Hospital medicine

5,188 articles · Since 2004

Articles, page 94

Help the doctor! When systems and the system fail physicians.

February 25, 2015Feb 25, 2015

- The Beatles We are all here on earth to help each other; what on earth the others are here for I don’t know. - W. H. Auden “Help the doctor!” I’m sure most surgeons have heard this exasperated statement…

Help, I need somebody! Help, not just anybody! Help, you know I need someone, help!
– The Beatles

We are all here on earth to help each other; what on earth the others are here for I don’t know.
– W. H. Auden

“Help the doctor!”

I’m sure most surgeons have heard this exasperated statement at some point in the operating room. It is said with that special mix of …

Medical education

Ranking your residency for the Match: Red flags to watch out for

James E. Siegler, MD

February 25, 2015Feb 25, 2015

Physician burnout has been previously described as heartbreaking, and this may be an understatement. The growing complexities of health care delivery, intricacies of documentation practices as required by Meaningful Use, and difficulties inherent to billing and reimbursement are only a…

Unfortunately, these topics are still not formally taught in American medical schools.

As students, we really do not know …

Health policy

The frustrated and marginalized American doctor

Gene Uzawa Dorio, MD

February 25, 2015Feb 25, 20155

Once the 2008 economic spiral began and, unemployment escalated with wallets and purses zipped closed, causes were not initially recognized. Since then, the causal details of this downturn were ferreted out pinpointing emanation from Wall Street banks. Public discontent demanding…

Public discontent demanding change has been ignored allowing potential for recurrence. Why? Business has influenced legislators swaying their vote as they filled campaign coffers.

In the …

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Medical education

Medical credentialing: Explaining yourself when you’re off the grid

Edwin Leap, MD

February 25, 2015Feb 25, 201520

The non-medical reader may wonder what I am complaining about. Of course, many of you have to be credentialed in your fields as well, whether law or accounting, law enforcement or public service, education, nursing or a trade. But those of you in medicine know how difficult it can be to become credentialed as a physician, either by a state for purposes of a license, or by a hospital in order …

Physician voices

What hospitals can learn from snow preparedness

Suneel Dhand, MD

February 23, 2015Feb 23, 20152

Significant snow in New England every winter is about as certain as sun in Florida every summer. When I moved to the USA from the south of (old) England to do my medical residency in Maryland, my first few years…

But when I started my first job as an attending physician in central Massachusetts, I was in for a big shock. I had …

Physician voices

I am proud of our society. We provide care to everyone.

Michael Joel Pottash, MD, MPH

February 20, 2015Feb 20, 201527

She is always a difficult admission. The long chart review. The vague complaints. The entitled attitude. The misdirection. These are expected. As is the cake at her bedside after a diabetic crisis. The two-liter soda after an emergent fluid dialysis. The urine toxicology was positive for cocaine. The staff knows her well. I know her well. I give her the attention, kindness and empathy that I give to every patient. …

Medical education

Improve teamwork with better selection of medical trainees

Joshua Liao, MD

February 18, 2015Feb 18, 201516

Amid the many ongoing changes to health care, it's clear that better teamwork is needed in American medicine. Calls for stronger interdisciplinary collaboration have permeated position statements and policies, and organizations have begun redesigning care processes to include novel team-based…

Amid the many ongoing changes to health care, it’s clear that better teamwork is needed in American medicine. Calls for stronger interdisciplinary collaboration have permeated position statements and policies, and organizations have begun redesigning care processes to include novel team-based approaches. Emerging data continue to affirm that strong teamwork and communication can increase the value of care.

Of the many efforts to improve teamwork, however, one potential area for significant improvement …

Physician voices

A patient, mortally wounded by those purported to love him

Jordan Grumet, MD

February 17, 2015Feb 17, 20154

Neither of the two most important people in Aaron's life could stand to be in the same room with each other. There was a long colorful history between his ex-wife and his brother, and as his disease began to accelerate,…

Neither of the two most important people in Aaron’s life could stand to be in the same room with each other. There was a long colorful history between his ex-wife and his brother, and as his disease began to accelerate, the feuding became quite intense. They argued over Aaron’s advance directives. They both tried to coerce and manipulate themselves into commanding positions. The shouting became louder, the fury more fierce. …

Physician voices

Are safe harbors the answer to medical malpractice?

Bradley Flansbaum, DO

February 17, 2015Feb 17, 20158

With the endless appearance of medical malpractice solutions in the press, any reader would think we have the answers to the logjam -- but no will to implement them. If you follow the topic, you know every proposal has flaws…

With the endless appearance of medical malpractice solutions in the press, any reader would think we have the answers to the logjam — but no will to implement them. If you follow the topic, you know every proposal has flaws and limited applications as they relate to individual states or delivery systems.

