Behavioral health providers face challenges in value-based care

Policy
July 10, 2021

Value-based care (VBC) continues to be a popular expression across the health care landscape, but the challenges and opportunities it offers are quite different across specialties. Behavioral health (BH) providers are an important case in point. The opioid epidemic combined with increased recognition and prevalence of mental illness secondary to the pandemic has brought behavioral health to the forefront, but for BH providers, the transition to VBC continues to present …

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How deep mindset work helped me find the courage to make my career transition [PODCAST]

Podcast
July 9, 2021
YouTube video

“I’ve been semi-retired in clinical medicine for almost four years now. Initially, I found myself coaching burned out physicians: Helping them recover, finding careers they love, and even starting their own businesses outside the box. However, as I listened to my inner voice, I was led back to my healing roots, and …

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Hello, health care organization leader, are you listening?

Physician
July 9, 2021

I’m not an organizational leader, a member of the C-suite, a department chair, or a VP of anything. I’m a coach who guides physicians as they try to provide exceptional care and actually have a life. But I know a lot about setting goals, executing on priorities, and inspiring through vision statements.

Here’s the thing. This is not a successful long-term strategy:

  • Tell exhausted clinicians and staff to “do more with …

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It’s time to rethink the model minority

Physician
July 9, 2021

I am a first-generation Chinese American. And amidst the complexity of the pieces that form my identity (mom, wife, daughter, woman, doctor), it is the piece I have often prized the least.

In one of my earliest memories, I am riding a crowded bus in Beijing. My aunt and cousin are pointing out the American tourists as we pass, commenting on their high nose bridges and round eyes and how these …

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A plea for help from the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic [PODCAST]

Podcast
July 8, 2021
YouTube video

“This plea for help is on behalf of every hospital worker who has been on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic — from the environmental services staff and medical assistants who are often not recognized, to the social workers and chaplains who are surrounded by distress, to the physicians and …

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A counterintuitive strategy when you are sued for medical malpractice

Physician
July 8, 2021

Most physicians have been defendants in lawsuits. Plaintiff experts almost always have a feeding frenzy. In truth, expert witnesses are held to codes of conduct about remaining objective and avoiding partisanship or advocacy.  Yet, should the verdict favor defendants, these experts, except for deserving the term “hired guns,” are rarely, if ever, held accountable for their feeding frenzy, which conflicts with their ethical obligations.

I want to share my experience. I independently …

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The FDA was wrong about Aduhelm

Meds
July 8, 2021

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) negated the recommendation of its expert panel and approved Aduhelm to treat Alzheimer’s dementia (AD), contending that the possible benefit trumped the lack of evidence of efficacy. The FDA was inexcusably in error in making this decision. Aside from the likely lack of benefit, the use of this drug can result in many negative consequences that make its use ethically questionable.

The manufacturer submitted two …

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COVID in Pakistan: a physician’s story [PODCAST]

Podcast
July 7, 2021
YouTube video

“The right choice of words, at the right time, can lift a person out of despair and literally save a person’s life, while an ill-chosen word, or worse, a purposely harsh one, can scar a person. The entire field of narrative medicine is formed around the principle of reviving empathy in doctors …

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How doctors think about financial independence is dead wrong

Finance
July 7, 2021

A rough career transition in 2019 followed by the pandemic highlighted how I was still financially tethered to my job — after 10 years of practicing as a subspecialty trained radiologist, saving, maxing out my retirement accounts, and investing in the stock market and in real estate. Looking around, I saw other physicians in a similar predicament. After years dedicated to rigorous training, we were still trapped by “golden handcuffs.” …

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The rise of non-traditional nursing

Tech
July 7, 2021

Nurses are an essential component of the American health care system and are continually in high demand nationwide. For years, nurses have elected to leave the field or have sought alternative professions instead of working in a traditional nursing role full-time. The pandemic brought into focus the need for work-life balance across professions. Whether strained from high-stress levels, financial upset, demanding hours or an overwhelming workload, nursing …

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Culture and end-of-life caretaking

Physician
July 7, 2021

Amidst beeping monitors, I sat holding my mother’s frail hand in mine with tears rolling down my face and an eerie silence within my soul. I was trying to make sense of the last 24 hours.

My mother had migrated to Houston after an early retirement at 55 to spend time with her granddaughter and me. But life had other plans, as she was diagnosed with breast cancer a year into …

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How to pay for women in medicine programs [PODCAST]

Podcast
July 6, 2021
YouTube video

“‘That’s great. You want to start a women in medicine program! How are you going to pay for it?’

This is the most common question and potential barrier from colleagues, leaders, and those who understand the value of these programs. We found that our two-year Women Leaders in Medicine program improved burnout, retention, …

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The life cycle of medication consumption

Meds
July 6, 2021

Photography

A person’s lifetime medication consumption has a familiar and predictable pattern. The more a person ages, the greater their number of taken medication. However, the public behavior in initiating medication has been changed compared to thirty years ago.

Nowadays, parents demand to get their hands on OTC meds for their infants and toddlers.

In this piece, I am interested …

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Dying of loneliness: the COVID-19 epidemic in children and adolescents [PODCAST]

Podcast
July 5, 2021
YouTube video

“We know the ER’s revolving door will continue to spin for so many children and adolescents who seek help in the heat of their personal crisis. Some will need to stay in the hospital – to heal their bodies and minds and even fight for their lives. Some – the lucky ones …

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These journal ads could not run today

Meds
July 5, 2021

Many drug ads in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s would offend today.

In an ad for Valium, we are told that the woman pictured (“Jan”) is “psychoneurotic” because she is unmarried at age 35. “You probably see many such Jans in your practice,” says the ad—“The unmarrieds with low self-esteem. Jan never found a man to measure up to her father.”

Valium was …

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Nothing prepared me for telehealth’s nightmare

Conditions
July 5, 2021

The orders from the state seemed to come suddenly, although we all knew we would have to adjust our methods of treating our clients, the news wasn’t good, and seeing anyone in person was treacherous since many still thought it was a hoax and they didn’t believe they needed to be cautious.  Some would wear a hazmat suit if they could get their hands on one. As a psychiatric nurse …

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Meet the physician who educates patients with cartoons [PODCAST]

Podcast
July 4, 2021
YouTube video

Listen to psychiatrist Emily Watters’ work with the homeless population and how she got her start writing cartoons, educating patients using out-of-the-box communication strategies.

Emily Watters is a psychiatrist and can be reached at The Cartoon Shrink.

She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD articles, “Blood …

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The dark truth of physician burnout

Physician
July 4, 2021

Burnout among doctors is not something new. In fact, way before the pandemic, 69% of physicians reported they were somewhat or incredibly happy in 2020, before the pandemic started.

This number drastically fell to 49% when COVID-19 stepped in. This is a statistic that we need to be aware of.

For many of us, we embarked on our journey in medicine with naïve optimism. We stepped into medical school thinking about the …

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Let’s talk about vanishing twin syndrome [PODCAST]

Podcast
July 3, 2021
YouTube video

“For the folks who are either physicians or becoming care providers, I hope you choose to familiarize yourself with this odd yet common form of loss. I encourage you to respect a woman’s right to decide at what point and to what degree her fetus and its life or loss has …

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5 financial truths every resident needs to know

Finance
July 3, 2021

July 1st is here, which means it’s the start of a new residency year. For interns, things can be nerve-wracking and scary. You may wonder if you remember enough information from medical school and hope you arrive at the right place at the right time this week. For the senior residents like me, we are elated to be almost done with training, but we are also starting to focus on …

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