Beware of errors in your medical record

Physician
December 31, 2021

Anyone can make a mistake — even your health care provider. And sometimes, those mistakes end up in your medical records. That can cause a variety of issues, including misdiagnosis, medication interactions, missed follow-up testing and care, duplicate testing and billing errors. Fortunately, HIPAA gives you the right to request a copy of your medical records from any health care provider who has treated you so that you can review …

Read more…

Beware of errors in your medical record

The COVID vaccine is a life raft. I’m not your life raft to get out of it.

Conditions
December 31, 2021

It began with a seemingly innocuous text from a friend of the family.

“Hi, Richard. I hope you’re well. I need to speak with you. Can I call you?”

The last time we spoke was at my brother’s long-postponed “celebration of life,” which we were able to hold a year after his passing finally. Our friend attended the wake, so feeling a sense of appreciation for his support during that time, I …

Read more…

The COVID vaccine is a life raft. I’m not your life raft to get out of it.

CPT coding changes: 5 proven methods of how to do more with less

Policy
December 31, 2021

It’s well known that coding changes drive provider behavior, and billing behavior drives provider decisions.

For the last 30 years, little has changed in health insurance billing, which is why the standard of care within the payer system has remained, well, standard.

Then the pandemic hit, and suddenly everything was turned on its head. Patient demands increased sharply, office visits became impossible or prohibited across most of the country, and with telemedicine, …

Read more…

CPT coding changes: 5 proven methods of how to do more with less

Health care guest workers could make “home, sweet home” a reality for America’s seniors

Policy
December 31, 2021

“If you want to be happy in a million ways, for the holidays, you can’t beat home, sweet home.” The late Perry Como’s observations reflect a bittersweet truth about an unattainable goal — not just during the holiday season, but each day of the year — for the 1.4 million Americans age 65 and over who reside in long-term care facilities. Older Americans who might prefer to age in place …

Read more…

Health care guest workers could make “home, sweet home” a reality for America’s seniors

You are what you click: Transform your social media experience [PODCAST]

Podcast
December 30, 2021
YouTube video

“Confidence and humility are strongly related, but one arises when we focus on self, and the other arises when we focus on others. However, each attribute can become unhealthy when it becomes too extreme, or when we lose the perspective of the other attribute. In the case of confidence, we …

Read more…

You are what you click: Transform your social media experience [PODCAST]

Men in power seem to have a serious zipper malfunction problem

Physician
December 30, 2021

My respected neurosurgery colleague just ended his career inauspiciously — having had an affair with a resident.

While I don’t know the details, I do know that many a male leader, like my friend, has fallen from his perch due to “zipper malfunction.” Had they stronger zippers, maybe they would have kept their sensitive parts in their proper homes and carried on to fulfill their important jobs.

Disappointed, but not terribly surprised, …

Read more…

Men in power seem to have a serious zipper malfunction problem

My grandfather’s death: What I’ve learned about life

Education
December 30, 2021

My grandfather passed in the early hours of December 11 and was buried the next day. It all happened very quickly. The last time I saw him was eight years ago. And that was the final time because I couldn’t make it to his funeral. Hopefully, when I look back at this, I’ll always remember to cherish my time with family, no matter how busy medical school or residency gets.

My …

Read more…

My grandfather’s death: What I’ve learned about life

How writing fiction can free physicians [PODCAST]

Podcast
December 29, 2021
YouTube video

“Physicians can find — or start — writing workshops at medical conferences, or just about anywhere else, at any time. These workshops can become part of wellness or burnout-prevention events. To interact with other writers, all you need is a champion―someone to organize a time and space for you …

Read more…

How writing fiction can free physicians [PODCAST]

The U.S. doesn’t have enough faculty to train the next generation of nurses

Policy
December 29, 2021

Despite a national nursing shortage in the United States, over 80,000 qualified applications were not accepted at U.S. nursing schools in 2020, according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.

