{"id":357,"date":"2021-08-02T21:17:03","date_gmt":"2021-08-02T21:17:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/?p=357"},"modified":"2021-08-17T18:11:33","modified_gmt":"2021-08-17T18:11:33","slug":"focus-on-the-core","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/2021\/08\/02\/focus-on-the-core\/","title":{"rendered":"Focus on the Core"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
<\/path><\/svg><\/span>

Disclaimer<\/p>

This article and the related comments are for educational and discussion purposes. They do not establish the standard of care in every patient\u2019s situation. In each patient\u2019s situation, the treating physician or other medical professionals must exercise their professional judgment. Similarly, these materials are not medical advice to patients, who must consult with their own physician or other medical professional. <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Diagnosing, treating, monitoring, and transitioning our patients are core skills for hospitalists. We work in a high risk, high reward environment. The risk is taken by the patient. For us, the risk is medico-legal. The reward of recovery from illness goes to the patient. For us, the reward is professional and personal satisfaction. In order to perform at a consistently high level, we need to focus on the task at hand. We are terrible multi-taskers, and we almost always over-estimate our abilities in that realm. Instead of multi-tasking, what we are really doing is switching really fast between various things that briefly hold our attention. Our computers, phones, alarms, and prompts add more ways to be distracted. There are only so many minutes in the day, and most of us have not ever sat down and calculated how much time it actually takes to do the core functions of our job really well. If we tracked our computer, or smart phone use throughout the course of the work day, we would likely be shocked, first, how many minutes we use electronic devices, and second, how often we switch between tasks as we go from device to patient, to device to computer, to nurse to device, to EHR drop down screen, to\u2026.. and so on throughout the course of a mentally exhausting day. Our phones are a primary culprit in self-induced distractions. Most of the time, the actual phone function is not even a tenth of the way we use our phones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The brain has a finite number of things it can attend to without starting to cut corners and rely excessively on mental shortcuts. I\u2019ve had the experience at dinnertime with my family where I was answering texts or emails, and was mostly oblivious to the conversation and the meal I was there to enjoy. At those times, I probably couldn\u2019t have told you what I ate or what the highlight of my daughter\u2019s day was. We have rules at my house about electronics at the table. I\u2019ll bet you do too. Our patients deserve our full and undivided attention. We need as much focused brainpower as we can muster to do a great job. What we do is hard work and the consequences of a lapse in focus can have tragic consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So I encourage you to set up some rules for emails and non-work texts. Set aside 10 minutes or so every few hours to attend to your device. I predict you will feel a difference in your mental energy, and your focus will be better.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Your core skills of timely, accurate diagnosis, correct treatments, appropriate monitoring and careful management of transitions allow you to excel in this high risk, high reward environment. Your patients need your focus. And please don\u2019t text at the table. The people you dine with want to enjoy your company!!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Diagnosing, treating, monitoring, and transitioning our patients are core skills for hospitalists. We work in a high risk, high reward environment. The risk is taken by the patient. For us, the risk is medico-legal. The reward of recovery from illness goes to the patient. For us, the reward is professional and personal satisfaction. In order … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":358,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"author_meta":{"display_name":"Esteban Mery-Fernandez, MD","author_link":"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/author\/esteban-mery-fernandez\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/focus-on-the-core-300x188.jpeg","yoast_head":"\nFocus on the Core — Apogee Insights<\/title>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/2021\/08\/02\/focus-on-the-core\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Focus on the Core — Apogee Insights\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Diagnosing, treating, monitoring, and transitioning our patients are core skills for hospitalists. We work in a high risk, high reward environment. The risk is taken by the patient. For us, the risk is medico-legal. The reward of recovery from illness goes to the patient. For us, the reward is professional and personal satisfaction. In order ... Read more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/2021\/08\/02\/focus-on-the-core\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Apogee Insights\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-08-02T21:17:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-08-17T18:11:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/focus-on-the-core.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Esteban Mery-Fernandez, MD\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Apogee Physicians\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/\",\"sameAs\":[],\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/#logo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Apogee-Logo_RGB_Horizontal_Full-Color.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Apogee-Logo_RGB_Horizontal_Full-Color.png\",\"width\":533,\"height\":115,\"caption\":\"Apogee Physicians\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/#logo\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Apogee Insights\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/2021\/08\/02\/focus-on-the-core\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/focus-on-the-core.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/focus-on-the-core.jpeg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":500},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/2021\/08\/02\/focus-on-the-core\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/2021\/08\/02\/focus-on-the-core\/\",\"name\":\"Focus on the Core — Apogee Insights\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/2021\/08\/02\/focus-on-the-core\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-08-02T21:17:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-08-17T18:11:33+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/2021\/08\/02\/focus-on-the-core\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/2021\/08\/02\/focus-on-the-core\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/2021\/08\/02\/focus-on-the-core\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Focus on the Core\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/2021\/08\/02\/focus-on-the-core\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/2021\/08\/02\/focus-on-the-core\/#webpage\"},\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/7db444253e848343c5c7e55087b45b6c\"},\"headline\":\"Focus on the