Stop stigmatizing medication-assisted treatment

Medications
October 12, 2018

Imagine yourself as a patient burdened with a chronic disease that necessitated daily medication adherence to function. Now imagine that medication has become so stigmatized by society that you feel judged and ashamed every time that you use it. That’s the world that individuals with opioid use disorder are forced to live in when they’re prescribed methadone or buprenorphine to get through the day. Without these medications, Read more…

Stop stigmatizing medication-assisted treatment

Is there parity in mental health or are we still dealing with a paucity?

Conditions and Diseases
October 11, 2018

With the recent 10-year anniversary of the Mental Health Parity Act being signed into law, comes the reminder that we still have so much work to be done. Unfortunately, blatant discrimination in health insurance coverage for mental health and substance abuse has continued despite this legislation. The Parity Act required that dollar limits on mental health benefits be no lower than the dollar limits for medical and surgical benefits offered …

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Is there parity in mental health or are we still dealing with a paucity?

At the top of patients’ wish lists: price transparency

Medications
October 11, 2018

One of the most important factors on patients’ minds is affordability of care. According to a recent McKinsey study, 72 percent of consumers are concerned about at least one kind of health care expense, be it related to health insurance, routine medical procedures, end-of-life care or otherwise.

As it pertains to prescriptions, patients carry these affordability concerns from their providers’ offices to the pharmacy. More often than not, …

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At the top of patients’ wish lists: price transparency

7 essential steps to take during (and after) a restructuring or layoff

Physician Finance
October 11, 2018

This article is sponsored by Careers by KevinMD.com.

Employer consolidation due to the mergers and acquisitions of hospitals and health systems is becoming increasingly common within the health care industry. In fact, merger and acquisition activity doubled in the first half of this year, with the volume of value health care sector deals increasing to Read more…

7 essential steps to take during (and after) a restructuring or layoff

What my mother needs is a daughter, not a doctor

Physician
October 11, 2018

My mom was recently diagnosed with cancer. I can’t even begin to describe the shock I felt or how my heart just sank. In an otherwise healthy person with no family history, this is not something you ever expect to happen. My mind immediately jumped to so many different conclusions, and I immediately wanted answers. Is she going to beat this? How did this happen? Why did this happen? What …

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What my mother needs is a daughter, not a doctor

My brother, a physician, died. Could I have done more?

Conditions and Diseases
October 11, 2018

Healers, scientists, leaders — these are all terms that we equate with being a physician. As we spend our years if not decades in training, we strive to become all of these components. But when you miss something — the small details, the nuances of a history and these are the clues that could lead to healing it can be disheartening. When it comes to your own family member, such …

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My brother, a physician, died. Could I have done more?

ACL injuries in middle-age athletes

Conditions and Diseases
October 10, 2018

Over the last 20 years, physical fitness as a means to improve overall health has increased among the over-40 set. This is great, right? Yes, absolutely. Athletes who remain active as they age do a better job than non-athletes in retaining lean muscle mass. They also show improved bone density, bone structure and bone strength. However, what physicians are seeing are injuries related to the increased level of activity.

One area …

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ACL injuries in middle-age athletes

Physician well-being: lessons from positive psychology

Physician
October 10, 2018

The absence of burnout does not equal wellness. While the focus on physician burnout as an epidemic is finally gaining more attention, we may be missing a larger issue. Most physicians are not burned out. We are able to function. We get through our days, make it to some of our kids’ activities and even manage to go out to dinner on the weekends. We survive the work week as …

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Physician well-being: lessons from positive psychology

5 tips to medical resident success

Medical Education
October 10, 2018

The glorious season is upon us. Yes, it is finally autumn. But it is also the season of ERAS with all of its letters of recommendation, USMLE scores, medical school transcripts, and personal statements.

I have dutifully reviewed dozens of applicants whose last names begin with the letters “T” through “Z.” I have noted the test scores and grades. I have considered the caliber of medical school and whether the LORs …

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5 tips to medical resident success

Do opioid contracts harm the doctor-patient relationship?

