When retirement is code for “You’re fired!”

Physician
January 15, 2022

A colleague announces he is retiring.

Unknown at the time is the fact that there were a series of fires and suicides committed by patients at the psychiatric facility where he was chief medical officer during the year prior to his departure. State investigators condemned the incidents and found an array of policy failures and procedural errors compounded by staffing shortages due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Another colleague announces his retirement. Unknown …

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Expertise is the backbone of successful spine treatment

Conditions
January 15, 2022

People who experience debilitating back pain come to their doctors with one pressing question: Do I need back surgery? Often, they are surprised to hear me, a neurosurgeon, answer, “No.” In many cases, physical therapy, pain management, weight loss management, and physiatry can help people to delay – and in some cases avoid – back surgery.

However, if those remedies don’t work well enough, a person might decide that spine surgery …

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Did the unvaccinated just save my rural hospital?

Physician
January 15, 2022

It’s no secret that rural hospitals have been struggling. According to online data from the University of North Carolina, 137 rural hospitals have closed in the U.S. since 2010.

In Appalachia, the rural hospital where I work, which is staffed by a single hospitalist, has been “in the crosshairs” since I arrived in 2016 and has been limping along with subsidies from our regional health system. …

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What medicine can learn from the antiwork movement [PODCAST]

Podcast
January 14, 2022
YouTube video

“The classic thinking has always been that a career in medicine is more than just a job; it is a passion, a calling, an anchor of identity. There is a pervasive stigma in medicine against the self-advocacy of the worker. Bedside care providers who push back against their work/life …

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COVID-19 vaccination: the Latinx experience

Conditions
January 14, 2022

Almost two years since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have confronted the illness and loss of millions of lives and the sad and dangerous reality of having a health care system and a society full of moral gaps, inequities, and disparities. This unprecedented and complex situation challenged all of us on many levels. While facing high levels of unexpected fear, uncertainty, and distress, the well-known socio-cultural and demographic …

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Get familiar with the 2021/2022 coding changes

Physician
January 14, 2022

In my previous article, we covered 5 proven ways to use 2021/2022 CPT coding changes to leverage your time, team, and outsourcing capabilities to grow your practice and improve patient outcomes.

In this article, we’ll dive into specific examples of 2021/2022 CPT coding changes that can help you expand your practice and billables in 2022 and beyond.

The first step: Get familiar with the 2021 coding changes

For a full …

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My left foot is fine. My left arm? Well, maybe not so much.

Physician
January 14, 2022

It began simply enough.

There were 12 of us at the spacious table, gathered for a tasty, albeit unconventional Christmas meal of soup and salad. My adult son was seated to my immediate left. Meal completed, compliments and gratitude expressed to the preparer, my son turned to the fellow on my right.

“You want some coffee? I’m going to Starbucks.”

“Do you have to go out? Can’t you make it here?”

My daughter had …

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8 scary financial mistakes physicians make with their money

Finance
January 14, 2022

Are you a physician who is having financial difficulties? Doctors are at unusually high risk of making scary financial blunders in their personal lives because they are high-income professionals.

Despite having a higher-than-average income, physicians can nevertheless develop unhealthy financial habits that will cost them in the long run. Physicians can easily fall into any financial pitfalls.

Fortunately, with a bit of foresight, it is easy to avoid doing …

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Our patients become an inextricable part of our lives [PODCAST]

Podcast
January 13, 2022
YouTube video

“The weekend after Isabelle’s discharge, I take my shoes outside onto the driveway. The sky is a brilliant blue, and green tinges of leaves poke through shells of buds; the wind slips through my fleece. I scrub the spots of blood with an antibacterial wipe, and tan shoe polish comes …

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Why we should celebrate the Great Resignation

Physician
January 13, 2022

There’s a lot of hubbub about The Great Resignation right now.

Millions of Americans are quitting their jobs each month. It’s happening in medicine and other sectors such as education, tech, and fast food. Interestingly, it’s not the typical younger employees driving the massive numbers; it’s mid-career workers.

