The private health care debate in Canada: What’s the real issue?
The growing role of private health care in Canada is a hot topic at the moment. Provincial governments are outsourcing elective surgeries to the private sector and are considering or debating the option.
Many Canadians are in favor because they recognize that the public health care system is failing. Many are against it because they fear it will increase inequalities in access to care for the most vulnerable populations, particularly …
Why physician-led health care leads to quality patient care
Excerpted from Physician Leadership: More Valuable Than Ever — A White Paper from the American Association for Physician Leadership.
Physician leadership is an essential element required to provide optimal patient-centered care. To succeed, health care must be quality-centered, safe, streamlined, measured, evidence-based, value-driven, innovative, fair, equitable, and physician-led.
The American Association for Physician Leadership (AAPL) is focused on the personal transformation of all physicians, and through them, the organizations they serve. …
Retirement planning: Understanding sequence of returns risk
Retirement planning should start at the onset of your professional career. Like many things in finance, the earlier, the better. Many residents and fellows can save into a retirement plan and receive matching contributions even during their training. Over the next 30-plus years as a medical provider, your investment returns will play a role in your preparedness for retirement, but returns are not the only important variable. You’ll also have …
Navigating gender identity confusion in a high-stress environment
As nurses in behavioral health, we were not well-versed in the field. After 33 years in ICU nursing, I left the unit expecting behavioral health to be an easier transition. However, the comparison between the two was like comparing apples to oranges. There was no real comparison between the two.
One day, we admitted a 33-year-old female patient who was constantly angry and had outbursts, hitting patients and staff members without …
Become your own health advocate: Navigating the doctor shortage [PODCAST]
Don’t hold your breath: Non-competes are unlikely to disappear for physicians
Physician non-compete clauses have been a controversial topic for many years. These clauses within contractual agreements prevent physicians from joining or operating a competing practice within a certain distance or timeframe. With the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) looking into non-compete clauses, many people have wondered whether the FTC will finally end physician non-compete clauses.
On January 5, 2023, the FTC proposed a new rule that would ban employers from imposing …
The power of a simple form: a doctor’s experiment in building trust with patients
While we appreciate the importance of trust, not all patients have the same windows of opportunity to establish it with their physicians. The nature of each specialty and the severity of the patient’s condition influence how quickly and deeply trust can be created and maintained. The STEMI patient will quickly learn to trust the interventional cardiologist, and the trauma victim, and the surgeon.
Not surprisingly, it’s very challenging for physicians …
Patients vs. customers: the ethics of health care as a business
Medicine is both a business and a profession, with the business aspect being the provision of health care services for a fee and the professional aspect being the delivery of medical care for the patient’s benefit.
The business of medicine refers to the broader economic and political systems that shape the health care industry, such as government policies, insurance regulations, and the influence of pharmaceutical companies and other industry stakeholders.
The terms …
The hidden consequences of portal message fees
As the health care industry continues to evolve, many practices and hospitals have turned to electronic portals to communicate between patients and their providers. However, some practices have begun charging patients a fee for responding to messages sent through these portals. While this may seem like a viable solution for increasing revenue, it could ultimately have negative implications for the care of patients.
One major issue with charging patients for portal …
Navigating the complexities of academic medicine contracts [PODCAST]
From patient-centered care to paperwork-centered practice: the decline of primary care
A lot has been written about physician burnout, often it is attributed to the administrative burden, with some estimates that U.S. physicians spend an average of 1.84 hours a day completing documentation outside work hours. I’ve felt for some time that the administrative burden in primary care is increasing, but not due to the commonly cited endless EHR clicks or the burden of insurance companies’ forms and prior authorizations. It’s …
Equalizing the future of medical residencies: standardizing work hours and wages
In the United States, work hours are traditionally recorded on a weekly basis, and salaries are paid every two weeks. However, full-time employees (FTEs) work for a full year and receive a W-2 annually. FTEs are usually hired based on an annual wage divided into 26 bi-weekly paychecks. Tracking weekly work hours can lead to inconsistencies in time recording, so it might be better for both employers and FTEs to …
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Uncovering the overwhelming impact of the advanced maternal age patient on nursing
Imagine you have a busy full-time job. You get married at age 31. You and your new partner travel to Italy, Ireland, and Hawaii before settling with the kids. You both make pretty good money, so you buy a house. Of course, it needs furniture. And you have to have the new I-phone that just came out. You’re finally ready to get pregnant, but after two years, it hasn’t happened. …
Celebrate Banana Cream Pie Day with your friendly hospitalist
I am smart, I swear.
