Our law firm focuses on health law and litigation, primarily addressing the professional licensing needs of physicians. We assist our clients when they have an issue involving the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (“IDFPR”). Just like lawyers, physicians are the subject of complaint and inquiry, sometimes simply when things don’t go well for a patient looking for someone to blame. Other times, there are legitimate concerns. Also like lawyers, physicians face challenges in their professional as well as personal lives.
What concerns physicians? Many things; an emergency room physician first prepares themselves for just about anything that could happen in a “routine” day. The ambulance might bring in a car accident victim, a child with a broken arm, or a grandmother with a strange rash and allergic response to the new food she’s never tried before. The practice of medicine requires professionals, including hospital staff, nurses and doctors to take patient histories and do their best job in understanding and treating the problem, often under the pressure of a ticking clock and room full of people waiting for care.
Can you imagine working in an industry where your profession is based on reacting to situations you don’t create and which are largely beyond your control? Giving doctors “a break” seems laughable to people who assume they make large salaries and operate like gods, being able to save lives and fix broken limbs. Try using some compassion for our medical professionals who wake up every day with immeasurable stress. Anyone who works with physicians may enjoy the following list of what most doctors worry about from day to day, regardless of their time to do anything to address their concerns.
“When you build trust, physicians disclose other concerns that keep them up at night:
- Fear of being sued
- Loss of autonomy
- Bad medical outcomes.
- Unhappy, grumpy patients
- Referrals that come too late or not at all
- Staffing conflicts
- Burn-out
- Patients who ignore doctors’ orders
- Raising children while caring for aging parents.[i]”
“Here are some topics that attract physicians’ attention:
- How to get more patient referrals.
- How to generate more practice revenue.
- How to get patients to thank physicians–rather than sue them.
- How to help patients get better outcomes.
- How to avoid staffing problems.
- How to protect against theft and fraud.
- How to use social media.
- How to minimize tax burdens.
- How to manage medical school debt (Millennials) or calculate retirement needs (Boomers).
- How to raise financially literate children.”
At Michael V. Favia and Associates, we work hard, with humility as lawyers and staff, to listen and understand our physician clients and the burdens they bear in their personal and professional lives. We assist with all their legal matters in connection with their professional licenses and careers.
Michael V. Favia & Associates are available to help and meet for client consultations with offices conveniently located in the Chicago Loop, Northwest side and suburbs so you can schedule a discrete meeting with an attorney at your convenience and discretion. For more about Michael V. Favia & Associates’ professional licensing work, please visit www.IL-Licensing.com and feel free to “Like” the firm on Facebook and “Follow” the firm on Twitter.
[i] LinkedIn article, 10 topics that attract physicians’ attention, by Vicki Rackner, MD, Sept. 13, 2014.
