Hospital medicine

5,188 articles · Since 2004

Articles, page 65

It’s time for medicine to share its power

November 15, 2017Nov 15, 20177

In the movie Malice, Alec Baldwin plays Dr. Jed Hill, a surgeon who gives a famous speech during a deposition in a medical malpractice case. “”If you’re looking for God, he was in operating room #2 on November 17th, and…

No one wants a doctor like that. And yet, maybe we do. We yearn for someone capable of healing all of our …

Physician voices

The practice of medicine is a lot like parenting

Sasha K. Shillcutt, MD

November 14, 2017Nov 14, 2017

The practice of medicine is a lot like the practice of parenting. It is full of highs and lows, moments of pure joy and those of devastating heartache. When I talk to my friends who are parents, they agree with…

The practice of medicine is a lot like the practice of parenting. It is full of highs and lows, moments of pure joy and those of devastating heartache.

When I talk to my friends who are parents, they agree with me. Some of the most difficult times as a parent is watching your kids fail. When your child is hurting, it hurts far worse than if you had experienced it first …

Physician voices

Physicians: Be nice to your pregnant colleagues

Avani Trivedi, DO

November 14, 2017Nov 14, 2017

After about the first week of anesthesia residency, I was told, “Don’t get pregnant, you are going to ruin the call schedule.” Initially, I took it as a joke because I was getting married that year and I wasn’t thinking…

After it’s told to you over and over again by your male co-residents and even some of my …

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Conditions and diseases

What man’s best friend taught me during a patient’s death

Debbie Moore-Black, RN

November 13, 2017Nov 13, 20175

Years ago in a 15-bed acute medical-surgical ICU, the nursing supervisor contacted me about a special assignment. Once I knew what it was, I said, “Absolutely.” We were about to admit a patient in his 40s with end-stage AIDS/HIV. He…

Years ago in a 15-bed acute medical-surgical ICU, the nursing supervisor contacted me about a special assignment. Once I knew what it was, I said, “Absolutely.”

We were about to admit a patient in his 40s with end-stage AIDS/HIV. He asked to be a DNR, but his MD wanted to admit him to the ICU for close monitoring. But the patient had a special request. Even with IV antibiotics and pain …

Patient voices

How can patients navigate our complicated health care system?

Linda Girgis, MD

November 12, 2017Nov 12, 2017

It is not enough to know that a patient’s medical condition warrants an MRI. For most insurance companies, a diagnostic test of this sort requires what is known as a prior-authorization. But, the doctor saying the patient needs this test often fails. The insurance company has a certain guideline the patient must travel first before they will consider the test.

For example, a patient with back pain and numbness in one …

Physician voices

The rise of patient navigators is a sign that medical billing needs to be reformed

Michael Kirsch, MD

November 12, 2017Nov 12, 2017

To accomplish certain tasks, we need a little help from our friends. No one can do it all, although many of us are more resourceful than others. Some folks are adventurous and dive into a new arena with excitement. They may be tinkerers who aren’t afraid to play with new gadgets. Sure, they might break some china, but they are apt to widen their skill set and enrich their lives. …

Physician voices

The patients that make you realize that we are part of a larger human family

Alexander Rakowsky, MD

November 11, 2017Nov 11, 2017

T was the last patient of a busier than usual morning. “New patient, establish care” was her reason for visit. As I would soon find out with the help of our remarkable Arabic interpreter, T and her family recently moved to our area after spending the better part of 3 years moving from refugee camp to refugee camp trying to escape the ravages of the civil war in their native …

Physician voices

Veterans deserve our full attention

Chiduzie Madubata, MD

November 11, 2017Nov 11, 2017

When I walked into the hospital room with my team to meet him for the first time, what struck me was how young he looked. He was listed as 26 years old, but he looked younger than that. He looked…

When I walked into the hospital room with my team to meet him for the first time, what struck me was how young he looked. He was listed as 26 years old, but he looked younger than that. He looked so young that it was hard to believe he had served a tour in Iraq a few years prior, or that he likely saw things there that no one would …

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Veterans deserve our full attention

Physician voices

We all treat the whole patient. We must avoid tunnel vision at all costs.

Sara Scarlet, MD

November 10, 2017Nov 10, 2017

In loving memory of my grandfather, my first physician mentor. Earlier this year, my 90-year-old grandfather passed away unexpectedly after undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). Similar to many elderly patients who die each year in the United States, his…

In loving memory of my grandfather, my first physician mentor.

Earlier this year, my 90-year-old grandfather passed away unexpectedly after undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). Similar to many elderly patients who die each year in the United States, his death was preceded by a litany of costly and time-consuming tests and treatments. Despite this extensive workup, the end of his life was shadowed by suffering left unaddressed. But, unlike the …

Physician voices

A patient readmission: Could it have been avoided?

Hans Duvefelt, MD

November 10, 2017Nov 10, 2017

It is not unusual to see a patient for a timely transition of care visit after a hospital admission and within a minute of entering the exam room know with all the bones in your body that this person needs…

The funny thing is that when that happens, if the patient has Medicare, we may indirectly suffer financially from such “avoidable readmissions.” We belong to …

Physician voices

Burnout during residency? Yep, and here’s what it taught me.

