Kevin R.R. Williams
Kevin R.R. Williams is a patient.
Patients

A man discovers an unsettling sight during a bathroom visit. It leads to a sequence of rapid medical events with laggard resolution. "Jillian Palmer" is an independent bakery chef. She shares a sample-size blueberry pie with a personal friend, "Jack…
A man discovers an unsettling sight during a bathroom visit. It leads to a sequence of rapid medical events with laggard resolution.
“Jillian Palmer” is an independent bakery chef. She shares a sample-size blueberry pie with a personal friend, “Jack Timbal.” His family has purchased many large pans from Jillian before with much appreciation. This small pie is large enough for three servings.
Despite cutting back on desserts in recent weeks, Jack …
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Does an HMO hinder the efforts of concierge doctors to address patient needs?
Patients

Take one-half tablet three times per day with meals, increasing by half each week until reaching a maximum of three tablets three times per day. Did you get a new prescription from your doctor? If so, there is a 50…
Take one-half tablet three times per day with meals, increasing by half each week until reaching a maximum of three tablets three times per day.
Did you get a new prescription from your doctor? If so, there is a 50 percent chance you will not adhere to label directions. Either the instructions are too complicated, the drugs are too expensive, you do not like the way the medicine makes you feel …
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Here’s why your patients disregard prescriptions
Patients

Generally speaking, patients and physicians are working towards good health. While many patient expectations can be unreasonable, others are practical; this article amalgamates them. Can you identify the absurd demands? But multiply half of the listed expectations by hundreds or…
Generally speaking, patients and physicians are working towards good health. While many patient expectations can be unreasonable, others are practical; this article amalgamates them. Can you identify the absurd demands?
But multiply half of the listed expectations by hundreds or thousands of patients, and we begin to understand why there is such a high rate of physician burnout. Bilateral empathy lowers expectations.
Bedside manner. Don’t accept a walk-in patient and leave us waiting …
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Bilateral empathy lowers patient expectations
Patients
I have the paradoxical privilege of being an emergency medical contact for dozens of people. Have you completed a healthcare medical directive with durable power of attorney? While reviewing a DPA with others, I strive to understand their choices in…
I have the paradoxical privilege of being an emergency medical contact for dozens of people. Have you completed a healthcare medical directive with durable power of attorney? While reviewing a DPA with others, I strive to understand their choices in delicate life-or-death situations. This has me confronting death more often than many people.
They still talk to me
Triggered by seemingly insignificant events, fond memories of friends and relatives enter my mind …
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How do physicians cope with the emotional aspects of death?
Patients
I remember, some years ago, sitting with a relative across a large wooden desk in a doctor's private office. We discussed symptoms for half an hour during an initial consultation. On a different occasion, I recall another doctor pinning an…
I remember, some years ago, sitting with a relative across a large wooden desk in a doctor’s private office. We discussed symptoms for half an hour during an initial consultation. On a different occasion, I recall another doctor pinning an MRI on the wall, circling an area and articulating exactly why the radiologist overlooked a diagnosis. There once was a doctor who stood bedside, outlining what was known, what was baffling and …
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How entertainment has altered our desire for diagnosis
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