Conditions and Diseases
October 10, 2018

A contract is an agreement stipulating the rights and obligations of the signatories. In most cases, a contract is consulted when a dispute arises. When all is proceeding swimmingly, the contract remains dormant in a file drawer or in a digital file. In general, decent people resolve differences in the old-fashioned way utilizing the twin arcane legal techniques of reasonableness and compromise. Remember them? Yes, it is possible to settle …

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Do opioid contracts harm the doctor-patient relationship?

Financial success as a doctor isn’t rocket science

Physician Finance
October 10, 2018

We all know the importance of compound interest in building wealth. The fuel for compound interest is time — the longer you are committed, the greater chance your investments will grow. This applies not only to financial growth but also to essentially everything else. As a rule of thumb, the more you study for a test the better you ought to do. The longer you have practiced medicine, the more …

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Financial success as a doctor isn’t rocket science

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Doctors as the gatekeepers of marijuana is a race to the bottom

Medications
October 10, 2018

This year Oklahoma voters made a clear choice to legalize medical marijuana, joining thirty other states that permit cannabis for medicinal use.

Unsurprisingly, immediately in the vote’s aftermath, patients began asking me to “prescribe” medical marijuana licenses, as the new law stipulates users must have as a precondition for legal purchase. The new law does not, however, specify qualifying diagnoses for which medical marijuana might be clinically …

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Doctors as the gatekeepers of marijuana is a race to the bottom

Medicine is a word with 3 meanings

Physician
October 9, 2018

Everybody is a stakeholder these days in what we broadly call medicine, or health care. But there is little agreement on what medicine is and what the priorities of the health care “industry” should be.

I propose this breakdown of medicine into three separate phenomena.

1. Micromedicine
2. Macromedicine
3. Metamedicine

Let me explain:

Micromedicine: one on one, real doctoring

Doctors from antiquity have served their patients one on one, as individuals. Osler, the father of modern …

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Medicine is a word with 3 meanings

Meditation, yoga, and mindfulness aren’t going to solve physician burnout

Physician
October 9, 2018

Recently, my inbox has been overfilled with offers for programs, yoga, meditation, and a whole host of mindfulness training opportunities to combat physician burnout. I think by now everyone knows that doctors are fighting high burnout rates. But, those sending these “special offers” don’t get the root of the problem. We’re not burned out because we work long hours in a stressful job with limited time off. Rather, we are …

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Meditation, yoga, and mindfulness aren’t going to solve physician burnout

How medical school saved this student’s life

Medical Education
October 9, 2018

Note: This article contains language about physical assault that could be upsetting to some readers.

Stanford Medical School saved my life. Not in the metaphorical way, but in a very literal way. If I didn’t start medical school when I did, there is a high chance I wouldn’t be alive today.

I struggled writing this piece because only a small handful of people know my story. By the time you’re done reading …

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How medical school saved this student’s life

Live your life the best you can, and don’t spend it all in the hospital

Physician Finance
October 9, 2018

If you have been following my writing, you know I have been out of the surgical workforce for a year and a half. I have settled into a much more relaxing lifestyle as an author who can set his own work schedule. This week I got a flashback of what my old life was like as a general surgeon when I attended a four-day conference called FinCon.

Each morning of the …

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Live your life the best you can, and don’t spend it all in the hospital

Avoid the power drain of life

Physician Finance
October 9, 2018

I believe we have power.  That deep inside each of us resides a unique purpose and identity that are unstoppable.  That embracing this power leads to lifelong contentedness.  Finding this well of vitality is complicated.  Certainly it starts by telling ourselves the right stories about our lives.  By becoming the protagonist of our own unique narrative, we dive deeper into ourselves.  In the past I have even gone as …

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Avoid the power drain of life

A scrum master for primary care

Physician
October 9, 2018

We should consider a new position in our primary care teams — that of the scrum master. “Scrum” is a rugby term that comes from agile, a work methodology for software development that now is being applied to industry and health care.

In rugby, a scrum is a huddle where the teams come together with interlocked arms to regroup and start play again. In agile, scrum masters facilitate team huddles and …

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A scrum master for primary care

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