FAMILY PRACTICE MANAGEMENT: The KISS Principle in Family Practice: Keep It Simple and Systematic.

Abstract

A clear, deliberate, consistent approach will beat the alternative every time. Family physicians make many important contributions to patient care with their pragmatic approach and their individualised attention to the needs of each patient they see. Their tendency to follow the classic admonition of KISS ("Keep it simple, stupid") is an important counter to the tendency of subspecialists and academic researchers to recommend unnecessarily complicated and expensive approaches to patient care. However, these positive characteristics of family physicians can also get them into trouble. (Reprinted with permission from the 2003 July/August issue of Family Practice Management, FPM 2003;10:63-66 Copyright © American Academy of Family Physicians. All rights reserved.) Permission from the AAFP was granted to publish this article in the hardcopy only. Kindly refer to www.aafp.org or subscribe to the hardcopy of South African Family Practice.