In our household, we have seen both sides of the resignation. At the same time that my teen son quit his first job at …

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A new boon for Big Data and patient care

Policy
January 13, 2022

Big Data in medicine is the data analysis of large amounts of patient medical information to improve medical care. Analysis of data may be used to pick the best intervention for a patient based upon care outcomes of similar patients or to evaluate physicians.

The primary source of patient medical information is patient medical records, where a medical record reports what happens during an encounter, where an encounter …

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Listening to pain in our younger patients

Conditions
January 13, 2022

As a family physician for more than 40 years, I have seen countless patients struggling to alleviate chronic pain, with far too many turning to self-destructive coping methods such as alcohol and opioids. Unfortunately, the struggle with chronic pain isn’t going away – and more alarming is the fact that those suffering from it are getting younger and younger. The latest data on chronic pain show patients between age 18 …

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3 New Year’s resolutions that always get results

Physician
January 13, 2022

In a world of delightfully fit health coaches who gleefully snack on kale chips during the holidays, I am not one of them! I like to splurge. Holiday cookies are my weakness, and pecan balls did not disappoint this season! Did you stray from your health goals? I am right there with you. But as a coach, I believe in celebrations. There is no shame in indulging in treats on …

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How to end the misinformation pandemic [PODCAST]

Podcast
January 12, 2022
YouTube video

“The way to do this is by recognizing the power of words. I don’t mean fervently declaring one’s position and arguing why those who disagree are wrong. There has been way too much of this, and health professionals are no exception. Rather what’s needed to deliver the best health outcomes …

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COVID-19 and the Tuskegee syphilis study

Meds
January 12, 2022

Despite health professionals’ efforts at conveying the effectiveness of immunization, many African Americans remain skeptical about the COVID-19 vaccine.

Getting to the root of this distrust is critical as the Delta and Omicron variants stoke up the number of positive COVID-19 cases across the United States. And the spread of the virus is not uniform. According to the National Vital Statistics System, Black Americans incur the highest COVID-19 …

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The world according to Steinbeck

Physician
January 12, 2022

So I am on the road again — sort of. What I do is work away from home, which isn’t quite the same thing. Where I work as a radiologist is not within commuting distance, so I stay at a nearby hotel. In general, that has worked out fairly well.

Not long ago, however, when I went to start the car after breakfast, I became immediately aware of a roaring sound.

The …

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Good morning and thank you for flying SkyAnesthesia

Physician
January 12, 2022

This article is satire.

Good morning and thank you for flying SkyAnesthesia. I am your flight attendant, Dr. Jablonski, and my co-pilot this morning will be Attending Dr. To-Be-Named. This Boston-based flight crew is honored to serve you.

While our Team SkyAnesthesia, or TSA for short, does not utilize metal detectors, please remove all jewelry and body piercings prior to boarding. Please be sure to securely stow your belongings in the provided …

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The displacement of the health care family

Conditions
January 12, 2022

Along came COVID, and no one was prepared. We had minimal PPE. We were told to put our N95 mask in a paper bag, use it on every patient, and use it for one full week. Normally the N95 mask would be disposed of after each patient room exit.

Health care staff was dying at the hands of COVID and lack of PPE. Over 115,000 health care workers died from COVID. …

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Stress: Is it time to expose the alcohol con? [PODCAST]

Podcast
January 11, 2022
YouTube video

“Stress is just part of the alcohol con trick. And the truth is that every benefit we have ever imagined alcohol giving us it doesn’t. It is a drug, and it works the same way as all other drugs.

Many of my clients are doctors and nurses, and some are …

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The difficulty in coming home: What doctors and soldiers have in common

Physician
January 11, 2022

When I was married to a physician, dinner was often delayed. When he finally came home, I was hungry if I hadn’t already eaten with the kids. Our dog would greet him with her whole body of yearning and relief, tail wagging furiously, whining, smiling, crying. She was the embodiment of what I felt but could not express. So I watched with jealousy as our dog received from my husband …

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