How do you change the paradigm in a rigid system? When the COVID-19 pandemic emerged in 2020, my team and I didn’t have a choice. We had built our hospital’s in-person cardiac rehabilitation program from the ground up, but this was a moment of reckoning. Our program would need to incorporate virtual care.
Completing cardiac rehabilitation can increase a patient’s life expectancy by up to five years, Read more…
A while ago, I wrote about my experience during an attack of atrial fibrillation (afib), lamenting the fact that my management never included a proper physical exam. Nevertheless, chemical cardioversion was successful, and my hospital stay was brief.
The episode was precipitated by a small pulmonary embolus acquired during sinus surgery the day before. I had experienced an episode of afib some 15 years previously and had remained free, I think …
The recent coverage of ECMO by the Wall Street Journal has shone a spotlight on a therapy that, despite its decades-long existence, remains relatively obscure and underutilized. While the article thoughtfully delved into the ethical considerations surrounding the extended use of this life-saving therapy, it’s important to recognize that many hospitals have yet to offer ECMO as an available treatment option. The priority focus should be on expanding access to …
A woman who asked us to call her Strawberry taught me cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for the first time, more than thirty years ago. I was getting my Girl Scout badge in babysitting, and it was a requirement. The class involved an overview of the “ABC’s” and half-hearted compressions on our friends. We did a craft afterward.
A few years later, I took my second CPR class in my high school natatorium. …
An excerpt from Life at High G-Force: The Quest of Mayo Clinic Researcher Dr. Earl H Wood.
Tensions were high in the Aero Medical Laboratory at Mayo Clinic in the fall of 1959. The space race with the Soviet Union to send a human into outer space and eventually to the …
Most physicians cite work-life balance as a top priority. Yet there is little clarity on what exactly work-life balance means.
Some prefer the term work-life integration, suggesting that work and personal life should be intertwined. Work-life integration is a common buzzword in managerial circles. However, for most physicians, this way of life is already a reality. Taking calls, working late, and keeping up with CME and recertification already mean that much …
An excerpt from The Healing Connection: A Partnership for Your Health.
The blood spurt was alarming though because it therefore indicated that the pressure in the venous system had to be sky high in order to shoot a column of blood in such a continuous arc over my right shoulder.
So, I …
An excerpt from Box of Birds: What New Zealand taught me about life and the practice of medicine.
While dobutamine improves the strength of heart contractions and can thereby help raise blood pressure, it also has properties that dilate the arteries, which in this patient’s case dropped the blood pressure further. …
There has always been a research bias against the case of one. A success story that isn’t part of a research pool is called “anecdotal.” The implication is that no doctor should base treatment on a story of one. Then we devised the term “evidence-based” to reinforce the notion that physician decisions should be based entirely on numbers in research studies. However, the physician’s prerogative has always been to read …
“What heart surgeon did Diana date?”
According to data from a popular search trend analysis website, this is one of the most highly searched phrases about heart surgery.
According to Cosmopolitan, Princess Diana dated cardiac surgeon Hasnat Khan for years and called him “Mr. Wonderful.” Mehera Bonner did a lovely job discussing this topic.
Nonetheless, it left me to ponder the following: Why do we want to know who the Princess of …
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes!
We talk with Jordana Cohen, an internal medicine physician, about the importance of accurate blood pressure measurement. With the rise of telehealth and at-home monitoring, ensuring reliable readings is crucial. Jordana discusses concerns regarding device accuracy and …
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes!
Join John R. Mehall, a cardiothoracic surgeon and physician executive. We explore the lasting impact of the global pandemic on hospitals in the United States, uncover the underlying financial crisis often overlooked by headlines, and discuss innovative …
An excerpt from Why Not Better and Cheaper: Healthcare and Innovation by James B. Rebitzer and Robert S. Rebitzer with permission from Oxford University Press, © 2023 by Oxford University Press.
In a famous essay, Nobel prize-winning economist William Nordhaus studied the evolution of lighting. From medieval times until the …
ADVERTISEMENT
Rick Taylor was swimming the race of his life. The Virginia half-Ironman (70.3 miles) was underway, and Rick swam the 1.2-mile course in the Carvin Cove Reservoir in 30 minutes and 43 seconds, coming out of the water first in his age group at a blistering pace of 1 minute and 35 seconds per 100 m (1.36/100 m). What was more incredible was that his heart rate through that effort …
Over the past five years, the term “burnout” has become closely associated with the health care field. It has reached the point where more than 60 percent of surveyed physicians reported experiencing burnout in 2021, indicating that it has become an epidemic within our profession.
It’s important to understand that burnout is not a personal flaw or a psychological disorder; rather, it is a response to chronic stress in the workplace. …
Although the global pandemic is officially over, it has left a permanent mark on the health care landscape, reshaping the dynamics of hospitals in the United States. While staffing crises often dominate the headlines, health care institutions face an underlying financial crisis that remains largely underreported.
In 2022, a startling 50% of all U.S. hospitals concluded the year with a negative margin. Due to factors like elective surgical …
Blood pressure is an important upstream indicator of overall patient health, and high blood pressure can be a precursor to more serious medical conditions like cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, and stroke. Measuring blood pressure frequently is the best way to stay on top of any changes, but as telehealth and at-home monitoring gain in popularity, how can you be sure your patients are getting accurate measurements outside of a physician’s …
Whether one is resuscitating or being resuscitated, the call for help is a cry for help. However, constructive help may be hard to come by and thus harder to let go.
When one is resuscitating or being resuscitated, the scenario may often be that they are or have been driving under the influence of tunnel vision, thus being blindsided by situational incompetence induced by it. Just like the best-case scenario for …
I stood outside in my yard, which had been dormant during the winter season and was now awakening to the spring. Yard work was a familiar and enjoyable activity for me, one that I had been doing for years. But as I walked across the yard, I found myself out of breath and fatigued, to the point of needing to see if taking a nap would help. It did not. …
Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.
