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Dementia patients want effective drugs. How will the FDA respond?

Ron Louie, MD

Medications

May 16, 2018

Dementia patients want effective drugs. Five years ago, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed changes to speed drug approvals for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). No new drugs have been approved. This year, a new FDA draft guidance discusses considering biomarker data and changing cognitive evaluations for accelerated approvals. Would that help make effective drugs available, or are we lowering our expectations?

Numerous dementia agents have failed current …

Blockchain technology can dramatically transform health care delivery

Ashwini M. Zenooz, MD

Health Technology

May 16, 2018

Blockchain technology has the potential to dramatically transform health care delivery by facilitating data exchange between providers and electronic health record (EHR) systems. A decentralized and transparent platform, blockchain technology provides an authenticated platform that applies a consensus-driven approach to facilitate the interaction of multiple entities through a shared ledger. For the health care sphere, blockchain is simply the sharing of medical information through EHRs across numerous hospital systems that …

The best time to practice compassionate, attentive care is today

Bradford C. Berk, MD, PhD

Physician

May 16, 2018

The ICU nurse positioned the mirror in front of my face.

“You look more like yourself now, Dr. Berk,” she said.

She was right! The nurse, whose name was Meghan, had just shampooed, dried and brushed my hair. Clean and coiffed for the first time in over a week, I appeared normal — except, that is, for the tubes sticking out of my left nostril and my mouth.

It was 2009, and my …

Does being a good doctor mean being superhuman?

Shaudee Parvinjah, MD

Physician

May 15, 2018

They say to be a good doctor, you have to leave everything behind when you enter the exam room. You walk in with a clean slate — shiny and sterile, crisp, clean and decontaminated. I wonder if that’s why we wear a white coat? To symbolize the unscathed, untouched and pristine figure who walks into the room and solves all the problems. The one who just woke up from a …

Why some physicians thrive and some struggle to survive

Praveen Suthrum

Health Policy

May 15, 2018

I’m sitting in the waiting area across the endoscopy room of a major hospital. Mindless talk show TV runs in the background. Patients are waiting patiently. They anxiously look up every now and then from their phones towards the reception desk.

It’s a scene I’ve experienced for years while working in health care while waiting for doctors.

But there’s something different in the air now.

Patients, like those around me, will encounter a …

Physicians: Let us rise. Let us lead.

Julie K. Gunther, MD

Physician

May 15, 2018

As has been much discussed in the last few years, our health care system is in crisis. We spend $3 trillion a year on Medicare. MRIs bill out at $5,000. My recent bilateral mastectomy totaled $33,000 with $800 of that actually going to my surgeon.

I left my role as an employed physician in the traditional insurance-based fee-for-service structure because I spent 80 or more hours a week typing, collecting data, …

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Physicians: Let us rise. Let us lead.

The time for physicians to start a side hustle? Right now.

Passive Income, MD

Physician Finance

May 15, 2018

“Do not wait, the time will never be just right.”
– Napoleon Hill

“The perfect time to start something never arrives. Start now.”
– T. Harv Eker

Timing is everything. In life, love, and business, this axiom holds true. At least, that’s what we tell ourselves. But is this always the case?

As a reader of this blog, you probably have some desire to establish some streams of passive income. So if you …

What happened 33 years ago changed this physician forever

Brian Yount, MD

Physician

May 15, 2018

It has been a struggle to get out of my own way. I’m sure many of you have the same feeling. My health and well-being have suffered mightily from the stress of taking care of others in my work as a physician. I have not taken care of myself. Period. My career does not make me unique in this situation, as the patients I treat every day suffer from similar …

A relatively simple solution to physician burnout

David E. Hockman, MD

Physician

May 15, 2018

Physician burnout is increasing at an alarming rate. According to a January 2017 AMA Wire report, physician burnout rate has increased from 2013 to 2017 across every specialty in medicine. Greater than 50 percent of primary care providers are burned out. Therefore, every patient at the entry point of medical care is, more likely than not, going to be treated by a burned out physician. The question is why are …

