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The role of contingency management in addiction treatment

Conditions

April 13, 2025

Before leaving office, the Biden administration increased the annual cap for Medicaid-reimbursed contingency management (an evidence-based psychosocial intervention) as part of an individual’s addiction treatment. This move demonstrates what I have seen in my own practice: Contingency management drives results when it comes to treating substance use disorder.

Despite the evidence and fact that every individual living with substance use disorder (SUD) requires a unique approach to treatment for …

When saving a child isn’t possible: a heartbreaking day in the ED

Veronica Bonales, MD

Physician

April 13, 2025

Sometimes doing what we do is so hard. We get intimately involved in our patients’ lives, and instead of maintaining a clinical distance, you get sucked into the drama that has unfolded in their lives—the very events that bring them to the ED on this day. Then there’s a great difficulty in not judging, in not letting what you learn about them affect you or distract you from doing the …

Why more medical students are leaving medicine before residency [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

April 12, 2025

Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes!

Medical student Christopher Nmai discusses his article, “Leaving medicine is not a failure: It might be the change you always needed.” Christopher shares his deeply personal decision to forgo residency and explore …

4 strategies to boost your medical practice’s profitability

Neil Baum, MD

Physician

April 12, 2025

Physicians, practices, and other health care providers seem to face a continual decline in reimbursements. According to an AMA analysis, inflation-adjusted Medicare reimbursement rates for physicians dropped 22 percent from 2001 to 2021, and insurers of Affordable Care Act plans denied 17 percent of in-network claims in 2021.

The gut reaction is often to increase growth, but that brings on problems of its own, like reduced profitability from increased overhead and …

What Avarie’s death in Rome teaches us about the gaps in food allergy education

Lianne Mandelbaum, PT

Conditions

April 12, 2025

I’ve just returned from the Mary H. Weiser Food Allergy Conference in Michigan, an inspiring confluence of advocacy, research, and business, all focused on one shared mission: Improving the lives of those living with food allergies. I’ve been attending food allergy research forums around the world for over a decade, and I can honestly say the momentum and possibilities in this field have never been more exciting. We’re entering an …

Leaving medicine is not a failure: It might be the change you always needed

Christopher Nmai

Education

April 12, 2025

Four rigorous years, filled with countless long days and nights of education, is often just the beginning for most medical trainees. The Match and subsequent residency await on the horizon. It is the norm in health care, and very few stray from that path. But medicine is a long and arduous path, one that can take its toll on trainees and physicians alike.

As I entered my final year …

How moving abroad eased my allergies

Georgiana Ilie, MD

Conditions

April 12, 2025

A personal discovery

“I used to have respiratory allergies back home, but since I moved to Málaga, they didn’t bother me anymore,” a patient answered to the usual question, “Do you have any allergies?” during a checkup in my occupational medicine practice. He was from India, and he had moved to Málaga two years before our talk. He was the fourth patient within a month telling me the same story (before …

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How moving abroad eased my allergies

Why health care workers deserve more than a thank you [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

April 11, 2025

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Anesthesiologist Colleen Naglee discusses her article, “We should tip health care workers too.” Colleen reflects on the rise of tipping culture in everyday services and questions why health care workers—who risk violence, …

The modern health care professional: How to combine skills from different fields to redefine your career

Jalene Jacob, MD, MBA

Physician

April 11, 2025

Gone are the days when careers followed linear paths and job titles neatly fit into predefined boxes. Today’s health care industry celebrates versatility, and hybrid professionals are redefining what it means to succeed. A hybrid health care professional combines skills and expertise from different fields, blending knowledge to create unique value in the health care space. Whether you’re a nurse with coding skills, a doctor with a passion for data …

C. Everett Koop takes the lead, seeking specialty recognition

Nigel Cameron, PhD

Policy

April 11, 2025

An excerpt from Dr. Koop: The Many Lives of the Surgeon General.

