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We discuss the growing challenges within the U.S. health care system, from long wait times and fragmented care to the corporatization of medical services. Our guest, patient advocate Michele Luckenbaugh, shares insights on …
Patients vs. profits: Examining the real cost of the health care industry boom [PODCAST]
Recently, I encountered a stark reminder of the challenges facing our mental health care system. A 16-year-old Black boy came to us at Boston Community Pediatrics (BCP) in a state of crisis, expressing suicidal thoughts and a deep sense of fear. As part of our integrated behavioral health model, my mental health colleague and I immediately recognized the urgency of his situation. We arranged for an Uber to transport him …
The urgent need for equity and accessibility in pediatric mental health care
I recently encountered a new patient, a seemingly healthy 25-year-old man who had just graduated from college and was working his first job. He was not a tobacco user and had no medical diagnoses, but shoulder and abdominal pain brought him to Mass General Brigham. After a series of tests, the diagnosis was clear: stage IV lung cancer.
As a lung cancer oncologist who has treated patients for 20 years, I’ve …
Why rethinking cancer risk is critical to addressing rising cancer rates in young adults
In the weeks after her mother died, Stacy’s mind was filled with thoughts about things she believed she’d done wrong and ways she’d let her mother down. “I shouldn’t have gotten so impatient with her”; “I should have been kinder, should have spent more time with her.” She was even tormented by the inaccurate belief that she had caused her mother’s death by failing to “try harder to get her …
The dangerous impact of cognitive distortions on grieving
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We dive into the essential skills every physician needs to master in contract negotiation. Internal medicine physician Miguel Villagra offers practical advice on navigating the complex clauses and legal language, sharing key strategies …
Essential negotiation tips every physician should know [PODCAST]
An excerpt from Disabled Ecologies.
The multicolored poisonous waste disposed of by Hughes Aircraft Company was never just TCE, the most infamous ingredient. It was always a toxic soup: dozens of volatile organic compounds and heavy metals, contaminants with names like dichloroethylene, chromium, cadmium, and benzene. The chemicals were used in the early 1950s in the manufacture and cleaning of missiles that would travel thousands of miles overseas to …
Toxic waste disaster: How Hughes Aircraft poisoned Tucson’s environment and people
I have found that many physicians are not happy. I wanted to share with them some ways to find “amrita” in life. Then we can face life with joyful countenance, ready to receive the Maker when we hear the knock, as described in Revelation 3:20. It is important to associate with virtuosity. La Chaim!
The excitement: Albert Camus said that the “struggles that one encounters in life are by themselves the …
Finding happiness in the challenges of neurosurgery
As a patient advocate, I have witnessed firsthand the devastating effects of policies leading to untreated and undertreated pain. As a mother who has lost a child to drug poisoning, I have also witnessed how drug policy is driving an increasingly lethal street drug supply. With overdose deaths rising, well-intentioned policies have left many suffering without the medications they need for quality of life. Tragically, some patients, overwhelmed by unrelenting …
Restoring compassionate pain care: a call to action
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We dive into the personal and professional journey of Ben Reinking, a board-certified pediatric cardiologist, medical educator, and certified physician development coach. We explore the importance of maintaining hobbies, finding balance, and how …
Why having hobbies can save your medical career [PODCAST]
Dr. Peter Onorato, an accomplished anesthesiologist, found himself at a crossroads. With a lucrative career and a substantial income, he was eager to grow his wealth. Like many high-income earners, Peter believed he could outsmart the market. Despite his wife’s concerns, he decided to invest over $300,000 in a tech startup after several days of online “research” and hearing from several colleagues in the doctor’s lounge about the expected 25-30 …
Behavioral finance: your mood and your money
After more than a decade in private practice, taking care of tens of thousands of patients—everything from preconception to hospice care—I’ve learned how important it is to set and protect your boundaries. I’ve worked in various environments throughout my career, from running my own multidisciplinary medical center to being part of other practices. If I had to choose, I would prefer to be part of an established practice. Running my …
Protecting boundaries in private practice: a vital key to sustainable success
For years, the U.S. public has been hearing that prescription opioid pain relievers are always and forever a bad thing—and that doctors and big pharma companies are supposedly responsible for an epidemic of addiction and drug overdose-related deaths. However, these assertions are outright lies. Both the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Veterans Administration know it.
The recent national opioid settlement is as bogus as a three-dollar bill—and …
The real cause of the opioid crisis isn’t what you think
The journey of electronic health records (EHRs) mirrors my own professional transformation. As a practicing anesthesiologist at Moffitt Cancer Center in the early 2000s, I handwrote paper charts in an era when computers were already integral to other parts of the hospital.
Relying on manual notes was frustrating and inefficient, so I jumped at the chance to help implement Moffitt’s anesthesia electronic record system. This effort sparked an interest in health …
From handwritten notes to digital solutions: a journey in health IT
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We sit down with Rebecca Arnold, an author and certified executive leadership coach, to explore the emotional challenges faced by physicians experiencing disillusionment in the health care system. Rebecca shares insights on how …
How to survive the modern health care system without losing yourself [PODCAST]
Automation and artificial intelligence (AI) have been advancing steadily in health care, and anesthesia is no exception. A critical development in this area is the rise of closed-loop AI systems, which automatically control specific medical variables using feedback mechanisms. The primary goal of these systems is to improve the stability of key physiological parameters, minimize the repetitive workload on anesthesia practitioners, and, most importantly, enhance patient outcomes. For instance, closed-loop …
Trust is vital to the provision of quality health care. Quality outcomes have shown a correlation with exceptional health care experiences, with patients associating higher trust in health care professionals with “more beneficial health behavior, fewer symptoms, and improved quality of life.” Sadly, trust in American health care is on the decline. Stress placed on the health care system by the COVID-19 pandemic amplified growing concerns, with forty-eight …
Trust in American health care: What’s driving the decline?
In medicine, when something isn’t working, we tend to fix it. Whether it’s a treatment plan that isn’t delivering results or a clinical process that’s creating inefficiencies, we identify the problem, adjust the approach, and find a better solution. But when it comes to the RVU (relative value unit) system—the very framework that dictates how physicians are compensated—we seem to be stuck. Despite growing evidence of its flaws, its inherent …
Why the RVU system is failing health care and how to fix it
There was an article published recently addressing the shortage of pediatricians. Though the article focused on this specific shortage, it actually raised many additional questions regarding the physician workforce in general. It is difficult to disagree that continuing to decrease reimbursement, increasing maddening payment schemes, and increasing regulatory requirements to pediatricians and physicians in general will have predictable results. There will be physician shortages, and patient access will be compromised.
Hospitals …
Pediatrician shortage reveals deeper health care crisis impacting all physicians
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We dive into the pain care crisis in the United States with Cindy Perlin, a social worker and chronic pain expert. We explore the epidemic of chronic pain, the limitations of conventional treatments, …
How alternative therapies could be the key to ending the pain care crisis [PODCAST]
Like him or not, Bruce Springsteen’s albums have served as the soundtrack to our lives, writing songs that are a reflection of ourselves, challenging our assumptions, and helping us make sense of our messy, chaotic lives. People from all walks of life and from all over the world have found meaning in his music. So, it was no surprise that several months prior to the 2024 presidential election, while on …
The long walk home to a better health care system
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