You Must Be on Drugs

My good friend Mark used to shill for a big pharmaceutical company. He never liked the work much, but he was a good salesman and it paid his bills. He finally had to quit because he felt the tactics being suggested to him and the pressure being applied were too much. He would shake his head and say we are an overmedicated culture.

I thought of him as I read a review of Melody Petersen's "Our Daily Meds," a provocative new book that provides some teeth to my friend Mark's claim. By her reckoning, Americans increased their spending on prescription drugs by 17 times from 1980-2003. She notes the way the elderly are overprescribed, taking drugs that counter the reactions of each other in an endless spiral.

It's an open secret within our profession. The doctors I work for are very scrupulous about this issue, and display a strong conscience. One of the older members of our practice loves to tell the story of how he went on a drug company junket early in his career, and how everyone grumbled because it wasn't in a sunny climate. Apparently, they didn't care about the drugs or their effects so much as they did the cloudy weather.

My friend Mark felt that people were being encouraged to take medication for a variety of marginal ailments. He thought the more health-conscious our culture became, the more they were willing to seek out any panacea for what supposedly ailed them. In his mind, it obscured the real sickness out there and fostered a drug-dependent consumer culture.

Which, for him, meant boom times. But something in him wasn't up to the task. The more success he achieved--and he had a six-figure income, which wasn't bad considering he never graduated high school--the more empty he felt inside. Finally, he'd had enough. No one thing precipitated his decision, but rather it was the accumulation of a career's worth of anxiety.

The review of Melody Petersen's new book notes a very simple litmus test for whether or not a doctor has been courted by a pharmaceutical company: are their pens and tissue boxes covered with drug ads? (I was never more glad that we purchased our own pens and tissues!)

Have any of you heard of Ms. Petersen's new book? What is your experience with pharmaceutical companies? Do you think prescription drugs are out of control? As always, I would love to hear from you.

Nerd Wanted

A few months ago we bit the bullet and began a search for a full-time IT person. Technology is moving so fast, and we were having too many communication problems with the company we were using. Finding someone who would cater to our specific needs seemed like the next logical step, but of course that was easier said than done.

The first person we found was extremely tech-savvy, but lacked interpersonal skills. In the extreme. He couldn't even make eye contact. Luckily, he left for a better job offer almost immediately.

The next candidate we hired part-time on a trial basis. They were referred to us by a fellow employee, and at first he seemed ideal in that he knew his stuff and could communicate effectively. Unfortunately, he was overburdened with a difficult family life and we caught him sleeping in his office more than once.

As with most things, I learned through painful trial-and-error, so my next step was to establish a solid criteria for the IT person we were looking for:

1. Salary - I researched what the local rates were and established a criteria for a competitive salary. To attract top talent in the IT field, you have to make it worth their while.



2. Job Requirements - I put in writing what we were looking for in an IT person. What our system requirements were, and what innovations we were hoping to make. Also, I summarized past problems and recurring issues.



3. The Future - I wrote down some goals and baselines I hoped the IT person would establish over the course of the first year or so, making it clear that the position would only expand as we incorporate more technology.



4. Training - I made it clear that we would gladly allow the IT person some latitude in furthering their education and attending seminars or workshops related to their field. Also, any education the staff needed to keep pace with changes would be duly considered.

The third time seems to be the charm. The woman we hired is extremely gifted when it comes to the technical, but she also has a warm, down-to-earth personality. She explains things in a direct, easy way free of jargon and attitude. She also worked part-time as a nurse's aide in college, so she has some knowledge of the medical field.

Like most practices, we're striving to become as paperless as possible, so I think having an in-house IT person is a smart move. The more intricate and involved we become in tech matters, the more important it becomes to have someone who is specific to our needs and wants.

What about your practice? Do you have your own IT person or do you outsource that work? I'd love to hear your perspective.