“I was the salesman for pediatric surgery. I have the knack of talking to an audience and convincing [them] about what I’m saying is true.”
– CEK

The early 1950s witnessed an extraordinary burst of professional activity on the part of the young surgeon, still in his 30s, as the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) …

We should tip health care workers too

Colleen Naglee, MD, JD

Physician

April 11, 2025

I was checking into a hotel the other day and noticed a QR code to tip the front desk staff. In an era where we book online, check in online, and check out online, I am not exactly sure where that tip request comes from. Tipping culture has crossed a line. We can now thank anyone in the service industry with an easy Venmo payment.

And now I …

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We should tip health care workers too

Human trafficking isn’t what you think: Why education is key to stopping it

Julia Drydyk, MPP

Policy

April 11, 2025

The recent focus on the Canada-U.S. border has led to frequent confusion between human smuggling and human trafficking. Smuggling involves people moving across international borders. In most cases, irregular migrants who are smuggled into the country consent to assistance. Human trafficking, on the other hand, involves the exploitation of people for sex or labor through coercion, regardless of geographic movement.

Continued conflation of these terms will undoubtedly harm anti-human trafficking efforts …

Why health care is collapsing under corporate greed [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

April 10, 2025

Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes!

Family nurse practitioner Bettina Reed discusses her article, “The hidden crisis in health care: How corporate greed is destroying patient care.” Drawing from four decades of experience across hospitals, private practices, FQHCs, …

The shocking silence of top law firms on frivolous medical lawsuits

Howard Smith, MD

Physician

April 10, 2025

Every year, there are 85,000 medical malpractice lawsuits, of which 66.6 percent are frivolous. In the course of my endeavor to remedy frivolous medical malpractice claims, I introduce myself to 50 of the nation’s most prestigious medical malpractice law firms, both plaintiff and defense firms. I make it known that I have developed a risk management process. I make contact to explore the possibility of collaborating with them in some …

Flatline: Our nation is dying, and we’re ignoring the signs

Tomi Mitchell, MD

Physician

April 10, 2025

She arrives at the emergency room, her body limp, her breath shallow. The gurney rushes through the glass doors, past her family, who stand frozen in place, their eyes wide with fear. Her teenage daughter grips her little brother’s hand, whispering, “Mom’s going to be OK, right?”

Inside, the team springs into action.

“No pulse.”

“No spontaneous breathing.”

“Start compressions!”

What if we stopped sacrificing ourselves to practice medicine?

Jessie Mahoney, MD

Physician

April 10, 2025

What if the cost of being a “good doctor” didn’t have to be your well-being?

For many physicians—especially those drawn to lifestyle medicine and whole-person care—this question feels quietly radical.

We’ve been conditioned to give until we’re empty. To serve at the expense of our sleep, our health, and sometimes even our sense of self.

We were taught to sacrifice.

To stay …

How AI and genetics are revolutionizing psychiatric diagnosis and treatment [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

April 9, 2025

Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes!

Psychiatrist Muhamad Aly Rifai discusses his article, “The future of psychiatry: How AI and genetics are reshaping mental health care.” Muhamad explores how the integration of genetic research, biomarkers, electrophysiology, and artificial …

Doctors don’t need yoga, they need time to smoke

Salim Afshar, MD, DMD

Physician

April 9, 2025

Walking through the expo floor at yet another health care technology conference, I couldn’t help but feel like I was in some weird mix between a tech convention and a futuristic farmers’ market. Stalls displayed shiny new AI technologies that promised to revolutionize health care—in theory, at least. But somewhere between the AI-powered ambient scribes and smart scheduling systems, I started to wonder where we’re actually headed.

Maybe it’s …

The emotional weight of witnessing a patient’s final moments

Ruchika Moturi

Education

April 9, 2025

The first time I witnessed someone die in front of me will stay with me for a long time. I was only eighteen, early in my EMT experience, and transporting a patient home from the hospital while my colleague drove the ambulance. The patient was an eighty-seven-year-old man, and although I do not remember the exact diagnosis, I knew he was on hospice, nonverbal, and expected to pass soon. He …

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