I am honored and delighted to take on the role of medical editor of FPM. I have been a long-time reader and contributor to the journal and am excited about the opportunity to impact our readers in new ways. FPM has been and will continue to be the “go to” resource for family physicians looking for information about practice management. Are you looking for help with coding and documentation? Medicare wellness visits? Team-based models of care? We will remain the journal to read for answers to these and other questions about the nonclinical aspects of practice.

FPM is also a great resource on ways to enhance the patient experience, a unique topic within medical journals that fills an important need. A few weeks ago, one of my patients told me that, including copays, co-insurance, medications, and lab costs, our visit was going to cost her more than $400. I was humbled by this. My patient was willing to pay that much money to spend 25 minutes with me. It got me thinking, “Wow, I better make it worth her while.” But how do we do that? In addition to providing excellent patient care, we need to provide effective, patient-centered communication, office practices that make patients feel known and special, and follow-up that is prompt. Look for more content on these topics in future issues of FPM. We will focus on communication strategies, patient-centered practice designs, and innovative ways to engage patients in their own health care.

The physician experience is another unique content area of the journal. FPM articles explore ways physicians can be more efficient, work with teams, design work strategies that are feasible, and improve our well-being. Our patients' experience of their health care is integrally related to our attitudes and energy levels as physicians. Let us help you find the joy in practice.

Visit the FPM website to find curated collections of articles on a wide variety of topics pertinent to your practice, including these, and you'll find more in upcoming issues of the journal. We encourage you to send your topic ideas to us at the email address below. If you're interested in writing, we can help with that too. Even if you don't have much writing experience, we will help you create content that is useful for our readers. We are also adding peer reviewers to our panel; let us know if you would like more information about this opportunity.

I am looking forward to an exciting future for FPM.