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1. Study Eases Some Azithromycin Fears. Danish patients taking azithromycin were at no greater risk of cardiovascular death, relative to those using penicillin, when pretreatment mortality risk was taken into account.
2. Study: Medicaid Expansion Won't Help All Aspects of Health. Expanding Medicaid coverage improves mental health but doesn't tackle some basic measures of physical health, like ...
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New York City’s Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC), which runs 11 hospitals in four of the five boroughs of New York, is negotiating a new deal with the union representing some 3,300 salaried physicians. The corporation wants to base MD pay raises on 13 quality indicators.
The New York Times article that broke the story does not list all of the indicators but mentioned the following: how well patients ...
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Obamacare is changing the image of the doctor we know and love. For better or worse, gone are the days of a physician carrying a black bag and making house calls. The new-age doctor is someone who is probably comfortable communicating via text message (secure, of course), or by email.
With the rising demands of a new dimension of healthcare delivery, where doctors need to see more patients to make up ...
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It was recently the Affordable Care Act’s third birthday, but you might have missed it for all of the (lack of) attention it received. Sure, there was the usual back and forth from the law’s supporters and opponents, but almost nothing that provided any new insights.
Supporters, such as the liberal New York Times editorial page, marked the ACA’s anniversary by touting the tens of millions already being helped ...
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People are people, whether they are identified by their career or their role in the healthcare process. So, whether you’re working with a referring physician or a patient, it’s important to consider emotions, their role in the sales process and how they drive and destroy value. One of the most valuable emotions to have in our business is loyalty. Loyalty is what providers work towards with referring physicians and what ...
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First I believe our health care system must be better so I’m always curious to hear how others might propose to fix it. I recently had the opportunity to listen in two conversations with businessman David Goldhill about how healthcare might be made better. Goldhill lost his father to a hospital acquired infection and witnessed multiple errors during his hospitalization which compelled him to write not only a piece in ...
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My son has been accepted into medical school, we learned last week, and I must say I’m about as happy a mother and a physician as you could find anywhere. For everything that’s wrong with the American healthcare system today, medicine is a wonderful profession and it’s still the greatest honor in the world for a patient to have faith in your skills and care.
It will be interesting to see ...
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Several months ago, as I was in the last few months of my private practice, I watched the Joy Luck Club with my wife. I had seen the movie many times before, but somehow at that moment in time, when I was grieving for my practice and my profession, I began to have some startling clarity. Specifically, I was particularly struck by this dialogue:
I tell you the story because I was raised the Chinese ...
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Today I had the displeasure of sitting in judgment before a modern inquisition at one of the hospitals I attend. Although the grand inquisitor lacked the trappings of a monsignor or bishop, and without a physical executioner in the room, I was subjected to round after round of questions regarding my apparent disregard for system wide medical and post surgical protocols. Such protocols have been adopted by CMS (which oversees ...
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We recently marked the third anniversary of the passage of the Affordable Care Act by reflecting on the positive changes it has brought about and by mulling over the multifaceted challenges that stymie our efforts to build more accessibility, equity, quality, safety, and cost-effectiveness into one of the most complex healthcare systems in the world.
Reining in healthcare costs, a central element in the reforms we seek, is inextricably linked to ...
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"A comprehensive and extremely useful roadmap for doctors."
-Eric Topol, MD, author of The Creative Destruction of Medicine
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Past 6 Months
Dear lawmakers: This is what it’s like to be a doctor today
Matthew Moeller, MD | PhysicianA gun owner responds to Sandy Hook
Edwin Leap, MD | PhysicianIs Chris Christie too obese to run for president?
Jeffrey Parks, MD | PhysicianIf I’m wrong about guns, can you please explain why?
Claire McCarthy, MD | PhysicianPrimary care doctors may no longer be needed
Doug Olson, MD | PhysicianWalgreens moves into primary care, and it’s our own damn fault
Kevin Pho, MD | Kevin's Take