Is this your author page?
Make it work for you. Your KevinMD author page is one of the highest-ranking results for your name. An enhanced author page turns this page into a premium profile with your photo, biography, affiliations, publications, and links, publishes your accepted articles in 1 to 3 days, and comes with a guaranteed interview on The Podcast by KevinMD. See an example · See the enhanced author page → Cancel anytime.
Latest articles
Physician voices
As a physician and health care leader, I initially declined to comment on the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. I felt that speculating about the shooter's intent would only sensationalize a terrible act. Regardless of the circumstances, vigilante violence…
As a physician and health care leader, I initially declined to comment on the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. I felt that speculating about the shooter’s intent would only sensationalize a terrible act.
Regardless of the circumstances, vigilante violence has no place in a free and just society.
But now, more than a month later, I feel compelled to address one aspect of the story that has been widely misunderstood: the …
Read more…
The emotional toll of a broken health care system
Health policy
In the sweltering heat of 19th-century colonial Delhi, legend has it that cobras were taking over the streets. To eliminate the dangerous snakes, British officials offered a bounty for every dead cobra brought to government offices. Soon, locals began breeding…
In the sweltering heat of 19th-century colonial Delhi, legend has it that cobras were taking over the streets. To eliminate the dangerous snakes, British officials offered a bounty for every dead cobra brought to government offices. Soon, locals began breeding and killing cobras for profit. When British officers caught wind of the scheme, they ended the program immediately. In response, the breeders released their now-worthless snakes back into the streets, …
Read more…
Medicare’s cobra effect: How a well-intentioned policy spiraled into a health care crisis
Health technology
An excerpt from ChatGPT, MD: How AI-Empowered Patients & Doctors Can Take Back Control of American Medicine. Imagine a ship at sea, its engine idle. The boat drifts dangerously close to the shoals, a mere hundred yards from land. The…
An excerpt from ChatGPT, MD: How AI-Empowered Patients & Doctors Can Take Back Control of American Medicine.
Imagine a ship at sea, its engine idle. The boat drifts dangerously close to the shoals, a mere hundred yards from land. The captain, fearing the worst, radios for help. The lighthouse watchman responds, sending an experienced mechanic named Charlie to the rescue.
With a single precise hit of his hammer, Charlie gets the …
Read more…
Empowering patients: Navigating medical information with AI
Health technology
After decades of "doctor knows best," the traditional physician-patient relationship is on the verge of a monumental shift. Generative AI tools like OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's Bard, and Microsoft's Bing are poised to give people significantly more power and control—not just…
After decades of “doctor knows best,” the traditional physician-patient relationship is on the verge of a monumental shift. Generative AI tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Bard, and Microsoft’s Bing are poised to give people significantly more power and control—not just over their personal lives and professional tasks but over their own medical health, as well.
As these tools become exponentially smarter, safer, and more reliable (an estimated …
Read more…
How generative AI will upend the doctor-patient relationship
Health policy
Albert Einstein determined that time is relative. And when it comes to health care, five years can be both a long and a short amount of time. In August 2018, I launched the Fixing Healthcare podcast. At the time, the…
Albert Einstein determined that time is relative. And when it comes to health care, five years can be both a long and a short amount of time.
In August 2018, I launched the Fixing Healthcare podcast. At the time, the medium felt like the perfect auditory companion to the books and articles I’d been writing. By bringing on world-renowned guests and engaging in difficult but meaningful discussions, I hoped the show would have …
Read more…
Health care wins, losses, and lessons
Health policy
Value-based health care, the holy grail of American medicine, has three parts: excellent clinical quality, convenient access, and affordability for all. And as with the holy grail of medieval legend, the quest for value-based care has been filled with failure.…
Value-based health care, the holy grail of American medicine, has three parts: excellent clinical quality, convenient access, and affordability for all.
And as with the holy grail of medieval legend, the quest for value-based care has been filled with failure.