This was due primarily to a shortage of nursing professors and a limited number of clinical placements where nursing students get practical job training. Additional constraints include a …

Read more…

The U.S. doesn’t have enough faculty to train the next generation of nurses

Inequity contributes to burnout among new academic physicians

Physician
December 29, 2021

I was still a resident in May 2013. My new long-distance girlfriend gave me directions to take the train from the airport to the opposite side of her massive metroplex. As is likely common for a hayseed like me, I got lost finding the correct rail station and instead walked through the city’s large academic medical center by accident. With luggage in tow, I walked past a 900-bed county hospital …

Read more…

Inequity contributes to burnout among new academic physicians

How telemedicine ruined a physician’s career

Physician
December 29, 2021

Doing side gigs is in vogue now. I want to tell you my story. It has to do with how one of the leading telemedicine companies ruined my career. I hope that my story will help many of you navigate this tough economy, especially those who are coming out of residency.

I started working as an independent contractor about ten years ago when it first came to the forefront. I worked …

Read more…

How telemedicine ruined a physician’s career

How drug distributors contributed to the opioid crisis

Meds
December 28, 2021

A recent headline in my neighborhood newspaper read, “A Dentist Became a Top Opioid Buyer in W. Va. Now a Drug Firm Faces Penalty for Ignoring Red Flags.” The drug firm sent 25,400 hydrocodone pills and 3,600 Xanax to one Huntington, WV area dentist. The DEA raided the dentist’s office and shut it down. The dentist admitted to ordering the pills for personal use.

This summer, also right …

Read more…

How drug distributors contributed to the opioid crisis

Emotional epidemiology of disease is as critical as clinical epidemiology

Physician
December 28, 2021

At this point in the COVID vaccination campaign, nearly all American adults who want the vaccine have gotten it, and are gratefully snapping up their boosters. Those who decline vaccination are largely impervious to public service announcements, community pressure, and case counts turbocharged by the Omicron variant.

Public health experts emphasize that primary care doctors and nurses are the key to this last mile of the vaccination effort. …

Read more…

Emotional epidemiology of disease is as critical as clinical epidemiology

Don’t be anti-vax in name only

Physician
December 28, 2021

The following article is satire.

“These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.”
– Thomas Paine

Happy holidays as we continue our long walk with COVID. A unique walk where each new step is only half as long as …

Read more…

Don’t be anti-vax in name only

A satirical response to an orthopedic surgeon’s letter to radiologists

Physician
December 27, 2021

A satirical response to “An open letter to radiologists from a jilted orthopedic surgeon.”

“I feel as though there is a deepening rift between our two specialties.”

You ask why the chasm has widened between our specialties. Well, maybe if you paid attention to me, you’d know. I’m an introverted radiologist, you’re a domineering surgeon, and neither of us specializes in communication. Our marriage – like an arthroplasty – …

Read more…

A satirical response to an orthopedic surgeon’s letter to radiologists

Why health care delivery is an exceptionally different industry: Why does it matter?

Policy
December 27, 2021

Third in a series. Please read part 1 and part 2.

We expect that most readers have noticed the differences in health care delivery compared to other industries that we discussed in part 1 and part 2. Those differences relate to board governance, health care leadership, infrastructure, and operations. Readers probably also noticed that these differences …

Read more…

Why health care delivery is an exceptionally different industry: Why does it matter?

Attack COVID like the terrorist it is

Conditions
December 27, 2021

More than 1,100 in the U.S. are still dying every day from COVID-19. Every three days, we are losing more Americans than the number that died on 9/11. Just because we don’t see it sneaking up on our families does not mean the COVID terrorist is defeated. While deaths are mainly in 12 northern states, it is highly likely we will again experience a similar problem in Texas and across …

Read more…

Attack COVID like the terrorist it is

Groomers at PetSmart have more autonomy than physicians

Physician
December 26, 2021

“You do not rise to the level of your goals.  You fall to the level of your systems.”
– James Clear, Atomic Habits

I had a bit of a revelation recently when I brought my dog in for grooming. Some background: My dog is ten years old and has a double coat from hell (although very pretty). She also had a spinal cord injury in November 2019 and has residual weakness in …

Read more…

Groomers at PetSmart have more autonomy than physicians

606
pages