New primary care decision support tools make offloading below-license tasks from the EHR more important than ever

Tech
November 29, 2023

Clinical decision support tools in the EHR are gaining momentum. These exciting and meaningful innovations are challenging us to make room for them to flourish.

New technology is often disruptive before it finds its way to being helpful. In the late 1800s, the telephone created unexpected challenges in medical practice at its inception; it brought a need for new team members to answer calls and required doctors and patients to develop …

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Physician burnout reimagined

Physician
November 28, 2023

While preparing yet another talk about burnout, I had a brainstorm. I created a counterpoint PowerPoint (or tongue-in-cheek complementary model) to The Stanford Model of Professional Fulfillment. Perhaps it was a particularly irreverent or flippant stage of my own stuttering burnout. Maybe it was passive-aggressive pent-up frustration. Whatever it was, I came up with a “new and improved” model for physician burnout. I’ve gotten rather burned out on burnout. …

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Government surveillance: How electronic prescription records are changing medicine

Physician
November 28, 2023

Every time an American fills a prescription, a searchable electronic database record is made. This record is kept, like the paper records of a few decades ago, to allow for verification of medications dispensed in the U.S. But in the past, to access these records, enforcement agencies had to get a search warrant signed by a judge. This meant that the authorities had to have and show to the court …

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Intensive caring: Reminding patients they matter

Physician
November 28, 2023

Dame Cicely Saunders, the founder of the modern hospice movement and palliative care, famously said, “You matter because you are you, and you matter to the last moment of your life.” This quote has become the central philosophical tenet of palliative care. It implores us to remind patients, who may be feeling helpless, hopeless, or worthless, that they matter. There is abundant evidence that patients approaching death are susceptible to …

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Navigating COVID: Why it still matters

Podcast
November 28, 2023
YouTube video

This article is sponsored by Gilead Sciences, Inc.

In this special sponsored episode from Gilead, I’m joined by Anu Osinusi, an infectious disease physician and Vice President of Clinical Research for Hepatitis, Respiratory, and Emerging Viruses at Gilead, to discuss navigating COVID-19 today. We look back on the early days of …

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Cannabis compounds and fracture healing [PODCAST]

Podcast
November 27, 2023
YouTube video

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Join L. Joseph Parker, a research physician, as we explore a recent study published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research. Discover how two compounds found in cannabis, cannabidiol (CBD) and cannabigerol (CBG), may revolutionize fracture …

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Empowering health care workers amid consolidation

Physician
November 27, 2023

If there is one root cause of all the disgruntlement among health care workers, it is that we lost autonomy due to hospital consolidation. Relationships are largely about leverage. With rare exceptions, a single doctor cannot dramatically impact the bottom line of a hospital chain, whereas the loss of your professional income—particularly for those of us geographically rooted in an area with few alternatives—is devastating.

The beauty of locums is that …

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Bad grammar makes me mad. I can’t help it.

Physician
November 27, 2023

Some of the most brilliantly funny men have the saddest personal lives. John Belushi, Chris Farley, and Sam Kinison were all preceded by Jerome Lester Horwitz, otherwise known as Curly of the Three Stooges: n’yuk-n’yuk-n’yuk. Why, soitenly the tragic life of a comedic legend deserves a great biography, and while Curly’s niece (Moe’s daughter) did her best to amass a wealth of Curly memorabilia – a mixture of …

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Top tips to find success as a plastic surgeon, according to an industry veteran

Physician
November 27, 2023

Over the past 20-plus years, I have made my mark within the plastic surgery field. I firmly believe that dedicating valuable time to understanding each patient and grasping their sense of aesthetics and beauty is essential in providing exceptional patient care. My goal is to not only meet their expectations but also bring their unique vision to life.

