I have enjoyed reading Family Practice Management for several years. Even though I work at a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), which operates by different rules than private offices, somewhat like the Socialized Medicine of Sweden, I like reading management/business books and magazines.
The issue I received a few days ago had a sheet glued to its front page stating in bold letters: “This is your last issue – unless you act NOW!”
These are my options: I can get the digital (online) version for free, starting in November, if I give them an e-mail address to send it to, or I can continue to get the print version for an undisclosed fee; I have to log on to their website to find out what it would cost me. Hmmm… where does that leave unconnected physicians?
Don’t get me wrong – I’m not against the Internet; I own six domain names, six blogs and even more e-mail accounts. I just don’t prefer to read journals and magazines online; it seems cozier to fall asleep with a magazine than with a laptop. I also feel forced to switch e-mail accounts every several months due to the sheer volume of junk mail I get. I just can’t trust that I’ll receive important communications through e-mail.
A while ago the American Board of Family Medicine sent me a newsletter that stated that the next notification of my upcoming Board Certification would ONLY be sent via e-mail.
I called them up to protest; the best they could do for me was to give me the e-mail address of their President. Hah! I know a trap when I see one.
There is a religious bestselling book series called “Left Behind”, about those left behind after the Apocalypse. In a sense, this is what’s happening now with the Internet as the predominant and sometimes only way of communication.
A Country Doctor Writes: 
I am just now in the process of reading “Left Behind” by Tim Lahaye and Jerry Jenkins. I started reading this while flying to Fla. earlier in the week. If you remember how this book started, you will know that while flying was probably not the best time for me to begin this book. Oh it is a strange one, to be sure, but it certainly does get one thinking about the “Rapture.” I have gotten a little freaked more than once while reading it because of the many comparisons that we witness in our life everyday.