![]() Many physicians would say that some diagnoses cannot be made without examining a patient in person. It is a means through which I pause and physically connect with patients, I demonstrate my knowledge and authority, and is a tool I use to persuade patients and reevaluate their narratives. But I now realize the other ways I use the examination to advance care and its significance to my own well-being. It is clearly needed at times to make a diagnosis. 1 More recently, my accountable care organization’s emphasis on increasing our volume of Medicare annual wellness visits, which do not require a physical examination, and recommendations from some groups against routine physical examinations in asymptomatic patients 2 has me second guessing why I examine healthy elderly patients.Īs our primary care practice has pivoted to telehealth and the physical examination has been ripped away from me, I find myself reflecting on what value the examination has. As a resident, the reams of information I had on patients before I stepped into their room made it tempting to do the “quick physical exam” that Robert Hirschtick bemoaned in a recently republished essay. In the 15 years that I have been a physician, the physical examination has always occupied a precarious space for me. ![]() What is a physical examination worth? As I stare at a list of my upcoming patient appointments in my primary care clinic and try to decide who shall come into the office despite the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, this question paralyzes me. ![]() Shared Decision Making and Communication.Scientific Discovery and the Future of Medicine.Health Care Economics, Insurance, Payment.Clinical Implications of Basic Neuroscience.Challenges in Clinical Electrocardiography.
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