The shocking impact of incivility in health care: Are your team’s behaviors putting patients at risk?

Physician
October 10, 2024

Continuous quality improvement undoubtedly contributes to the ongoing honing of best practices in medicine. This health care-specific parallel of total quality management programs in business helps us daily inch closer to the ultimate goal of eradicating patient harm. Health care professionals familiar with these variation-reducing processes are likely well-versed in the popular Ishikawa fishbone diagram. While the focus is intended to be spread across materials, processes, equipment, and …

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Gaps in the pediatric care of autistic children

Conditions
October 10, 2024

P.K. presents for a medical evaluation to the early intervention program. He is 26 months old. P.K.’s parents self-referred to the early intervention program because of concerns regarding a delay in his development. The mother reports that he is not saying any words and is not following directions. He does not turn to the sound of his name. He appears to be in his own world. When I, the pediatric …

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Physician wellness: stories and solutions [PODCAST]

Podcast
October 9, 2024
YouTube video

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We bring together three passionate advocates for physician wellness: Michael Foti, an internal medicine physician; Tushar Bhagat, a research assistant professor; and Kim Downey, a physical therapist. Join us as they share their …

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When words aren’t enough: the heartbreaking truth about suicide

Conditions
October 9, 2024

They died by suicide—that is the politically correct way to say it. I want to be politically correct, but I am not sure words can dampen the impact. Someone just lost a friend, a son, a partner, a child. Somehow, we believe if we say the words prettily, it takes the sting away—it doesn’t. No matter how you say it, they left the world today, or yesterday, or whatever day …

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Refill your cup to pull yourself back from the ledge

Physician
October 9, 2024

In December 2019, I reached out to the grief counselors at the hospice organization that cared for my mother as she passed. It had been almost a year since her death, and I was running out of time to seek help. I had spent so much energy ensuring my daughters were OK, believing, as I was taught in medical school, that grief just passes. Back then, I learned grief lasted …

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From residency to leadership: the evolution of internal medicine [PODCAST]

Podcast
October 8, 2024
YouTube video

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Join us in this episode as we sit down with Janet A. Jokela, an internal medicine and infectious disease physician. Janet reflects on her transformative residency at Boston City Hospital, where the “city …

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Why your primary care doctor is overwhelmed

Physician
October 8, 2024

Primary health care is the cornerstone of non-emergency medical services, offering essential support to patients and promoting overall wellness. Even individuals in good health benefit from regular visits to their primary care physician (PCP) to sustain their well-being. However, the primary care sector faces numerous challenges today, ranging from increased patient demand to the complexities of modern health care needs. Addressing these challenges is essential to sustaining the effectiveness and …

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How can we make neurosurgery more accessible to future generations?

Education
October 8, 2024

Neurosurgery is an exhilarating and rewarding field that combines cutting-edge technology with the intricate art of surgical precision. Yet, despite its allure, many medical students feel intimidated or uncertain about pursuing this path. As a fourth-year medical student applying to neurosurgery, I have noticed several barriers that could be addressed to make the field more accessible and inclusive for future generations.

One of the primary obstacles is the lack of early …

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How technology is changing dental appointments for patients with intellectual disabilities [PODCAST]

Podcast
October 7, 2024
YouTube video

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We explore the unique challenges faced by patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) during dental appointments. Our guests, Brian Jones, a health care executive, and Tina Saw, a dentist and health care …

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Physicians: What you don’t know about money and practice success will shock you

Physician
October 7, 2024

All physicians understand that the gradual disintegration of private medical practice in our nation is already happening and that our government continues to take complete control of health care and the medical profession by any means possible. Physicians in medical practice (both employed and independent) are reaching a level of intolerable strain imposed by fee restrictions and medical practice mandates, among other challenges.

All of these issues result from one core …

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A pediatrician’s reflections on resilience and rebuilding in Asheville after the hurricane

Physician
October 7, 2024

Reflections: Day 5

It’s a strange feeling to look down at my phone calendar and realize that nothing will be grayed out because it happened, but only because time keeps ticking.