Saba Mann, MD

November 9, 2017Nov 9, 20173

You’ve probably heard this story before: a young physician, who has spent all of his or her life succeeding and building goals, stumbles into a career without meaning or enthusiasm. Indeed, my story about burnout is much like the rest.…

Like so many before me, I entered into a career in medicine motivated and eager to change the world through the care of my patients. I grew up in a family …

Physician voices

Why we need a new approach to end of life care

Sebastian Sepulveda, MD

November 9, 2017Nov 9, 2017

Looking at how incredibly expensive the last few months of life are for anyone in this country, I think most would be quite shocked. In 2014, there were approximately 2.6 million deaths in the U.S. According to a Keiser Permanente study, 2.1 million of those deaths were Medicare related. Medicare’s annual budget is right around $600 billion, and it has been revealed that one-third of that total is spent in …

Health technology

My hospital hacked my computer

Steven Mussey, MD

November 8, 2017Nov 8, 2017

Hospital email is supposed to be secure. This means that when you get an email with possible sensitive information, you receive a link to connect to a secure email product, requiring passwords, sign-ins and maybe even a bit of personal…

Being what they are, hospitals tend to swap software products and we find some new “secure solution” that hits us, urging us to give email, make a password and possibly …

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My hospital hacked my computer

Patient voices

The painful side of positive health care marketing

Sam Harnett

November 7, 2017Nov 7, 20172

Lori Wallace sits on a couch with her 11-year-old son and his new pet snake. It burrows under his armpit, as if afraid. Wallace is sure it’s not. “If he was terrified, he would be balled up,” Wallace said. “See,…

Lori Wallace sits on a couch with her 11-year-old son and his new pet snake. It burrows under his armpit, as if afraid. Wallace is sure it’s not.

“If he was terrified, he would be balled up,” Wallace said. “See, that is why they are called ball pythons. When they are scared, they turn into a little ball.”

Wallace is dying of breast cancer, but a stranger wouldn’t know. She has a …

Physician voices

For an anesthesiologist, this is the hardest part of medicine

Sasha K. Shillcutt, MD

November 6, 2017Nov 6, 20172

As a cardiac anesthesiologist, there are times I care for patients who are faced with a tough decision: to take their chance on a very high-risk surgery, or let nature take its course. It is in these times I feel…

Recently I was at a social event and introducing myself to some …

Physician voices

Here’s what death really sounds like

Molly M. Murray, PA-C

November 6, 2017Nov 6, 20172

7 a.m. began as it always did; the overnight doc was threatening to quit while rubbing her bloodshot eyes and smearing mascara beneath them. Between heavy sighs, she listed the patients transferring into my care ending with Mr. Mandel. “He’s…

“He’s eighty-something,” she explained, “hospice care. Cancer with metastases. Came in from home because family ran out of morphine and he was in a lot of pain. Anyway, he’s actively dying now, …

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Here’s what death really sounds like

Patient voices

Is physician shadowing immoral?

David Penner

November 6, 2017Nov 6, 201732

Countless times as a patient both at two hospitals in New York City, I have witnessed doctors arrogantly waltzing into an examination room and arriving not alone but with an entourage. Like Greeks bearing gifts, they arrived with something unwanted and threatening: medical students, interns, residents, and fellows. And not once, in all the many times that I have been subjected to this ignominious practice, was my consent ever obtained …

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Is physician shadowing immoral?

Medical education

Medical students must have this mindset

Manisha Ravi

November 6, 2017Nov 6, 2017

It is early on a Saturday morning when I walk out of the elevator of Doan Hall looking for a nursing desk to call the fourth-year anesthesiology resident I am supposed to be shadowing. Instead, I am met with a…

Before walking through the doors, I decided to read the placard placed on the wall next to them. As I begin to read, …

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Medical students must have this mindset

Health policy

Why quality reports for hospitals and doctors are interesting but flawed

Mark Kelley, MD

November 5, 2017Nov 5, 20172

Every patient eventually asks the same question: “How can I find the best hospitals and doctors?” The solution might seem easy, since we live in a world where information is readily available on the Internet. In a few clicks we…

Every patient eventually asks the same question: “How can I find the best hospitals and doctors?”

The solution might seem easy, since we live in a world where information is readily available on the Internet. In a few clicks we can shop for goods, review consumer products, market ourselves on social media, and complete financial transactions instantly. You would think that health care, which accounts for 17 percent of the GDP, …

Physician voices

I am the “same-same but different”

Dr. Saqib Noor

November 4, 2017Nov 4, 2017

Phnom Penh is changing at an incalculable rate. It is evolving so quickly that even from my last visit four years ago, I barely recognize the streets I once shuffled my well-worn sandals through. Now, the streets of my old neighborhood are proudly adorned with a new facade of artistic, stylish restaurants and a collection of boutique coffee shops. Bigger buildings and prime real estate positions are now occupied by …

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I am the “same-same but different”

Hospital medicine

Articles, page 65

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