Edwin Leap tries to make sense of it:
No one bats an eye at television shows about rappers or athletes and their elaborate homes, or extensive car collections.
But doctors! Oh my! One reader commented on my column on free care with a very annoyed letter to the editor, ranting about doctors and their six figure salaries. But what about seven figure salaries of ...
Eric Novack in an op-ed:
Just as it is morally repugnant for employers or the government to require workers to work extra hours without pay, it is unethical for a society that cherishes freedom to create a system where a right to health care obligates doctors to provide care at any time, and for a price that is dictated by government.(via The Health Care Blog)
An ode to the colorectal surgeon.
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A parody of the Zoloft TV ad. More weekend hilarity, via Mad TV.
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Courtesy of the Howard University College of Medicine.
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Roy Poses outlines two instances where suggested P4P measures can lead to more harm than good.
retired doc feels that the ACP's "medical home" solution only would work within a single payer construct.
The tab started before he got to the hospital:
On the other hand, what Palmer didn't know is that as soon as the paramedics radioed ahead to say they were bringing in an accident victim, San Francisco General, as per the hospital's procedures, issued a trauma alert to its staff.
Basically, that means a page was sent to doctors and anesthesiologists on call at the time. That page ...
Maurice Bernstein laments the loss of the physical exam:
The old doctors had less tests and more time and more attention to the patient. Whether they could do a better job in diagnosis and treatment of the disease than more modern medicine is doubtful. But one thing is clear, they had the time to do a better history and physical and their treatment of the whole patient might ...
Zelnorm has been pulled, as there is a small association with heart attacks when taking this IBS drug:
Swiss pharmaceutical maker Novartis AG will stop selling a drug to relieve constipation after it was linked to a higher chance of heart attack, stroke and worsening chest pain that can become a heart attack, federal health officials ...
Apparently access to this procedure is pretty good:
Practically, those who can scrape together $700 can get an abortion from a doctor. Some of them will even bill health insurance for the procedure, by coding it as a complication of pregnancy, according to the article.
John Mack goes to his doctor's office yesterday and reports on his findings.
Panda Bear just has no quit in him. The third in a series post on single payer - there's no way the American public, groomed to expect the best medical care, instantly - will stand for it:
So, it may come to pass that our country adopts a single payer system in our impossible quest to provide high quality health care for all. The result will be ...
An editorial in the San Francisco Examiner tells it like it is:
Next time your doctor orders lots of blood tests and MRIs, you will be experiencing a slice of the estimated $124 billion annually in unnecessary costs imposed on American health care providers through malpractice and other liability lawsuits. Doctors call it "defensive medicine" when they order lots of mostly unnecessary, time-consuming and expensive tests for fear of being ...
Remove the financial incentive, and you get what's happening in Canada - perceived doctor shortages:
Now, we have a situation where the great doctor can only bill a maximum of $450,000 per year (minus overhead and taxes). When, prior to the cap, he was happy to work for "services rendered" and billed accordingly.
However, now his $1.3 million practice is cropped at $450,000 per year. So he has two ...
An uncontrollable episode of coughing causes a girl to get kicked off a plane, even though a physician on board said she'd be ok to make the flight.
An economist suggests demerit awards instead of performance bonuses. With all due respect to guys like Matthew and Ezra, the problem with health policy wonks is that they base their opinions with zero clinical experience in medicine. Because of this, it is difficult for physicians put any weight into anything they say.
An op-ed in the Boston Globe:
And yet Elizabeth Edwards said at a news conference, "I don't expect my life to be significantly different." She calls herself "incredibly optimistic." About his press secretary Tony Snow, President Bush said, "He is not going to let this whip him, and he's upbeat."
Of course all people need hope: hope for a good day today, hope for a normal life, and ...
Or, an IV flush for pancreatitis pain.
A physician is about to go through a malpractice trial. His wife goes off on a tirade:
My physician husband is going to court next week, being sued by a woman whose husband died of esophagus cancer. She thinks she deserves money because someone died. SOMEONE must pay. Win or lose, the taxpayer pays and health care costs go up for everyone. Win, and tens of thousands ...
Ovarian cancer screening clearly touches a nerve. No one doubts that ovarian cancer is a devastating diagnosis, often found when the disease...
According to a recent study from the Archives of Internal Medicine, primary care physicians are referring more patients to specialists than ever...
One of the reasons there is such a movement against vaccines is the democratization of information, perpetuated by search engines like Google....
In a widely circulated CNN article, many radiologists have been found to cheat on their board exams: "Doctors around the country taking an...
I've only had to declare death a couple of times. Once in a three-year-old and once in an adult. In each case...
Billionaire Teddy Forstmann had been diagnosed with a serious form of brain cancer. There’s a tragic twist to the story: according to...
One of the things I love about family medicine is that I get to care for people of all ages. I almost...
I just finished reading George’s recent post on Evelyn Lauder, who recently passed away from ovarian cancer, and am still stirred by...
Here is a toast to the miracle of love. Not to the romantic, chocolate, dance club nightlife type of love. Not warm...
No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet...
One morning this May, I woke up with a stiff neck. I applied hot and cold therapy all day and took an...
Visiting someone who is dying or critically ill is an experience many of us will have in the course of our lives....
A guest column by the American Medical Association, exclusive to KevinMD.com. This week, I’m joining hundreds of physicians and medical students in Washington, DC...
Everyone in the world is talking about “value-driven health care.” Or so it might seem if you pick up a medical journal...
CNN recently posted an article titled "Doctors Going Broke." It described several cases of independent physicians who are near bankruptcy although they once...
One of the things that I like most about my job is engaging with ACP’s physician leadership—the internal medicine doctors who dedicate...
As a follow-up to my post on why patients with implantable defibrillators should have access to their device’s data, I am going...
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal reviewed the emerging role of email in healthcare, arguing that doctors should more aggressively...
Paul Conslato, MD, director of clinical affairs for Lancaster General Medical Group, recently was quoted in the PAMED Better Health Network eZine...
Don’t get me wrong, EMRs (electronic medical records) are inevitable. Over the long-run they are almost certainly good for physicians, patients and...
I have decided to spam for public health. Phone calls, text messaging, and even apps have been shown to help improve health...
Does your medical practice allow anybody to post links and comments on your Facebook page? The short answer is yes. We do....
As a physician, technology cannot replace you, but it can make you more efficient and effective. This was the message from Richard...
Looking ahead to the next several months, I’ve found myself frequently wondering how many physicians will make this their year to take...