In the 20th century, U.S. medical groups and hospital systems could — at best — achieve two elements of value-based care, but always at the sacrifice of the third. …
Read more…
“System-ness”: the key to successful health care transformation
Health policy
For decades, research studies and news stories have concluded the American system is ineffective, too expensive and falling further behind its international peers in important measures of performance: life expectancy, chronic-disease management and incidence of medical error. As patients and…
For decades, research studies and news stories have concluded the American system is ineffective, too expensive and falling further behind its international peers in important measures of performance: life expectancy, chronic-disease management and incidence of medical error.
As patients and health care professionals search for viable alternatives to the status quo, a recent mega-merger is raising new questions about the future of medicine.
In April, …
Read more…
Kaiser-Geisinger vs. Amazon, Walmart, CVS: Who will reign supreme?
Health policy
Health care's most recent billion-dollar deal took the industry by surprise, leaving medical experts and hospital leaders grappling to comprehend its implications. In case you missed it, California-based Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals, which make up the insurance and…
Health care’s most recent billion-dollar deal took the industry by surprise, leaving medical experts and hospital leaders grappling to comprehend its implications.
In case you missed it, California-based Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals, which make up the insurance and facilities half of Kaiser Permanente, announced the acquisition of Geisinger, a Pennsylvania-based health system once acknowledged by President Obama for delivering “high-quality care.”
Upon regulatory approval, Geisinger will become the first …
Read more…
The revolutionary Kaiser-Geisinger deal: How health care giants are reshaping the industry and empowering patients
Health policy
In health care, as in life, people devote a lot of time and attention to the way things should be. They'd be better off focusing on what actually could be. As an example, 57% to 70% of American voters believe…
In health care, as in life, people devote a lot of time and attention to the way things should be. They’d be better off focusing on what actually could be.
As an example, 57% to 70% of American voters believe our nation “should” adopt a single-payer health care system like Medicare for all. Likewise, public health …
Read more…
Why retail giants will revolutionize American health care
Health policy
As the New Year begins, a trio of health care statistics cast an intense and unflattering light on a nation in crisis. These figures, all of them unimaginable just a generation ago, set the stage for a financial reckoning in…
As the New Year begins, a trio of health care statistics cast an intense and unflattering light on a nation in crisis.
These figures, all of them unimaginable just a generation ago, set the stage for a financial reckoning in 2023 and beyond.
Shocking stat #1: the number of Americans on Medicaid
Without looking it up: What percentage of Americans receive some or all health-insurance coverage from the government?
You might assume a low …
Read more…
3 shocking health care statistics for 2023
Physician voices
Americans give lip service to the importance of teamwork. But most often, we credit success to individuals. Perhaps nowhere is this "MVP mindset" more apparent than in medicine. The brilliant lone physician — gallantly battling to save a patient's life…
Americans give lip service to the importance of teamwork. But most often, we credit success to individuals. Perhaps nowhere is this “MVP mindset” more apparent than in medicine.
The brilliant lone physician — gallantly battling to save a patient’s life — is the TV-inspired image most of us conjure up when we think of the medical profession. While that archetypal hero was, in fact, the best hope for patients in the …
Read more…
Health care leadership: Making medicine a team sport
Health policy
In recent months, three of the nation's largest retailers have stirred up a frenzy on Wall Street with a string of high-profile health care deals. Amazon bought primary-care company One Medical in early August for $3.9 billion. That was a…
In recent months, three of the nation’s largest retailers have stirred up a frenzy on Wall Street with a string of high-profile health care deals.
Amazon bought primary-care company One Medical in early August for $3.9 billion. That was a month before CVS spent $8 billion to acquire Signify Health and its network of 10,000 clinicians who make home visits (both virtually and IRL). A day later, Walmart inked a 10-year …
Read more…
Amazon, CVS, and Walmart are playing health care’s long game
Physician voices
Between producers and consumers, you'll find a cadre of professionals who broker deals, facilitate transactions, and move goods and services along. They're called "middlemen," and they thrive in virtually every industry — from real estate and retail to finance and…
Between producers and consumers, you’ll find a cadre of professionals who broker deals, facilitate transactions, and move goods and services along.
