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Davis Liu, MD

Davis Liu is a family physician. He is the author of The Thrifty Patient – Vital Insider Tips for Saving Money and Staying Healthy and Stay Healthy, Live Longer, Spend Wisely. He can be reached at his self-titled site, Davis Liu, MD, and on Twitter @DavisLiuMD.

Physicians

A simple trick to remember your doctor’s recommendations

An excerpt from The Thrifty Patient – Vital Insider Tips for Saving Money and Staying Healthy. You’ve told your story. Your doctor gets it. He has completed the physical exam. He formulates a plan to get you better. The next…

8172034_cover
An excerpt from The Thrifty Patient – Vital Insider Tips for Saving Money and Staying Healthy.

You’ve told your story. Your doctor gets it. He has completed the physical exam. He formulates a plan to get you better. The next skill you should master may be as important as being a great storyteller. Your doctor has told you the …

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A simple trick to remember your doctor’s recommendations

Policy

Why are doctors crazy enough to accept health care’s status quo?

We believe integrated will triumph fragmented every time. -Steve Jobs Two articles recently got my attention. The first was an interview by Dr. Robert Pearl, CEO of the Permanente Medical Group with my favorite author and thinker Malcolm Gladwell. On…

We believe integrated will triumph fragmented every time.
-Steve Jobs

Two articles recently got my attention. The first was an interview by Dr. Robert Pearl, CEO of the Permanente Medical Group with my favorite author and thinker Malcolm Gladwell. On Pearl’s blog, he answered Gladwell’s request to tell people what is was like to be a doctor.

The second was a NPR article, “When Facts Are Scarce, ER Doctor Turns …

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Why are doctors crazy enough to accept health care’s status quo?

Physicians

Are doctors contributing to the polarization surrounding vaccines?

Why is it that illnesses that could be prevented by vaccination are on the rise despite scientific evidence they save lives? Recent articles noted measles exposure to people riding the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) public transportation system as well…

Why is it that illnesses that could be prevented by vaccination are on the rise despite scientific evidence they save lives? Recent articles noted measles exposure to people riding the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) public transportation system as well as more cases of whooping cough due to refusal to vaccinate and in some cases getting “non-medical” personal exemptions. The suggestion that vaccines could cause autism has been debunked. So why is …

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Are doctors contributing to the polarization surrounding vaccines?

Physicians

Change will happen when millennial doctors step into leadership roles

I recently stumbled across a blog post by Dr. Jay Parkinson, an entrepreneur and founder of Sherpaa, who reflected on a recent private breakfast with New Yorker and best selling author Dr. Atul Gawande. The question posed by Gawande: Can…

I recently stumbled across a blog post by Dr. Jay Parkinson, an entrepreneur and founder of Sherpaa, who reflected on a recent private breakfast with New Yorker and best selling author Dr. Atul Gawande.

The question posed by Gawande: Can technology be a change agent for health care?

The inevitable answer is yes, with one important caveat. It’s not the technology that will change the practice of medicine, it’s the doctors who

…

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Change will happen when millennial doctors step into leadership roles

Physicians

Is saving primary care simply a matter of seeing fewer patients?

As a practicing primary care doctor, I very much enjoy my career choice. I’m fortunate enough to be in a large multispecialty practice that is collegial and forward thinking. If I was in a smaller practice like other colleagues, I…

As a practicing primary care doctor, I very much enjoy my career choice. I’m fortunate enough to be in a large multispecialty practice that is collegial and forward thinking. If I was in a smaller practice like other colleagues, I would not quite feel the same. Yet concern about how to make primary care attractive for both future doctors and those currently in practice has been something I’ve been occupied with …

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Is saving primary care simply a matter of seeing fewer patients?

Physicians

David and Goliath lessons for doctors and our health system

October 1st was a special day. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) also commonly known as Obamacare became official. The federal government shut down because Republicans and Democrats disagreed around Obamacare funding. Most importantly, October 1st was when I could finally…

October 1st was a special day. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) also commonly known as Obamacare became official. The federal government shut down because Republicans and Democrats disagreed around Obamacare funding. Most importantly, October 1st was when I could finally read Malcolm Gladwell’s new book David and Goliath.

