I’m a small-time doc in a small town, and I work at a small hospital in the Midwest, and I’m proud of it. The huge university hospitals (like Cleveland Clinic) get all the glory (especially in society and in the press), but small hospitals like mine drive this country.
It has been really weird working at a small hospital, where it seems like …
I stare at the sharply rising line in front of me, its stark outline harshly highlighting the data–data that shows that we are in the midst of yet another surge. That graph haunts me, intruding upon my thoughts, hovering at the edges of my life. I hold my breath, not knowing when this sly encroacher will become an intruder that will disrupt the normalcy of these last few months, …
I have been writing of late about recent developments in the opioid saga. My first piece talked about a fresh decision in California’s seven-year-old The People vs. opioid pharma case. The next one focused on how the middle-man, distributors, contributed to the epidemic’s picture.
Now, I wanted to write an overarching piece hitting some astounding highlights that summarize the opioid crisis through its decades-long lifespan. …
When can a patient say “yes” or “no” to a recommended colonoscopy? A blood transfusion? A COVID vaccine?
As 2022 opens, health officials predict a tsunami of new coronavirus cases worldwide due to the Omicron and Delta variants. For more than a year, official messaging has been that vaccination is the way out of the pandemic.
But ongoing vaccine hesitancy has hindered progress. The Centers for …
More than half of all physicians in the United States are employed by health care organizations, and the numbers have been trending upward since 2019. Recruiters who work for health systems are tasked with finding the best physicians available, and their roles have become more important than ever. In-house job recruiters, and recruiters contracted with health systems, represent the face of the organization. They are often …
Doctors are reporting an alarming rate of dissatisfaction and burnout, with some leaving the practice of medicine altogether. Administrators and insurance companies are often blamed; however, our own professional organizations impose a significant portion of the problem.
Several years ago, Danielle Ofri wrote an op-ed in the New York Times about how doctors’ precious time was being wasted on recertification exams. That year (2014), I took my first …
The most memorable books have twists, turns, and surprises. A plot twist is a literary technique involving a radical change in an expected outcome. It involves withholding critical information until the time is right, changing our perception of preceding or current events. There are often hints along the way, foreshadowing what is to come, but realization does not come until the twist happens, and often only appreciated in retrospect. Red …
Before there was doom-scrolling, there were sad books. For me, it was Chapter 18 in Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman. The chapter is a fictional portrayal of Mr. Grossman imagining his mother’s last words. The protagonist—modeled on the author—and their two mothers have the same fate at the hands of the Nazis. I tried several times to get through that chapter, through that letter, and through the book. I …
Since the first cases of COVID-19 started trickling into the U.S. in January 2020 (or December, depending on what sources you believe), leaders have made confident statements promising containment, to eradicate the virus, to provide resources for hospitals in need, to research and identify treatments that work, etc.
I think that we can agree that no matter what side of the aisle you are on, having a highly charged controversial presidential …
As I plug in the microphone and check the link, I imagine them on the mountain, kicking frozen boots into the night ice as the wind explodes over the ridge and rifles through the down of their parkas. I imagine the anemic glow of Jeff’s headlamp against the expanse of the Himalayas and Erik bending into the incline as he follows the nylon rope; he can hear the sharp tinker …
In a world where everything is fast-paced, I believe we miss out on some stuff that deserves our attention.
Just like we need to stop and smell the roses, we need to stop and pay heed to the little life traumas that hit us daily. For today, I will jot down the list of small things that disturbed me and that I didn’t pay attention to.
My patient and colleague suffering from liver …
A 2012 letter to Mr. Leonard Pitts, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist.
I am not sure why I feel so compelled to write you. You probably will not even see this email, but I still must do so. I am a 56-year-old Christian white male physician living in North Carolina. I am a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and the University of Alabama School of …
A colleague announces he is retiring.
Unknown at the time is the fact that there were a series of fires and suicides committed by patients at the psychiatric facility where he was chief medical officer during the year prior to his departure. State investigators condemned the incidents and found an array of policy failures and procedural errors compounded by staffing shortages due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Another colleague announces his retirement. Unknown …
It’s no secret that rural hospitals have been struggling. According to online data from the University of North Carolina, 137 rural hospitals have closed in the U.S. since 2010.
In Appalachia, the rural hospital where I work, which is staffed by a single hospitalist, has been “in the crosshairs” since I arrived in 2016 and has been limping along with subsidies from our regional health system. …
In my previous article, we covered 5 proven ways to use 2021/2022 CPT coding changes to leverage your time, team, and outsourcing capabilities to grow your practice and improve patient outcomes.
In this article, we’ll dive into specific examples of 2021/2022 CPT coding changes that can help you expand your practice and billables in 2022 and beyond.
The first step: Get familiar with the 2021 coding changes
For a full …
It began simply enough.
There were 12 of us at the spacious table, gathered for a tasty, albeit unconventional Christmas meal of soup and salad. My adult son was seated to my immediate left. Meal completed, compliments and gratitude expressed to the preparer, my son turned to the fellow on my right.
“You want some coffee? I’m going to Starbucks.”
“Do you have to go out? Can’t you make it here?”
My daughter had …
There’s a lot of hubbub about The Great Resignation right now.
Millions of Americans are quitting their jobs each month. It’s happening in medicine and other sectors such as education, tech, and fast food. Interestingly, it’s not the typical younger employees driving the massive numbers; it’s mid-career workers.
In our household, we have seen both sides of the resignation. At the same time that my teen son quit his first job at …
In a world of delightfully fit health coaches who gleefully snack on kale chips during the holidays, I am not one of them! I like to splurge. Holiday cookies are my weakness, and pecan balls did not disappoint this season! Did you stray from your health goals? I am right there with you. But as a coach, I believe in celebrations. There is no shame in indulging in treats on …
So I am on the road again — sort of. What I do is work away from home, which isn’t quite the same thing. Where I work as a radiologist is not within commuting distance, so I stay at a nearby hotel. In general, that has worked out fairly well.
Not long ago, however, when I went to start the car after breakfast, I became immediately aware of a roaring sound.
The …
This article is satire.
Good morning and thank you for flying SkyAnesthesia. I am your flight attendant, Dr. Jablonski, and my co-pilot this morning will be Attending Dr. To-Be-Named. This Boston-based flight crew is honored to serve you.
While our Team SkyAnesthesia, or TSA for short, does not utilize metal detectors, please remove all jewelry and body piercings prior to boarding. Please be sure to securely stow your belongings in the provided …
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