They’re called “middlemen,” and they thrive in virtually every industry — from real estate and retail to finance and travel services. If not for middlemen, houses and blouses wouldn’t sell. Banks and online booking sites wouldn’t exist. Middlemen are the reason a tomato grown in South America makes it aboard …
Read more…
The middleman mentality is killing American medicine
Health technology
Big Tech has had a surprisingly small impact on U.S. health care, so far. Artificial intelligence, for example, outperforms physicians in many complex tasks (like reading mammograms and analyzing chest X-rays), yet AI remains woefully underused. Meanwhile, many have tried…
Big Tech has had a surprisingly small impact on U.S. health care, so far.
Artificial intelligence, for example, outperforms physicians in many complex tasks (like reading mammograms and analyzing chest X-rays), yet AI remains woefully underused. Meanwhile, many have tried to spur operational efficiency using big-data analytics, but care delivery remains as inconsistent and ineffective as ever. Perhaps the most telling example of Big Tech’s struggles in medicine: 9 in 10 …
Read more…
Amazon vs. Apple: Only one will rewrite the rules of health care
Physician voices
A friend called me for medical advice two weeks ago. He's single, in his 30s and generally healthy, but he'd developed a dry cough with mild congestion. After a self-administered COVID-19 test turned up negative results, he remained suspicious he…
A friend called me for medical advice two weeks ago. He’s single, in his 30s and generally healthy, but he’d developed a dry cough with mild congestion. After a self-administered COVID-19 test turned up negative results, he remained suspicious he could be infected.
He was set to fly west in a couple of days for a conference and dreaded the thought of infecting other passengers. I recommended a PCR test if …
Read more…
Get ready for a COVID culture shock
Physician voices
The 2022 Medscape poll on physician burnout confirms what has been painfully obvious to doctors on the frontlines of COVID-19: Their burnout is intensifying. According to the survey of 13,000 doctors, the nation's most burned-out physicians are those in emergency…
The 2022 Medscape poll on physician burnout confirms what has been painfully obvious to doctors on the frontlines of COVID-19: Their burnout is intensifying.
According to the survey of 13,000 doctors, the nation’s most burned-out physicians are those in emergency medicine (60%) and critical care (56%). Medscape, a leading health care publication, describes burnout as “long-term, unresolvable job-related stress that leads to exhaustion, cynicism, and …
Read more…
Gender inequality is making burnout worse
Physician voices
In most professions, the pecking order is clear, even when there's no formal designation. Take pro football. Although nothing in the rulebook grants status or authority to certain players, everyone knows the starting quarterback is the most valuable person on…
In most professions, the pecking order is clear, even when there’s no formal designation.
Take pro football. Although nothing in the rulebook grants status or authority to certain players, everyone knows the starting quarterback is the most valuable person on the field. That’s because no other player can do more to win (or lose) a game.
You might assume the same type of logic applies to medicine. If saving …
Read more…
Restoring the value of primary care
Health technology
In the 21st century, all but one U.S. industry has used information technology (IT) to cut costs, increase access to products and services, and improve quality. Health care is the lone exception. For decades, medical costs have risen faster than…
In the 21st century, all but one U.S. industry has used information technology (IT) to cut costs, increase access to products and services, and improve quality.
Health care is the lone exception. For decades, medical costs have risen faster than inflation — with spending now above $4 trillion annually. For patients, accessing medical care is both time-consuming and burdensome. Meanwhile, U.S. health …
Read more…
Break the rules of health care with technology
Conditions and diseases
There was a time, not long ago, when COVID-19 was one of the scariest things on earth. In the summer of 2020, scientists were stunned as infections climbed and deaths spiked. They couldn’t say (exactly) how the virus spread, how…
There was a time, not long ago, when COVID-19 was one of the scariest things on earth. In the summer of 2020, scientists were stunned as infections climbed and deaths spiked. They couldn’t say (exactly) how the virus spread, how deadly it was or how to cure it. ICU beds were filling up while officials scrambled to retrofit local …
Read more…
Endemic COVID-19 will be a cause for celebration
Real physician voices, twice a week
Free, and one click to unsubscribe.