The worst offender seems to be safe harbor protections (i.e., “follow the …

Physician voices

The occupational hazards of being a doctor are frightening

Kathryn A. Hughes, MD

February 13, 2015Feb 13, 20155

- Lucy Maud Montgomery Heroes are ordinary people who make themselves extraordinary. - Gerard Way My colleague, Dr. Jesse Ehrenfeld, is currently on leave from his academic anesthesia practice as well as from his post as speaker of the house…

There isn’t any such thing as an ordinary life.
– Lucy Maud Montgomery

Heroes are ordinary people who make themselves extraordinary.
– Gerard Way

My colleague, Dr. Jesse Ehrenfeld, is currently on leave from his academic anesthesia practice as well as from his post as speaker of the house of delegates for the Massachusetts Medical Society to serve as Lt. Commander Jesse Ehrenfeld, combat anesthesiologist in Kandahar, …

Physician voices

We are not powerless to respond after Dr. Michael Davidson’s death

Chiduzie Madubata, MD & Kenneth D. Bishop, MD, PhD

February 11, 2015Feb 11, 20152

Michael Davidson’s death was the result of a senseless act, and it has shaken our community to its core. We physicians are part of a profession that prides itself on healing and restoring lives, and it is difficult to accept an untimely and unjust death in any context. It is all the more incomprehensible that such tragic circumstances could exist as to result in such an irrevocable end to one …

Physician voices

In times of stress, remember who is behind the mask

Dr. Artaza Gilani

February 10, 2015Feb 10, 20152

As clinicians, we often forget or become desensitized to the image that society has of medicine and doctors. Alongside teachers and scientists, we are seen to be among the most trustworthy of professionals, yet our morale is low, with almost 50 percent describing it as “low” or “very low.” You can imagine, then, why I often describe medicine as a forest: …

Physician voices

When the seemingly simple becomes complex

Chiduzie Madubata, MD

February 7, 2015Feb 7, 2015

In medicine, the seemingly simple questions become the complex ones. “How’s it going?” It is a question that is frequently asked whenever we encounter friends and acquaintances. In a given day, we ask this question many times out of courtesy…

In medicine, the seemingly simple questions become the complex ones.

“How’s it going?”

It is a question that is frequently asked whenever we encounter friends and acquaintances. In a given day, we ask this question many times out of courtesy and we expect to hear short, affirmative answers, such as “Things are good,” or “It’s OK” as we continue to walk to where we need to go since we are pressed for …

Health policy

Why rural hospitals are fighting a losing battle

Robert Pearl, MD

February 7, 2015Feb 7, 20159

Rural hospitals are fighting for their lives. Over the past five years, more than 40 rural facilities have closed their doors due to lack of funding. And because the majority of their funds come fromMedicare and Medicaid -- two government…

Understandably, small-town residents fear hospital closures or downsizing may leave them vulnerable when serious illness strikes. …

Physician voices

The 7 stages of grief when you’re called for an admission

GomerBlog

February 7, 2015Feb 7, 2015

The Rübler-Koss model or 7 stages of grief is a series of emotional stages an admitting provider experiences when faced with an impending admission. The 7 stages are best remembered by the acronym DABDDAH, which stands for denial, anger, bargaining…

Patient voices

Fighting high health costs. Because I can.

Christen McCurdy

February 3, 2015Feb 3, 201512

Sometime while I was still in high school, my mom began to have trouble breathing. She had never had asthma before; an albuterol inhaler helped for a while. Still, cold season was a nightmare, and later, so was allergy season,…

After college, I moved back in with my parents. She fought her way through the cold season, dutifully driving 20 miles (and later 40, …

Physician voices

How to build a great hospitalist team

Sowmya Kanikkannan, MD

February 1, 2015Feb 1, 2015

Ever since we are children, our parents and society teach us how to play together with others. What we don’t realize is that this lays the groundwork for developing important teamwork skills — the same skills that enable success and positive outcomes in the workplace. My own experiences in hospital medicine practice throughout the last decade continue to increase my appreciation for these seemingly simple yet invaluable techniques.

Like many young …

Read more…

How to build a great hospitalist team

Patient voices

Improve patient satisfaction from the eyes of the consumer

Jim Lahren

January 31, 2015Jan 31, 201537

Although the Affordable Care Act’s second enrollment period is nearly over, politicians, medical professionals, and the public still debate its implications. According to David Houle and Jonathan Fleece, one-third of all hospitals in the United States will close or be reorganized into another kind of health care provider by 2020. What will differentiate the winners from the losers? Simply put, it will be high patient satisfaction.

In consumer terms what …

Physician voices

You’re lucky to be a patient in America. Here are 3 reasons why.

Suneel Dhand, MD

January 29, 2015Jan 29, 201513

As part of the increasing push for health care quality improvement, a lot of energy is being focused on improving our communication with patients and making sure that patient-centered care is more than just a buzz phrase. Gone are the days when the doctor-patient interaction was a wholly paternalistic one, where the doctor’s word was taken as final and absolute, and patients weren’t encouraged …

Physician voices

Avoid the blame game during inpatient emergencies

Benjamin T. Galen, MD

January 28, 2015Jan 28, 20152

Patients admitted to the hospital ward sometimes get sicker instead of getting better right away. Often this can happen acutely. Depending on the circumstances, ranging from a "rapid response" for unstable vital signs to a cardiac arrest (a "code”), previously…

Patients admitted to the hospital ward sometimes get sicker instead of getting better right away. Often this can happen acutely. Depending on the circumstances, ranging from a “rapid response” for unstable vital signs to a cardiac arrest (a “code”), previously uninvolved hospital staff might be called on to help. Despite the commotion, these events are a period of time for the health care team to shine. At inpatient emergencies,

…

Hospital medicine

Articles, page 94

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