|  | "Behind the counter" drugs: Part 1
Feb 1, 2008
By:Neil Berliner, M.D.
The trillion-dollar healthcare industry is the perfect breeding ground for turf battles. For decades, such battles have included MDs versus chiropractors, optometrists versus ophthalmologists, "traditional" medicine versus "alternative" medicine, and many, many others.
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 | How doctors use their samples
Jan 1, 2008
By:Neil Berliner, M.D.
While eating lunch at my favorite restaurant the other day – the free sample displays at Costco – I got an idea for a column on pharmaceutical samples. Pharmaceutical representatives have been bringing samples of their products to physicians' offices for decades. But recently, the merits of this practice have become a topic of fierce debate.
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 | Medical tourism at home and abroad
Dec 1, 2007
By:Neil Berliner, M.D.
There is a recent trend of Americans seeking out healthcare services in places other than where they live. More often than not, the bottom-line reason for this phenomenon is ... the bottom line. Patients frequently seek out services that offer good dollar value, or better service for the same cost. In other cases, the objective is to simply get what is believed to be better care somewhere else.
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 | Helping patients who have rare conditions
Nov 1, 2007
By:Neil Berliner, M.D.
Some pharmaceutical companies serve patients who have extremely rare diseases. They provide innovative products for these often severely ill people who have few treatment options. Certain of these products, as defined below, are classified as orphan drugs.
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The decline of doctors' salaries
Oct 1, 2007
By:Neil Berliner, M.D.
How will declining physician incomes affect healthcare in this country? A recent article in The New York Times remarked that liberals want Washington to "force cuts in prescription-drug prices and insurance company profits," and that conservatives want "people to pay more of their own medical costs" in order to curb spiraling healthcare costs.
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 | A look at doctors and their hobbies
Aug 1, 2007
By:Neil Berliner, M.D.
Many physicians I've known have had extremely interesting hobbies or second careers ... or hobbies that have evolved into second careers. Some of these people derive such a consistent degree of success and satisfaction from their avocations that they even decide to pursue them full-time.
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Part 3: Cultural perceptions of disease states
Jul 1, 2007
By:Neil Berliner, M.D.
Differences in cultural values between patients and treatment providers can result in dissatisfaction.
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 | Part 2: Cultural competency
Jun 1, 2007
By:Neil Berliner, M.D.
The culturally competent physician is aware of these issues and is more likely to explain to patients how various philosophies can be used in tandem to offer the best chance for effective treatment.
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Part 1: Understanding our changing culture
May 1, 2007
By:Neil Berliner, M.D.
Pharmaceutical representatives need to be aware of many types of trends in order to optimally detail their physicians. One of the most important (and sometimes overlooked) of these trends is the increasing ethnic and cultural diversity of the United States over the past several decades, which continues at a growing rate.
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