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Physician voices
The reason that the United States hasn't been able to reach higher vaccination rates is because of leadership failures. It's really hard for leaders to lead transformational change during stable times. It's infinitely harder to lead in a VUCA (volatility,…
The reason that the United States hasn’t been able to reach higher vaccination rates is because of leadership failures. It’s really hard for leaders to lead transformational change during stable times. It’s infinitely harder to lead in a VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity)-dynamic world, but not impossible.
It’s the timeless leadership challenge.
How do you help the people you lead get from A to B?
This exchange between Fox …
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How to close the leadership challenge and end this COVID chapter
Conditions and diseases
Testing for novel coronavirus is still a serious issue in the U.S. due to a lack of lab capacity, test reagents, nasal swabs, and even personal protective equipment for health care workers. Due to these shortages, the CDC is recommending…
Testing for novel coronavirus is still a serious issue in the U.S. due to a lack of lab capacity, test reagents, nasal swabs, and even personal protective equipment for health care workers. Due to these shortages, the CDC is recommending that COVID-19 testing should not be performed on patients without symptoms and instead be prioritized for: 1. hospitalized patients and symptomatic health care workers, 2. patients at highest risk for …
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The testing cavalry for COVID-19 is coming
Health technology
The Kaiser Health News article, "Spurred By Convenience, Millennials Often Spurn The ‘Family Doctor’ Model," caught my eye. Millennial patients want “convenience, fast service, connectivity, and price transparency” while doctors and health experts worry about “fragmented or unnecessary care, including…
The Kaiser Health News article, “Spurred By Convenience, Millennials Often Spurn The ‘Family Doctor’ Model,” caught my eye. Millennial patients want “convenience, fast service, connectivity, and price transparency” while doctors and health experts worry about “fragmented or unnecessary care, including the misuse of antibiotics” and loss of “care that is coordinated and longitudinal.” It’s as if the needs of the patients and the concerns of doctors are …
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Millennials want convenient care
Social media in medicine
After an orthodontist blogged about an emergency visit where his patient broke her retainer after watching Michael B. Jordan in the blockbuster hit, the Black Panther, the young woman identified herself as the anonymous patient after learning about the story…
After an orthodontist blogged about an emergency visit where his patient broke her retainer after watching Michael B. Jordan in the blockbuster hit, the Black Panther, the young woman identified herself as the anonymous patient after learning about the story via Twitter. Though she was initially quite embarrassed, she was ultimately good-natured about all of the unexpected publicity. The natural question for many health care providers was …
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The case of HIPAA, an orthodontist, and Black Panther’s Michael B. Jordan
Physician voices
“Does physician leadership matter?” asks cardiologist and author Dr. Sandeep Jauhar in his New York Times opinion piece “Shouldn’t Doctors Control Hospital Care?” He opens his piece with the termination of the elected leaders of the medical staff office at…
“Does physician leadership matter?” asks cardiologist and author Dr. Sandeep Jauhar in his New York Times opinion piece “Shouldn’t Doctors Control Hospital Care?” He opens his piece with the termination of the elected leaders of the medical staff office at the Tulare Regional Medical Center due to poor performance. He answers his rhetorical question with the obvious and simple response that doctors should control hospital …
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Physicians must embrace the business side of medicine
Health technology
“When companies start unbundling costs, it is a sign of increasing consumer power and weakening market power.” This is what CEO David Goldhill and author of Catastrophic Care: Why Everything We Think We Know about Health Care Is Wrong told…
“When companies start unbundling costs, it is a sign of increasing consumer power and weakening market power.”
This is what CEO David Goldhill and author of Catastrophic Care: Why Everything We Think We Know about Health Care Is Wrong told me once. Airlines have unbundled everything that used to be included in a plane ticket. No longer do tickets include meals, in-flight entertainment, and the ability to check in baggage. Today, …
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Moving primary care to the cloud: A bold, new vision
Health technology
With Obamacare and creation of health insurance exchanges, many believed that health insurers would compete for patients much the same way hotels, rental cars companies, and airlines compete for customers. By comparing identical benefits packages from different insurers, patients could…
With Obamacare and creation of health insurance exchanges, many believed that health insurers would compete for patients much the same way hotels, rental cars companies, and airlines compete for customers. By comparing identical benefits packages from different insurers, patients could select their insurer based on the monthly premium and the extent of the hospital and physician network.
In a recent Vox article, Ezra Klein urged insurers do “something like …
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Will integrated health care startups make health care better?
Health technology
Will there be an Uber for health care? Articles are split. The truth is there will be an Uber for health care. It just isn’t here yet. Expect it to be widely available in the next decade and as a…
Will there be an Uber for health care? Articles are split. The truth is there will be an Uber for health care. It just isn’t here yet. Expect it to be widely available in the next decade and as a result, people will get expert medical care that is more convenient, less expensive, and accessible.
What issues must an Uber for health care solve?
Media articles that have prematurely proclaimed that Uber …
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An Uber for health care is closer than you think
Conditions and diseases
$28 million was awarded to a patient for a late diagnosis of a pelvic tumor, an osteosarcoma. This rare cancer presented as a case of low back pain and sciatica. The patient claimed that if the osteosarcoma had been caught…
$28 million was awarded to a patient for a late diagnosis of a pelvic tumor, an osteosarcoma. This rare cancer presented as a case of low back pain and sciatica. The patient claimed that if the osteosarcoma had been caught earlier that the subsequent surgery would have been avoided.