Gladwell ponders why do underdogs succeed when we least expect them to? Is it possible that advantages a Goliath has can be a disadvantage? …

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David and Goliath lessons for doctors and our health system

Policy

Obamacare: There is risk for the American public to be worse off

With the implementation of health insurance exchanges in October 2013 and the beginning of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, there is tremendous risk for the American public to be worse off. Certainly the millions of Americans…

With the implementation of health insurance exchanges in October 2013 and the beginning of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, there is tremendous risk for the American public to be worse off. Certainly the millions of Americans who currently are uninsured because their employers do not offer insurance coverage and those with pre-existing conditions unable to purchase affordable individual coverage, will benefit. It is those with employer-based …

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Obamacare: There is risk for the American public to be worse off

Physicians

This is the grim reality of starting a private primary care practice

She was the first Michigan Wolverine I met who taught me their college fight song “Hail to the Victors,”and demonstrated their rabid pride anytime football or basketball season rolled around. (If you know people from the University of Michigan, you…

She was the first Michigan Wolverine I met who taught me their college fight song “Hail to the Victors,”and demonstrated their rabid pride anytime football or basketball season rolled around. (If you know people from the University of Michigan, you know what I mean). She was also one of the smartest and hardest working doctors in our family medicine residency program and one of our two chief residents.

So …

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This is the grim reality of starting a private primary care practice

Tech

Health care through the lens of a technology entrepreneur

If you want to see the future of health care, the can’t miss conference of the year is the Health Innovation Summit hosted by Rock Health in San Francisco. As a practicing primary care doctor, I had the opportunity to…

If you want to see the future of health care, the can’t miss conference of the year is the Health Innovation Summit hosted by Rock Health in San Francisco. As a practicing primary care doctor, I had the opportunity to view health care through the lenses of technology entrepreneurs. I thought the conference was even better than the one I attended last year. Absent was the provocative rhetoric by 2012 …

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Health care through the lens of a technology entrepreneur

Physicians

Financial advice for brand new doctors

This past July, the newest doctors, interns, have continued their journey in becoming experienced doctors. These newly minted and graduated doctors have excitement, anxiety, and anticipation not unlike the first day of medical school, college, or high school. But as…

This past July, the newest doctors, interns, have continued their journey in becoming experienced doctors. These newly minted and graduated doctors have excitement, anxiety, and anticipation not unlike the first day of medical school, college, or high school.

But as new doctors begin their next step, we rarely talk about those who also graduated. Specifically, doctors who have completed their residency and in some cases their advanced fellowship training. What about …

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Financial advice for brand new doctors

Physicians

Should I avoid talking to my doctor and jump right to tests?

An excerpt from The Thrifty Patient – Vital Insider Tips for Saving Money and Staying Healthy. Do I really need an MRI? Do I really need blood work? This often? Should I avoid talking to my doctor and jump right…

8172034_cover
An excerpt from The Thrifty Patient – Vital Insider Tips for Saving Money and Staying Healthy.

Do I really need an MRI?  Do I really need blood work? This often? Should I avoid talking to my doctor and jump right to tests?

Americans love technology, whether it’s carrying the latest iPhone or buying the newest flat-screen TV with 3D technology. …

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Should I avoid talking to my doctor and jump right to tests?

Physicians

To change health care, we need more physician leaders

There is a stunning gap between what we know and what we need to do in health care to make it more affordable, accessible, and higher quality. In a recent piece by NPR, research shows that when it comes to…

There is a stunning gap between what we know and what we need to do in health care to make it more affordable, accessible, and higher quality. In a recent piece by NPR, research shows that when it comes to treatment of low back pain, doctors are prescribing more powerful pain medications (narcotics) and ordering more imaging tests like MRI and CT scans when there is no evidence these are …

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To change health care, we need more physician leaders

Physicians

Why shared decision making is difficult in practice

As a practicing primary care doctor, I very much believe that better care is when patients are engaged and share decision making with their doctor. Though in the past doctors treated patients in a paternalistic manner, my generation of doctors…

