VISTA Archived Blogs

The growing physician shortage has a huge impact on healthcare staffing, creating challenges for medical facilities. More specifically, it’s making it difficult for them to recruit and retain quality physicians to provide proper care to patients.

Misinformation continues to surround use of the Q6 modifier or the billing for services provided by a locum tenens physician. This can result in mistakes that prove costly or even detrimental to practices, as they may result in audits or further disciplinary action.

The role of the nurse practitioner (NP) will be showcased November 11–17, 2018, as NPs across the country celebrate more than 50 years of practice during National NP Week. In the United States, this distinguished group of health care professionals number approximately 248,000 strong, with an additional 23,000 NP students graduating each year.

Dear Physician Assistant (PA),

In honor of National PA Week, VISTA wishes to extend a sincere and tremendous thank-you to physician assistants everywhere. From October 6-12th, we’re celebrating National PA Week, which recognizes the PA profession and its contributions to the nation’s health. During PA Week, we hope you’ll have the chance to talk to a PA about what it is they do, and why they're proud to do it.

We recognize even if you haven’t been treated by a PA before, there’s a good chance you will in the near future. There are more than 123,000 PAs working across the country—and according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the profession is expected to grow 37 percent between 2016 and 2036.

Dear Locum Tenens Clinicians,

“The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.”

-Pablo Picasso 

In honor of National Locum Tenens Week, VISTA  wishes to extend a sincere and tremendous thank-you to locum tenens physicians and advanced practitioners everywhere.

Doximity recently released its second annual Physician Compensation Report, drawing on the responses of more than 65,000 licensed U.S. doctors across 40 different specialties to provide the most comprehensive view of physician compensation available. Despite the education and training required to practice medicine, there’s seemingly no exception when it comes to the gender wage gap. In fact, on average, the gap is greater in medicine than in other industries.

In today’s healthcare environment, imaging is central to preventative care, diagnosis, and treatment. New imaging technologies can enable life-changing possibilities — but not without the necessary manpower behind them.

Not so long ago, the demand for radiologists was low. This was due to a large pool of residents in the specialty, suppressed imaging with the recession, and the growing use of teleradiology, which allows for the distribution of imaging studies nationally and even internationally. However, things have changed drastically in the last few years and even with teleradiology, demand for radiologists is back up.

Editor's note: This post was originally published March 30, 2016 and has been updated for accuracy and timeliness.

While many of those that work in the healthcare profession know that March 30th is National Doctors' Day, there is a lot that’s unknown about the origins of Doctors’ Day.

Doctors’ Day dates back to the 1930s when a physician's wife in Georgia, Eudora Brown Almond, had a luncheon to celebrate the important role that physicians have always played in the local community.

Editor's note: This post was originally published March 13, 2017, and has been updated for Match Week 2018.

The Match is something every doctor remembers. Years of school, intense study and preparation lead to this moment when medical students learn where they will spend their next three to eight years or more in specialty training.

Match Week 2018 is around the corner, with Match Day on Friday, March 16th. To all medical students heading into Match Week — congratulations! No matter what happens, you’ve worked hard to get here and should be proud of your accomplishments.

Doctors don’t have a lot of free time, but they do need to stay informed and keep their minds sharp. In addition to continuing education opportunities and the day-to-day lessons of clinical encounters, there’s another place to turn to learn something new and helpful. Podcasts!  

Podcasts are a great way to absorb information at your convenience without investing your full attention. They’re also a smart way to spend time traveling to your next locum tenens assignment, on your daily commute, while exercising or out for a walk, with your morning coffee… the list goes on.