You are called by the bedside nurse that your patient arrived on the floor from the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU). The nurse tells you that the patient was delirious and agitated after anesthesia, pulled out their IVs, and was sedated by the PACU team. They are …
I never envisioned a business trip could result in a diagnosis of a rare, under-practiced, poorly understood, and emerging chronic inflammatory breast disease affecting 2.4 women per 100,000 and growing. Two months after my return from that business trip, I started experiencing a multitude of symptoms, including breast pain. During a self-breast exam, I discovered a lump. Wasting no time, I called my primary care physician, who ordered both a …
I’ve spoken at many medical conferences since co-founding the Peggy Lillis Foundation for C. diff Education & Advocacy following my mother’s death from a C. difficile infection in 2010. Unfortunately, I am often the only patient advocate. The pressure of representing patients in a group of hundreds of clinicians, scientists, and administrators can be intimidating. But for the most part, I have always felt welcome and valued.
One of my favorites …
It is challenging to open a medical journal in any specialty without coming across an article on burnout. These articles present statistics, trends, and various causes in detail. Some even propose sensible solutions such as flexible scheduling, peer support, delegation of clerical work, and an increased focus on personal well-being activities as steps in the right direction.
I have previously emphasized that “the absence of burnout does not equal wellness,” …
A lot of my patients take proton pump inhibitors (PPIs). They generally work pretty well for their intended use. By limiting the secretion of gastric acid from the stomach, they can effectively blunt uncomfortable symptoms of erosive gastritis, gastroesophageal reflux disease, H. pylori infection, and peptic ulcers. However, without further evaluation, these medications are not designed to be prescribed indefinitely, or for more than a two-month period. When patients experience …
Although the global pandemic is officially over, it has left a permanent mark on the health care landscape, reshaping the dynamics of hospitals in the United States. While staffing crises often dominate the headlines, health care institutions face an underlying financial crisis that remains largely underreported.
In 2022, a startling 50% of all U.S. hospitals concluded the year with a negative margin. Due to factors like elective surgical …
An office visit with a health care professional can seem like a race against time and money. With rising co-pays and shorter appointments, arriving prepared for a health care appointment will maximize the likelihood of addressing as many concerns as possible and developing a personalized treatment plan. Below are the ways you can prepare for your upcoming dermatologist appointment.
Keep track of your scheduled appointments and arrive early.
Know the day and …
An open response to “Breast or Bottle: The Illusion of Choice” by Amy Kennedy, MD.
We see and hear you and are so sorry you endured these experiences. We are physicians practicing breastfeeding and lactation medicine, and we acknowledge the overwhelming lack of support for families after birth. Many of us have come to this field after experiencing our own similar challenges, and we would like to offer a different …
This article is sponsored by Masterworks, the art investment platform.
Right now, there are millions of physicians standing at a crossroads.
More than 40% of active physicians are expected to reach retirement age over the next ten years, and according to Fidelity, the average physician needs about $2.4 …
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Join us in this insightful podcast episode as we discuss the challenges and importance of Medicaid access in the United States. Our guests include Fatima Al-Shimari, an epidemiologist, and medical students Miriam Al-Saedy and Salsabeal Al-Saedy. We …
In Philadelphia, a family alleged that a birth injury had led to their baby’s cerebral palsy. They sued Penn Medicine and were awarded $183 million.
In Boise, a jury recently awarded the state’s second-highest-ever award, $13.5 million, in a suit against an emergency medicine group that was filed after a patient was disabled by a stroke. This verdict …
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Health care organizations are complex systems that require a multitude of moving parts to work smoothly. The background operations that keep health systems running are key to enabling frontline doctors and nurses to deliver quality care. As a registered nurse and health care administrator for 45 years, I have a unique perspective on the challenges facing health care organizations today.
Earlier this year, I attended the Healthcare Operations Summit in …
I walked into my local improvisational comedy theater a few years ago and started taking classes to escape burnout and have some fun. It was so freaking difficult. Here I was, a frazzled, tightly-wound mid-career pediatrician, surrounded by all these creative, quirky folks from all walks of life who were just so funny. I kept hearing, “We don’t want to hear you on stage, Wendy,” meaning they wanted me to …
While ChatGPT and Bard cannot provide reliable medical or treatment advice, there is a question of whether these chatbots can assist patients in selecting the right doctor or hospital. Surprisingly, both chatbots occasionally suggest individual physicians and hospitals, providing detailed provider information. However, the accuracy and usefulness of this information are difficult to assess. As I highlighted in a recent Forbes.com column, chatbots like Microsoft and OpenAI’s ChatGPT and …
In a recent Wall Street Journal article titled “A Housing Bust Comes for Thousands of Small-Time Investors,” the foreclosure woes of Jay Gajavelli, the head of Applesway Investment Group, were brought to light. Gajavelli’s ownership of multiple units across Houston took a turn for the worse, shedding light on the risks associated with syndicators in the real estate market. However, it is crucial to note that this case does …
A recent essay on this blog, “Navigating the complexity of ‘first do no harm’ in modern medicine,” provided an excellent review of this principle. However, as is so often the case, it misattributed the statement to the Hippocratic Oath.
Certainly, this does contain elements of this sentiment, more fully expressed in another work of Hippocrates called “Of the Epidemics.” But the term does not originate with this Greek physician.
Scholars have …
Blood pressure is an important upstream indicator of overall patient health, and high blood pressure can be a precursor to more serious medical conditions like cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, and stroke. Measuring blood pressure frequently is the best way to stay on top of any changes, but as telehealth and at-home monitoring gain in popularity, how can you be sure your patients are getting accurate measurements outside of a physician’s …
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