Every practice has at least one. Here's how to reduce irritation and improve outcomes.

Background: Opinions are frequently expressed in the medical literature whether patients
should be addressed by their first or last names, but few supportive data are available. Our …

IIIII Some primary care physictans are reluctant to manage infected ingrown toenails because
they be-lieve that treatment will be complex, frustrating. and prolonged. This need not be …

… ROBERT D. GILLETTE, MD … As I reached for the dictation unit, I looked up and saw the
man I’d just examined stride across the parking lot to his truck without the slightest limp, give …

Innovations intended to control health care costs have come and gone rapidly in recent
years. Community-based health facilities planning has had its day. Utilization review and …

… Gillette: You always need to ask yourself, whose needs are being met? When you spend
extra time, are you meeting the patient's need for more understanding, more care, or are you …

DR. ROBERT D. GILLETTE (Associate Professor of Family Medicine): The patient to be
presented today has received health care services in staggering amounts during her 40-plus …

To the Editor. —Writing from the perspective of an advocate of family practice, I would like to
question some points in the otherwise excellent commentary by Dr Perkoff, 1 beginning with …

Although the immune mechanism protects the host from a hostile environment by such means
as destroying invading organisms and rejecting foreign cells and substances, it may also …

TO THE EDITOR: The recent article on the evaluation and treatment of herniated lumbar disc
by Humpreys and Eckl is excellent in most respects, but clarification of a few points might …