How this physician became a financial advisor

Blake McGowan, MD

Physician Finance

May 14, 2018

Growing up with a father who is a physician made for a natural draw to medicine. However, as young people are prone to do, I did my best to rebel. Early into my undergraduate career I proudly announced to my father that I had decided to go to law school. And perhaps to dig the needle a little deeper, I told him I planned on going into medical malpractice, on …

Trust the process of medical school admissions

Paul Lee and Samuel Wu

Medical Education

May 14, 2018

For the over 6,500 candidates who applied to Canadian medical schools this cycle, the term “admissions” has taken on a whole new meaning. For some, the word has become a kind of divine judgment — a determinative force defining the individual’s value or worth. For others, a long road of struggle has led them to acceptance of the next step in their career. To most, however, the word has morphed …

Burnout: Don’t blame the clinicians; blame the system

Anh Le, MD

Physician

May 14, 2018

Physician burnout is the depression of the medical world. We are aware of its presence and the detriment it can cause, but yet, we don’t really like to talk about it. The problem is, just like depression, if we don’t talk about it or seek to address it, it persists and leads to a number of unwanted outcomes including decreased productivity, decreased patient satisfaction, and increase in medical errors. And …

What matters in an optimal consumer health care market

Richard Reece, MD

Health Policy

May 14, 2018

An excerpt from Are We There Yet?: The Road to Universal Health Care.

Getting your business matters. Much of what’s happening now in health care and retail markets concerns pleasing you, health care consumers and patients, and getting your business.

The internet matters. You’re almost all wired now. The internet is shortest and quickest route to your heart, mind, and pocketbook (84 percent of you are now making purchases on …

Avoid second-guessing: Investing doesn’t have to be complicated

Wall Street Physician, MD

Physician Finance

May 14, 2018

There are a lot of what-ifs in life.

If only I had made that putt on 14, I could have shot my best score ever.

If only I had taken a different job or performed better at the interview, I would be so much happier at my job.

For decisions large and small, there are ample opportunities to second-guess yourself.

I’m sure you have your own what-ifs when it comes to investing.

If only I …

A better way of using Lyft and Uber in health care

Peter F. Nichol, MD, PhD

Health Policy

May 13, 2018

Recently there was an article in the Washington Post titled, “Uber and Lyft think they can solve one of medicine’s biggest problems,” in which these two companies are angling to provide better, safer more reliable transportation for patients. While I applaud this mission, given the depth and reach of both companies, I think they may be underselling their abilities to improve health care delivery and reduce cost.

Recently, one of my …

Fight depression during residency by fostering connections

Jessica K. Willett, MD

Physician

May 13, 2018

The words were like bitter candies that I had been sucking on, hoping to come to a sweet center. I had walked the hallways of the hospital holding them in the silky pocket of my cheek for weeks. Finally, afraid I would choke, I spit them out into the middle of the dinner table.

“I think I’m depressed.”

I stared down at the tablecloth, moisture collecting on the base of my water …

Comfort in my final hours

Debbie Moore-Black, RN

Conditions and Diseases

May 13, 2018

My name is Lucy.

I have stage IV liver cancer. I wanted everything done — even though the doctors told me this disease is terminal. My family, my church and my friends were praying for “the cure.”

Though I believed in God and the hereafter, I wasn’t ready to go. 74-years-old with beautiful children, grandchildren, and a great-granddaughter.

I woke up confused. In the background — wherever I was — I could hear …

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Comfort in my final hours

10 reasons why doctors spend too much money

James M. Dahle, MD

Physician Finance

May 13, 2018

Once every couple of years I have medical students from the local medical school over for dinner. At some point, the conversation usually turns to finance, and I commiserate with them about their loan burdens. I typically toss them a few pearls of wisdom, wish them good luck, and we move on to something else. They always think it’s funny when I say, “If you can’t live on $200K, you …

Physician burnout shouldn’t be linked to resilience

Nisha Mehta, MD

Physician

May 12, 2018

Recently, I was asked to give a talk on resilience and its role in reducing physician burnout. I was excited by the opportunity, but asked if I could focus more on cultural change and institutional solutions for burnout. When they said no, I declined. Why?

Well, it’s not that I don’t see the value in resilience. A lot of physicians that I really respect write and speak about resilience. I think …