The claims data dilemma: 4 things to consider

Policy
July 20, 2022

I recently met with leaders of provider organizations representing a range of specialties and geographies. One of the themes that came through loud and clear was their ongoing struggle to obtain claims data from their payers. As providers continue their efforts to navigate alternative payment models (APM), their need for global claims data becomes a more pressing issue.

Why claims data is important to providers

Many providers are still in a position …

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Why doctors are increasingly investing in real estate

Finance
July 20, 2022

With many health care systems around the world an elaborate mess, real estate can be an efficient strategy for doctors to ensure their financial future after retirement. They can benefit from long-term appreciation and tax breaks by investing in real estate.

As economies and technologies continue to evolve, many physicians have started buying real estate for investment purposes. Some doctors choose to invest their money in real estate to diversify their …

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A bullied medical assistant’s tragic story [PODCAST]

Podcast
July 19, 2022
YouTube video

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“Today, I’d like to tell you the story of one who was exemplary. He was never late to work. He never came in and insisted on finishing his breakfast at his desk before rooming our first patient. He was so personable that they …

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It’s time to invest in trauma-informed ACEs interventions

Policy
July 19, 2022

Last year, I witnessed the extreme consequences of untreated childhood trauma as a medical trainee rotating through multiple safety-net hospitals in Los Angeles County.

I helped care for children who arrived in our emergency departments after multiple suicide attempts due to trouble in the home. Some children confided in me about their parents’ struggle with untreated substance use or mental illness and how witnessing these conditions deeply affected them.

Other children were …

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Why a nurse should not go to jail [PODCAST]

Podcast
July 18, 2022
YouTube video

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“From a place of personal accountability and commitment to system improvement, RaDonda Vaught’s conduct in the aftermath of this tragic event has been exemplary. She told what she knew, as soon as she knew it, to any stakeholder, for any purpose in hopes …

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Florence Nightingale. Clara Barton. Radonda Vaught?

Policy
July 18, 2022

Mistakes and errors are regrettable but inevitable risks of the job for any patient-facing role in health care. As nurses, we are trained to report mistakes and errors when they happen. The maintenance of transparency in this way is an important element of our profession, intended to inform improvements that will, in turn, reduce the likelihood of a recurrence of the error.

The context in which Radonda’s error occurred may be …

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My journey being gaslighted about obesity, skinny fat, and body type

Conditions
July 18, 2022

When I was eight years old, I was a star soccer player on a state championship team. During shirts-off practice and while down at the local pool, I noticed how different my body was compared to my peers. After I referenced my scientifically approved human body anatomy book, most of my peers’ bodies looked just like the standard human body image in the book, with all the muscles developed …

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He was more than a housekeeper

Conditions
July 18, 2022

Over 30 years ago, this man began working for our hospital system.

He was assigned to our ICU/CVICU units. Though some health care employees hadn’t even been born yet, Charles was a tried and true “lifer.”

He was our housekeeper. And he was our friend — our family.

He was a man with energy and stamina. He was a hard worker. Relentless. He could spin circles around a pack of 20-year-olds put together.

His …

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Malpractice may be negative, but its data can generate positive results [PODCAST]

Podcast
July 17, 2022
YouTube video

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“When most health care professionals hear the word ‘malpractice,’ they want to run the other way. This is understandable—but also a missed opportunity. We can leverage malpractice data to target and drive investment in patient safety efforts. Malpractice data shows us that good …

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Stop bashing physician-entrepreneurs

Physician
July 17, 2022

I see your comments on social media, and I wonder: Why are you upset? How do the negative comments towards physician colleagues serve you?

This is not an attack (that would be hypocritical). Rather, I invite you to genuinely ask yourself these questions as I sense something familiar — a projection of frustration and pain, perhaps? And I wonder how we may stop projecting and, instead, indeed start healing together?

While I’ll …

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Health care’s band of brothers and sisters

Physician
July 17, 2022

Recently, I was sitting in the DFW airport after my son’s soccer tournament witnessing multiple flight cancellations. Travelers became upset because their plans were ruined due to “staff shortages.” I felt lucky as my flight was just delayed, and I had patients scheduled the next day. I needed to be there for them. Because of the increasing frequency of cancellations noted in the news, I had plans to rent a …

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Corruption in health care: when the mice mind the cheese

Policy
July 17, 2022

That the United States spends the most on health care is unsurprising.

What’s questionable is paying so much for the worst health care system amongst high-income countries and being far behind many countries that could not be considered high-income by any stretch of the imagination.

Other than doing brilliantly at mammograms and seasonal flu vaccines, the U.S. is found appalling. Not just Canada and Mexico, but when the likes of Chile, Saudi …

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Historical lessons to improve health care today [PODCAST]

Podcast
July 16, 2022
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“Medical advances can often stir up ethical issues, which ripple into two courts: the court of law and the court of public opinion. These news articles described a public relations nightmare brewing at the National Pituitary Agency (NPA), which operated with NIH funding. …

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Fat acceptance is a human acceptance movement

Conditions
July 16, 2022

The recent article by Danielle Crittenden, “The Danger of Fat Acceptance: The Average American Woman Is Now a Size 18” is more of the same perpetuation of our society’s deeply internalized diet culture, weight blaming, and shaming of the individual and collective pursuit of thin privilege.

The article was sent to me by a friend, but I didn’t need to read it because I’m so familiar with the …

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Activism is a part of medicine and we cannot remain neutral

Physician
July 16, 2022

From a new attending and the former resident and fellow physician union president, congratulations on starting your residency! You’ve dedicated decades of your life to medicine, and your years of studying and extracurricular achievement have brought you to this moment.

As you are well aware, residency will be tough. You will likely work long hours while being exploited by your employer as cheap labor, but you’ll be expected to drink from …

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Top 10 things new interns should do

Education
July 16, 2022

New resident physicians who have earned their MD degrees will be heading to hospitals to start their residencies during the last two week in June and the first week in July. What can a beginning doctor do during the first month of internship to get his or her career off to a good start, and in so doing, also learn to provide the best care to patients? Here are 10 …

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Why the new 988 hotline has the potential to transform mental health care [PODCAST]

Podcast
July 15, 2022
YouTube video

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“The federal 988 hotline represents a promising new approach to alleviating the nation’s growing mental health crisis, but several key challenges loom that could derail this well-intentioned initiative.

One significant information technology challenge the hotline will face involves how to uniformly store and interpret …

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Abortion debates need to happen, but both sides need some ground rules

Policy
July 15, 2022

On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court ruled 6–3 to uphold Mississippi’s Gestational Age Act and 5–4 to overrule Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. The political temperature was already heightened because Politico released a leaked draft opinion on May 2, 2022.

The pending ruling threw the United States into an emotional pressure cooker spurred on by heavy (some would say irresponsible) news coverage and social media fervor that …

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