Core\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-08-02T21:17:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-08-17T18:11:33+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/2021\/08\/02\/focus-on-the-core\/#webpage\"},\"wordCount\":485,\"commentCount\":25,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/2021\/08\/02\/focus-on-the-core\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/focus-on-the-core.jpeg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Safety\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/2021\/08\/02\/focus-on-the-core\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/7db444253e848343c5c7e55087b45b6c\",\"name\":\"Esteban Mery-Fernandez, MD\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cdc9f67fc4cb2bd1e8a2132bc53bb9e3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cdc9f67fc4cb2bd1e8a2132bc53bb9e3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Esteban Mery-Fernandez, MD\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/author\/esteban-mery-fernandez\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Focus on the Core — Apogee Insights","canonical":"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/2021\/08\/02\/focus-on-the-core\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Focus on the Core — Apogee Insights","og_description":"Diagnosing, treating, monitoring, and transitioning our patients are core skills for hospitalists. We work in a high risk, high reward environment. The risk is taken by the patient. For us, the risk is medico-legal. The reward of recovery from illness goes to the patient. For us, the reward is professional and personal satisfaction. In order ... Read more","og_url":"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/2021\/08\/02\/focus-on-the-core\/","og_site_name":"Apogee Insights","article_published_time":"2021-08-02T21:17:03+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-08-17T18:11:33+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":500,"url":"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/focus-on-the-core.jpeg","path":"\/var\/www\/wordpress\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/focus-on-the-core.jpeg","size":"full","id":358,"alt":"","pixels":400000,"type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Esteban Mery-Fernandez, MD","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Apogee Physicians","url":"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/","sameAs":[],"logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/#logo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Apogee-Logo_RGB_Horizontal_Full-Color.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Apogee-Logo_RGB_Horizontal_Full-Color.png","width":533,"height":115,"caption":"Apogee Physicians"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/#logo"}},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/","name":"Apogee Insights","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/2021\/08\/02\/focus-on-the-core\/#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/focus-on-the-core.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/focus-on-the-core.jpeg","width":800,"height":500},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/2021\/08\/02\/focus-on-the-core\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/2021\/08\/02\/focus-on-the-core\/","name":"Focus on the Core — Apogee Insights","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/2021\/08\/02\/focus-on-the-core\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2021-08-02T21:17:03+00:00","dateModified":"2021-08-17T18:11:33+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/2021\/08\/02\/focus-on-the-core\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/2021\/08\/02\/focus-on-the-core\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/2021\/08\/02\/focus-on-the-core\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Focus on the Core"}]},{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/2021\/08\/02\/focus-on-the-core\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/2021\/08\/02\/focus-on-the-core\/#webpage"},"author":{"@id":"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/7db444253e848343c5c7e55087b45b6c"},"headline":"Focus on the Core","datePublished":"2021-08-02T21:17:03+00:00","dateModified":"2021-08-17T18:11:33+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/2021\/08\/02\/focus-on-the-core\/#webpage"},"wordCount":485,"commentCount":25,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/2021\/08\/02\/focus-on-the-core\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/focus-on-the-core.jpeg","articleSection":["Safety"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/2021\/08\/02\/focus-on-the-core\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/7db444253e848343c5c7e55087b45b6c","name":"Esteban Mery-Fernandez, MD","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cdc9f67fc4cb2bd1e8a2132bc53bb9e3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cdc9f67fc4cb2bd1e8a2132bc53bb9e3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Esteban Mery-Fernandez, MD"},"url":"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/author\/esteban-mery-fernandez\/"}]}},"coauthors":[{"link":"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/author\/esteban-mery-fernandez\/","display_name":"Esteban Mery-Fernandez, MD"}],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["<a href=\"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/category\/safety\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Safety<\/a>"],"unlinked":["<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Safety<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"25","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 5 years ago","modified":"Updated 5 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on August 2, 2021","modified":"Updated on August 17, 2021"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on August 2, 2021 9:17 pm","modified":"Updated on August 17, 2021 6:11 pm"},"featured_img_caption":"","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/focus-on-the-core.jpeg",800,500,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/focus-on-the-core-150x150.jpeg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/focus-on-the-core-300x188.jpeg",300,188,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/focus-on-the-core-768x480.jpeg",768,480,true],"large":["https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/focus-on-the-core.jpeg",800,500,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/focus-on-the-core.jpeg",800,500,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/focus-on-the-core.jpeg",800,500,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Esteban Mery-Fernandez, MD","author_link":"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/author\/esteban-mery-fernandez\/"},"uagb_comment_info":25,"uagb_excerpt":"Diagnosing, treating, monitoring, and transitioning our patients are core skills for hospitalists. We work in a high risk, high reward environment. The risk is taken by the patient. For us, the risk is medico-legal. The reward of recovery from illness goes to the patient. For us, the reward is professional and personal satisfaction. In order…","authors":[{"term_id":18,"user_id":8,"is_guest":0,"slug":"esteban-mery-fernandez","display_name":"Esteban Mery-Fernandez, MD"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=357"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":401,"href":"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357\/revisions\/401"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qa.apogeephysicians.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}