As a practicing primary care doctor, I very much believe that better care is when patients are engaged and share decision making with their doctor. Though in the past doctors treated patients in a paternalistic manner, my generation of doctors has been taught to uphold a balanced doctor-patient relationship and partnership. This change in balance of power has accelerated with the ease and availability of information via the internet. More …

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Why shared decision making is difficult in practice

Policy

Doctors need to be the leaders of health care change

In a time of crisis is when leaders step forward. If our nation faces one crisis, then it is that of the health care system which increasingly is unaffordable and trails other industrialized countries in quality and access. If there…

In a time of crisis is when leaders step forward. If our nation faces one crisis, then it is that of the health care system which increasingly is unaffordable and trails other industrialized countries in quality and access. If there was a time leadership was needed then it would be now. As doctors, we should be providing this leadership. No longer can we let others dictate how health care should …

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Doctors need to be the leaders of health care change

Policy

Can David Goldhill fix healthcare?

First I believe our health care system must be better so I’m always curious to hear how others might propose to fix it. I recently had the opportunity to listen in two conversations with businessman David Goldhill about how healthcare…

First I believe our health care system must be better so I’m always curious to hear how others might propose to fix it. I recently had the opportunity to listen in two conversations with businessman David Goldhill about how healthcare might be made better. Goldhill lost his father to a hospital acquired infection and witnessed multiple errors during his hospitalization which compelled him to write not only a piece in …

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Can David Goldhill fix healthcare?

Physicians

Why this doctor is compelled to write

As a doctor, I am compelled to write because of what I know is occurring with alarming frequency in our country. Americans are skipping needed and recommended care that could save their lives and allow them to live to their…

As a doctor, I am compelled to write because of what I know is occurring with alarming frequency in our country. Americans are skipping needed and recommended care that could save their lives and allow them to live to their fullest. Patients are more distracted, as life is more complicated and busier than ever. Households have both parents working, sometimes two jobs, just to make ends meet. They easily would …

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Why this doctor is compelled to write

Physicians

Comprehensive annual physical exams have no scientific value

Is the Ontario Annual Physical Exam going the way of the dinosaur? That appears to be the case for healthy individuals between the ages of 18 to 64 in the Canadian province of Ontario. Effective in 2013, these patients no…

Is the Ontario Annual Physical Exam going the way of the dinosaur? That appears to be the case for healthy individuals between the ages of 18 to 64 in the Canadian province of Ontario. Effective in 2013, these patients no longer would have available an annual physical examination, but instead a “personalized health review.”

The new personalized health review would only be available to those who were healthy and did not …

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Comprehensive annual physical exams have no scientific value

Conditions

The myth about screening for heart disease

An excerpt from The Thrifty Patient – Vital Insider Tips for Saving Money and Staying Healthy. In the spring of 2008, NBC’s Meet the Press moderator and Washington bureau chief, Tim Russert, died suddenly of a heart attack at the…

8172034_cover
An excerpt from The Thrifty Patient – Vital Insider Tips for Saving Money and Staying Healthy.

In the spring of 2008, NBC’s Meet the Press moderator and Washington bureau chief, Tim Russert, died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of fifty-eight. Time magazine identified him as one of the one hundred most influential people in world in 2008. …

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The myth about screening for heart disease

Meds

Answers to common vaccine questions from patients

One of the true joys of being a primary care doctor is partnering and educating patients to make the best decision for themselves and their families. Though they may not always agree with what I have to say, at least…

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One of the true joys of being a primary care doctor is partnering and educating patients to make the best decision for themselves and their families. Though they may not always agree with what I have to say, at least I know I’ve done my best to give them the information they need to be informed. What follows are common conversations I …

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Answers to common vaccine questions from patients

Meds

Vaccines: Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it

Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. Most of us have not had personal experience with illnesses like measles, mumps, German measles, or polio. Thank goodness for that. It is because a generation ago individuals, families, and doctors…

Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. Most of us have not had personal experience with illnesses like measles, mumps, German measles, or polio. Thank goodness for that. It is because a generation ago individuals, families, and doctors choose a different path. They witnessed loved ones stricken with these diseases. When the opportunity arose to protect themselves from these …

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Vaccines: Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it

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