MD, FAAFP

17. The Art of Medicine: Seven Skills That Promote Mastery
Thomas R. Egnew, EdD, LICSW

18. Family Medicine Should Shape Reform, Not Vice Versa
Barbara Starfield, MD, MPH

19. The Problem With Patient Satisfaction Scores
John W. Bachman, MD

20. Leadership in a Health Care Organization: Not Like Private Practice
Joseph E. Scherger, MD, MPH

21. Six Characteristics of Effective Practice Teams
Berdi Safford, MD, and Cynthia A. Manning, MA

22. Getting Your Notes Done on Time
Colleen T. Fogarty, MD, MSc

23. How to Be Happy in Practice for 30-Plus Years
Douglas Iliff, MD

24. How to Get All the 99214s You Deserve
Emily Hill, PA-C

25. Same-Day Appointments: Exploding the Access Paradigm
Mark Murray, MD, MPA, Catherine Tantau, BSN, MPA