Since my childhood, I have been known for my artistic and creative nature. …

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There’s no place for “benevolent deception” in obstetrics

Conditions
November 27, 2023

When I was 36 weeks pregnant with my second child, Anna, my obstetrician noted that my fetus had a disproportionately small head, or microcephaly—a condition now commonly known because of its association with the Zika virus. “We’ll just have to wait and see,” he said, meaning we’ll look for answers if the baby is affected at birth. But when my daughter was born, there were no answers then either.

Anna was …

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Clinicians’ transformative health care paths [PODCAST]

Podcast
November 26, 2023
YouTube video

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Listen to conversations that uncover the unique perspectives of health care professionals and the transformative power of their work. Tamara Beckford, an emergency physician, reveals her remarkable journey from the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic to …

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Let the secret out by expanding older adults’ access to PACE

Physician
November 26, 2023

PACE, the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly, has long been considered the best-kept secret in the American health care system. It’s time to unveil this hidden gem. The health and well-being of older Americans – and the future of our health care system itself – may hinge on it.

Originating nearly half a century ago with the On Lok program in San Francisco’s Chinatown, the PACE model has since …

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Doctors’ emotional struggles in the medical field

Physician
November 26, 2023

Most humans, especially doctors, are completely disconnected from their bodies. This conditioning starts in childhood, escalates through teenage years, and peaks in residency where we are trained to completely detach from our body. Our emotions are held in our body. But in order to survive the chronic stress and trauma of medical training, we stop feeling.

It’s our coping mechanism.

It’s survival.

Yet this is so counterintuitive to our soul’s calling because most …

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Genetic testing may help cure or condemn those who suffer from addiction

Conditions
November 26, 2023

In a recently published study, it was found that a set of 4 genes (JUN, CEBPB, PRKCB, ENO2, or CEBPG) was shown to predict the diagnosis of heroin addiction with an accuracy rate of around 85 percent. This is an amazing development and could open the door to knowing who is at high risk of opiate addiction before the prescription is written. If similar markers can be found for …

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Navigating your first MRI: tips and insights

Conditions
November 26, 2023

MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, is a commonly used form of imaging to help diagnose conditions that might not be visible in an X-ray. The MRI scanner is a large cylindrical tube-shaped machine that creates a strong magnetic force and radio waves to capture images of the interior areas of the human body. Out of the numerous magnets in an MRI scanner, there is one main magnet, and the magnetic …

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Value-based care: a prescription for physician well-being [PODCAST]

Podcast
November 25, 2023
YouTube video

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We sit down with Ben Kornitzer, a physician executive, to delve into the pressing issue of physician burnout in health care. Discover how burnout impacts patient care and contributes to a growing physician shortage, especially in primary …

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Revolutionizing patient care: the convergence of AI and personalized medicine

Tech
November 25, 2023

In the dynamic realm of health care, two revolutionary forces are converging to redefine patient care: artificial intelligence (AI) and personalized medicine. This synergy transforms how we understand, diagnose, and treat diseases, tailoring health care to each patient’s needs.

The emergence of personalized medicine

Personalized medicine, at its core, is about understanding the unique genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors that influence a person’s health. …

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Dependent on the mask my great-grandfather invented

Physician
November 25, 2023

Decades ago, I missed my college graduation ceremony with President Clinton as the commencement speaker because I had to be elsewhere. I was in Shanghai, celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Chinese Medical Association—an organization founded by my great-grandfather, Wu Lien-teh, who was the first Chinese person to be nominated for a Nobel Prize. My father, his grandson, had immigrated to the U.S. from Beijing, met my mother in Palo …

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Neurosurgeons fail to fix a wayward night owl

Physician
November 25, 2023

My tribe consists of competitive overachievers. We used to call them “gunners” in medical school, and Gunners tend to be morning people, or “larks.” Let’s be honest; people are impressed by those who are up at 4 a.m., training for their next ultramarathon before heading to their noble jobs. A typical conversation among neurosurgeons at a morning conference might go something like this:

Ned: “How are you this morning, Rena?”

Rena: “Great, …

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