Could doctors have done better in diagnosing more quickly?
These cases strike fear into all primary care doctors. Which patient has a …
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When the back pain red flags aren’t enough
Physician voices
Are millennial doctors well trained for the 21st century? That was the question posed in NPR’s Millennial Doctors May Be More Tech-Savvy, But Is That Better? I believe how millennial doctors are educated may make them less adequately prepared than…
Are millennial doctors well trained for the 21st century? That was the question posed in NPR’s Millennial Doctors May Be More Tech-Savvy, But Is That Better? I believe how millennial doctors are educated may make them less adequately prepared than previous generations. This isn’t a reflection of medical education, but of education in general.
- Do the technological tools available prevent the engagement needed to
…
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Are millennial doctors ready for 21st century medicine?
Physician voices
Making primary care better for doctors currently in practice and attractive to medical students and residents is critical given the needs of our health care system. It also has been a major focus of the health care organization where I…
Making primary care better for doctors currently in practice and attractive to medical students and residents is critical given the needs of our health care system. It also has been a major focus of the health care organization where I work. A few colleagues and I noticed that many primary care doctors still stayed later than others despite lowering patient panel responsibilities and the implementation of the nation’s most robust …
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Improve the lives of primary care doctors. Here’s how.
Health policy
As people select health insurance during open enrollment, what many don’t realize is how the creation of the health insurance exchanges or health insurance marketplace via the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare) will ultimately result in Americans becoming less healthy…
As people select health insurance during open enrollment, what many don’t realize is how the creation of the health insurance exchanges or health insurance marketplace via the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare) will ultimately result in Americans becoming less healthy and more insolvent. Let’s review the pros and cons.
Although the Affordable Care Act provided important benefits of expanding and ensuring coverage with preventive benefits, insurability of all regardless of prior …
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Health reform will make us less healthy and more insolvent
Conditions and diseases
Having a healthy life is more than getting an annual physical examination. It is about having healthy habits. Some of these healthy habits make common sense. Others seen unnatural, but yet are vitally important. A healthy life is more than…
Having a healthy life is more than getting an annual physical examination. It is about having healthy habits. Some of these healthy habits make common sense. Others seen unnatural, but yet are vitally important.
A healthy life is more than feeling well. It is about living life to the fullest and ensuring you are doing your part to improve both your quality of life and longevity.
Which ones are you missing?
How do …
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Staying healthy: More than an annual physical
Physician voices
I received my new thinner bigger iPhone. Within a few days, news reports highlighted how new iPhone 6 owners accidentally bent the latest Apple iteration of the modern smartphone. A blogger bent an iPhone 6 Plus with his bare hands.…
I received my new thinner bigger iPhone. Within a few days, news reports highlighted how new iPhone 6 owners accidentally bent the latest Apple iteration of the modern smartphone. A blogger bent an iPhone 6 Plus with his bare hands. This story, the subsequent fallout, and response has learnings for doctors and health care on the challenges facing the vaccination “debate.”
The best launch in iPhone history with roughly 10 million smartphones shipped …
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What the iPhone 6 bendgate can teach us about vaccines
Physician voices
Dr. Daniela Drake writes an provocative and bold piece on the plight of doctors in America and the impact it has on patient care: "Why Your Doctor Feels Like a ‘Beaten Dog’." Though health care is very bureaucratic with administrative…
Dr. Daniela Drake writes an provocative and bold piece on the plight of doctors in America and the impact it has on patient care: “Why Your Doctor Feels Like a ‘Beaten Dog’.” Though health care is very bureaucratic with administrative paperwork, huddles, and hassles, her linkage of how patients were neglected as a consequence of the system doctors work in is weak.
She talks about Victoria, a teenager, who …
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Not knowing what we don’t know: How can we help doctors?
Physician voices
Even in the 21st century, talking to your doctor about your symptoms matters. This is something I tell my medical students. Talk to your patients. Listen to your patients. Use their story to determine what tests and imaging tests to…
Even in the 21st century, talking to your doctor about your symptoms matters. This is something I tell my medical students. Talk to your patients. Listen to your patients. Use their story to determine what tests and imaging tests to order, if needed. Don’t get fooled by technology or be in awe of its importance. It is the patient’s experience that matters. It isn’t the other way around as we …
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Medicine in the 21st century: Talking to patients still matters
Physician voices
“Daddy, I think we have a flat tire.” I just rolled out of the garage with my 4th grade daughter. It was Tuesday morning. Usual daily routine. Drop her off at school then go to work. A little different today…
“Daddy, I think we have a flat tire.”
I just rolled out of the garage with my 4th grade daughter. It was Tuesday morning. Usual daily routine. Drop her off at school then go to work. A little different today as I was to lead an important meeting.
How could she possibly know what a flat tire sounds like? Now? Right now? She’s …
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Chest pain and what we can learn from changing flat tires
Physician voices
“Dr. Liu, I don’t think he has diverticulitis.” So said the second-year medical student. She had just completed her first year of anatomy, biochemistry, pathology, and introduction to doctoring at the local medical school. One of the sharpest medical students…
“Dr. Liu, I don’t think he has diverticulitis.”
So said the second-year medical student. She had just completed her first year of anatomy, biochemistry, pathology, and introduction to doctoring at the local medical school. One of the sharpest medical students I’ve proctored.
Like many summers, I’ve been fortunate to spend time with the next generation of doctors. These future doctors were brimmed with enthusiasm and energy. Instead of taking time off to …
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Better care is mindfully listening to patients
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