I graduated near the top of my class in medical school, I swear.
I kicked butt on the Step exams, I swear.
But ask me to manage someone’s diabetes or hypertension; No, thank you!
Thank God for hospitalists, a set of remarkable physicians that allow me to do my job effectively. Without them, I would be lost. Would you really want me, an orthopedic surgeon, to manage complex medical …
A human’s a human, no matter how small
Theodore Geisel, known by his pen name Dr. Seuss, wrote hundreds of children’s stories that continue to shape young children’s development to this day. Dr. Seuss was a lifelong Democrat and favored many of FDR’s New Deal policies. However, an NPR article notes his widow mentioned that she did not like it when his characters were used to push particular political points of view. The book …
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TikTok takeover: How social media consumed my life [PODCAST]
The vital importance of climate change education in medical schools
I may have less direct patient interaction as a radiologist than in other medical specialties. Still, I have a unique vantage point from which to observe the overall picture of the hospital. I see the prevalence of diseases affecting our patients and their demographics. While working at a children’s hospital in the Pacific Northwest, I have repeatedly witnessed the devastating effects of wildfires over the past few summers, interpreting and …
Retiring from medicine: the good, the bad, and the ugly
I retired as a physician at age 70, when COVID-19 came to town and the clinic I was working closed. During these past three years, I have had the luxury of a long view of my career. Every now and then, I feel the urge to pick up my stethoscope again and return to the practice of medicine. I’m tempted by the several good aspects of being a doctor.
The good
The conversations …
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The unpredictable wave: a physician’s journey through seizures
The first seizure I remember was like a wave in the ocean. Over my head, sudden dizziness, ready to go over the crest, then down into the dark. The dark was just not there. Or anywhere. Coming up was like being thrown out into the flotsam and jetsam, not knowing which way was up—seeing but not. A slow coming to the shore, a slow return. I knew I was there, …
Past Week
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The dreaded question: Do you have boys or girls?
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Rethinking patient payments: Why billing is the new frontline of patient care [PODCAST]
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The broken health care system doesn’t have to break you
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Past 6 Months
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What’s driving medical students away from primary care?
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The silent crisis hurting pain patients and their doctors
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What happened to real care in health care?
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Internal Medicine 2025: inspiration at the annual meeting
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The hidden bias in how we treat chronic pain
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Recent Posts
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Alzheimer’s and the family: Opening the conversation with children [PODCAST]
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AI in mental health: a new frontier for therapy and support
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What prostate cancer taught this physician about being a patient
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The broken health care system doesn’t have to break you
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Past Week
-
What’s driving medical students away from primary care?
-
Make cognitive testing as routine as a blood pressure check
-
The hidden cost of delaying back surgery
-
The dreaded question: Do you have boys or girls?
-
Rethinking patient payments: Why billing is the new frontline of patient care [PODCAST]
-
The broken health care system doesn’t have to break you
-
Past 6 Months
-
What’s driving medical students away from primary care?
-
The silent crisis hurting pain patients and their doctors
-
What happened to real care in health care?
-
Internal Medicine 2025: inspiration at the annual meeting
-
The hidden bias in how we treat chronic pain
-
Residency as rehearsal: the new pediatric hospitalist fellowship requirement scam
-
Recent Posts
-
Alzheimer’s and the family: Opening the conversation with children [PODCAST]
-
AI in mental health: a new frontier for therapy and support
-
What prostate cancer taught this physician about being a patient
-
Why fearing AI is really about fearing ourselves
-
The broken health care system doesn’t have to break you
-
Why great patient outcomes don’t protect female doctors from burnout [PODCAST]
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