One fine fall morning last year my wife turned to me and said: "I want a tummy tuck. There are no rules against you doing that for me are there?"
We had talked about tummy tuck surgery for her several times over the years. She had had a gastric bypass a decade before we had met and was a pretty good candidate. No cigarettes. Well she did have a few surgical ...
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"It is getting worse everyday." "Medicare fix at the last moment." "Too much paperwork not enough time with patients." "ACO’s and bundling." The headlines scream at us everyday.
If we have one word that underlies the medical community it is fear.
The looming uncertainties of reimbursement, insurance changes, electronic medical records and new regulations form the main topic of doctor worry talk. The country’s health system remains in perpetual flux and catching ...
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I have worked in continuing medical education for 12 years and the argument over industry support of CME has grown tired and wearisome. Truth be told, I’m sick of it. I have always been a staunch defender of industry support of CME – and still am, for the most part – but listening to the same old arguments on both sides of the issue has become akin to the Elmo ...
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Have you ever been in a negotiation with a health plan for a network participation contract and had the impression that the plan knew all the rates that you had agreed to in confidential negotiations with other health plans? Allow me to reassure you: you are not being paranoid. It is quite likely that the plan you are negotiating with knows exactly what rates and terms you have agreed to ...
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A response to Why isn’t everyone excited about robotic assisted surgery? by Kelly Wright.
Yes, it’s cool. The surgical robot is every gamer-cum-surgeon’s dream.
However, I, too, was a skeptic regarding incorporating robotic surgery into my practice. I have been practicing minimally-invasive surgery for over 20 years, including residency. I became convinced of the value of minimally invasive surgery after observing patients postoperatively. I have laparoscopically repaired an obturator nerve transection, ...
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Every day physicians and other healthcare professionals are engaged in an invisible battle at work.
In one corner is our desire to help other people, make a difference and practice the skills we worked so hard to perfect.
In the opposite corner is burnout and it's entire gang. Most of us don't recognize burnout has a whole team on its side. We are outnumbered at least ten to one. I call this ...
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Mr. C. was described in the chart as being "unresponsive" by multiple providers. Sure enough, when I spoke to him, he did not reply. When I leaned in and shouted in his ear, laughter down the hall could be heard from the nurse's station. But I didn't care: the "unresponsive" Mr. C was answering my questions.
That was a scene from my training a few years ago. Unfortunately, hearing aids are ...
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Despite remarkable changes in technology, only 20% of patients who could benefit from hearing aids actually wear them. Reasons vary, but include a lack of awareness among patients and physicians, fear of stigmatization, and failure to recognize the immense value of hearing aids on social life and productivity.
Hearing loss affects 36 million Americans according to the National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders (NIDCD). One third of people ...
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A heretic essay in JAMA by Vinay Prasad (Northwestern of Chicago), Adam Cifu (U. of Chicago) and John Ioannidis (Stanford) should be required reading for every medical student, resident, and to pass any board certification exam in any specialty ... in my humble opinion.
John Ioannidis became one of my personal heroes with the publication of his great paper in PLoS Medicine, "Why Most Published Research Findings Are False," and ...
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A guest column by the American Medical Association, exclusive to KevinMD.com.
It will come as no surprise to many of you that it can take a very long time to get things accomplished in Washington, D.C. However, a recent policy change from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) shows that when physicians join together for a common cause we can ...
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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
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Edwin Leap, MD | PhysicianIs Chris Christie too obese to run for president?
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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