Physician Practice Roundup—Is it OK to date a patient? Only 20% of doctors say yes

Survey: Some doctors say it's OK to date a patient

Is it ever OK to date a patient? The newly released 2018 Medscape Ethics Report: Money, Patients and Romance found more than 20% said yes, provided they have not seen their patient for at least six months. That's up 14 percentage points since 2010.

The survey of more than 5,200 physicians across 29 specialties also found more than 40% of doctors would give patients a drug they didn't need—that wouldn't harm them—if the patient demanded it. And the majority said they think it's OK to breach doctor-patient confidentiality if the patient has a communicable disease that can endanger others. (Medscape article)

Mayo Clinic medical school receives $200M gift

The Mayo Clinic School of Medicine will receive a gift of $200 million from philanthropist Jay Alix, founder of AlixPartners in Birmingham, Michigan. The funding will be used as an endowment to expand scholarship opportunities for future doctors, support innovation in the school’s curriculum and establish a professorship. The school will be renamed the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine.

“Genetics, artificial intelligence, virtual and augmented reality and other technologies are transforming medical research, education and practice," Alix said in a statement. "This gift will further enable Mayo’s medical school to recruit the best medical students and to create a curriculum that trains them to harness evolving radical advances in medical science and technology to the greatest benefit of patients.” (Release)

Want to speed adoption of new evidence-based care guidelines? Try getting insurers and providers to work together

“Their shared community roots and deep investments in relationships with local healthcare providers build common ground, stability and longevity—important foundations for establishing trust and effective partnerships,” according to the report.

Where has it worked? Geisinger Health System wanted to address hepatitis C rates and now has a cure rate of about 98% as a result of a collaborative effort between its clinicians and its health plan. The project highlights how payers can change physician behavior by providing the most crucial information: how an adjustment impacts patients, said John Bulger, M.D., the chief medical officer for Geisinger Health Plan. (FierceHealthcare article)