It’s interesting and beautiful to watch my kids keep moving forward as the community around us is so devastated: playing music, rediscovering the joy that is reading, helping clean up the yard, making a game out of who does which chore …

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After Hurricane Helene: How Asheville rose from the floodwaters stronger than ever

Physician
October 7, 2024

The floods came and we were not ready. Miles from the ocean, flanked by mountainous sentinels, we never thought to build an ark.

The skies darkened and the deluge commenced. Rapturous winds splintered ancient oaks and rent open the heavens. Barbarous gusts cleaved power lines, fractured telephone poles, brought a power grid to its knees. The lights went out in the west. Feeble candlelights flickered to life as the rivers swelled. …

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How in-home care gave this couple a new lease on life

Conditions
October 7, 2024

An excerpt from Get What’s Yours for Medicare: Maximize Your Coverage, Minimize Your Costs.

Carmella Mason has been a caregiver since her husband, Frank, had a heart attack fifty years ago. They were in their 80s when we spoke. Frank likely owes his survival to her efforts. When he developed diabetes, circulatory complications necessitated the amputation of a big toe in 2022. Things did not go well. He underwent more …

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Is tech the answer to America’s growing doctor shortage? [PODCAST]

Podcast
October 6, 2024
YouTube video

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We sit down with Patrick Hunt, a physician executive, to explore one of the most pressing challenges in U.S. health care—the growing physician shortage. With projections indicating a shortfall of up to 86,000 …

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Why doctors must take charge to save our failing health care system

Physician
October 6, 2024

I recently wrote an article about the problems with our broken health care system, ending with a call for doctors to help develop solutions. In follow-up, here are some possible solutions to consider before the system self-implodes. There is concern that, without any changes, Medicare will run out of funding by 2031. Here are a few things that I think could help.

Address physician burnout

It’s real, and COVID-19 made it …

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PGY-22 has a steep learning curve

Physician
October 6, 2024

Becoming a physician is hard work. No doubt about it.

Each phase felt like the steepest of learning curves.

Remember your MS-1 anatomy class? So many names and terms to memorize.

How about that first clinical rotation in your third year? It took me at least an hour to get a simple SOAP note written in a patient’s chart (yes, handwritten notes back in those days).

And then there was the dreaded internship year, …

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How empathy and emotional intelligence transform patient care [PODCAST]

Podcast
October 5, 2024
YouTube video

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We are joined by Paul Pender, an ophthalmologist with extensive experience in patient care. We explore the vital role emotional intelligence plays in strengthening the physician-patient bond, particularly in challenging health care environments. …

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Radiologists need to be realistic about the job market

Physician
October 5, 2024

It is undeniable that the radiologist shortage is here. While reimbursement is declining, free agents are few and far between, and compensation is exploding. Compensation per wRVU in the western region of the U.S. jumped nearly 16 percent from 2022 to 2023, according to MGMA. Job postings show salaries almost double what they were even five years ago, with signing bonuses, accelerated partnership tracks, and 12, 26, 34, or even …

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How drug and soap commercials are manipulating you

Meds
October 5, 2024

Having worked as a copywriter and creative director at some of the world’s top ad agencies, including McCann Erickson (now McCann Worldgroup), I am vehemently critical of new advertising. Why? I know the tricks and how they manipulate well — think the old TV series Mad Men.

Leading the list of ads that I hate are direct-to-consumer (DTC) drug ads which began in the late 1990s. I am especially critical of …

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Parents in crisis: How physicians can help

Conditions
October 5, 2024

Did you hear the news from the U.S. Surgeon General recently? Dr. Vivek Murthy issued an advisory called “Parents Under Pressure,” outlining the ways in which the 63 million-plus parents and caregivers in the U.S. are struggling—really struggling. Even as a parent who is a child psychiatrist, I was shocked by some of the data.

An analysis of parents’ responses from the 2023 Stress in America survey, conducted by the American …

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