Balancing Between Hubris and Despair
Dr. Robert Centor has an important post about hubris. It’s not a long post, if you want to click through and quickly read it. It’s about the danger of overweening pride and overconfidence that can come from blindly believing the praise that is often heaped upon us by those in our care. Essentially Dr. Bob is saying that we must avoid believing all the wonderful things our patients say to us.
One the one hand, I agree completely. Pride indeed goeth before a fall, and in our line of work, the pain of our falls is literally felt by others. The line between the confidence we need in order to do what we have to do, ...
Source: Musings of a Dinosaur - December 24, 2015 Category: Primary Care Authors: notdeaddinosaur Tags: Medical Source Type: blogs
Post #43 My Father the Pediatrician
I recently wrote a new book geared to help parents have more meaningful conversations with their pediatrician and which will hopefully save them a copay or two as well! As I reflect back on the five year journey in writing this book, I wanted to highlight the contributions of my biggest influence – my dad.In the summer of 1973, my father, thirty years at the time, boarded a plane with his best friend to fly overseas for the very first time in his life. Having recently finished medical school and his mandatory army training in South Korea, he was headed to the United States to begin his residency in Passa...
Source: A Pediatrician's Blog - December 10, 2015 Category: Pediatrics Source Type: blogs
#43 My Father the Pediatrician
I recently wrote a new book geared to help parents have more meaningful conversations with their pediatrician and which will hopefully save them a copay or two as well! As I reflect back on the five year journey in writing this book, I wanted to highlight the contributions of my biggest influence – my dad.In the summer of 1973, my father, thirty years at the time, boarded a plane with his best friend to fly overseas for the very first time in his life. Having recently finished medical school and his mandatory army training in South Korea, he was headed to the United States to begin his residency in Passa...
Source: A Pediatrician's Blog - December 10, 2015 Category: Pediatrics Source Type: blogs
The Cost-effective Cardiologist..
This report was meant to highlight those providers that were practicing as hospital outpatient facilities. This was the report I had received.
Sure enough, all the ‘penalties’ (those facilities marked in orange/red) in the report were for facilities that were hospital outpatient practices. Certainly, a very interesting first step by a private insurer to use data to give physicians information about the cost of procedures. This does, though, provide yet another opportunity to look at why one has to be so careful about what quality metrics actually tell us.
I called one of the medical directors at IBC to inquir...
Source: The Health Care Blog - December 9, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Simon Nath Tags: THCB Anish Koka Source Type: blogs
2016 Physician Fee Schedule: Includes Changes on Self-Referral Rules, Biosimilars and Reimbursement, Transparency Changes for Another Day
Earlier this year, we wrote about the proposed Medicare Physician Fee Schedule. In the proposed rule, CMS sought comment on whether to add Open Payments data to its "Physician Compare" website. Additionally, the proposal included a decision to fund previously controversial advance care planning codes, the first regulations implementing the post-SGR legislation, Stark Law exceptions, and more.
For now, CMS decided against finalizing any decision to publish Open Payments data on the Physician Compare website, according to the rule. The final rule will be published in the Federal Register on November 16, 2015. Comments on th...
Source: Policy and Medicine - November 12, 2015 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan - Policy & Medicine Writing Staff Source Type: blogs
Interoperability: Faster Than We Think – An Interview with Ed Park
By LEONARD KISH
Leonard Kish, Principal at VivaPhi, sat down with Ed Park, COO of athenaHealth, to discuss how interoperability is defined, and how it might be accelerating faster than we think.
LK: Ed, how do you define interoperability?
EP: Interoperability is the ability for different systems to exchange information and then use that information in a way that is helpful to the users. It’s not simply just the movement of data, it’s the useful movement of it to achieve some sort of goal that the end user can use and understand and digest.
LK: So do you have measures of interoperability you use?
EP: The way we think...
Source: The Health Care Blog - November 11, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Simon Nath Tags: THCB athenahealth Ed Park HL7 Interoperability Leonard Kish Source Type: blogs
Being Graded
By MUNIA MITRA, MD
“Lawyers aren’t graded.”
“CEOs aren’t graded”
“How would you feel if I tracked every e-mail you sent and tracked how many people responded to them? You wouldn’t like that very much would you?”
“The people who make EMRs. Why aren’t they graded?”
If there’s one negative I hear time and time again from doctors when the subject of quality measurement comes up, it’s this one near-universal complaint. The world is unfair, the cards are stacked against us.
As a specialist at a busy urban medical center I hear the complaints almost every day from colleagues and peers at other...
Source: The Health Care Blog - November 9, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: John Irvine Tags: Uncategorized ACOs Mitra Outcomes Source Type: blogs
What doctors aren’t learning in medical school, and what needs to be done about it
I came across the most wonderful article today on ForbesBrandVoice by athenahealth contributor, Dr. Stephen Klasko. The article, What Doctors Aren’t Learning In Medical School And Why It Matters, touches on a theme that has been near and dear to me over the course of my own medical career–the importance of communication and collaboration in healthcare.
Dr. Klasko has intimate knowledge about education, doctors and medical students. He is the President and CEO of the highly regarded Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health in Philadelphia. In the article, he cites some of the findings from athenahealth&...
Source: HealthBlog - October 20, 2015 Category: Information Technology Authors: hlthblog Tags: Uncategorized Clinical Workflow clinics cloud collaboration communication compliance Digital Health Days doctors e-mail eHealth hospitals internet microsoft Office 365 Skype for Business Yammer Source Type: blogs
What doctors aren't learning in medical school, and what needs to be done about it
I came across the most wonderful article today on ForbesBrandVoice by athenahealth contributor, Dr. Stephen Klasko. The article, What Doctors Aren't Learning In Medical School And Why It Matters, touches on a theme that has been near and dear to me over the course of my own medical career--the importance of communication and collaboration in healthcare.
Dr. Klasko has intimate knowledge about education, doctors and medical students. He is the President and CEO of the highly regarded Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health in Philadelphia. In the article, he cites some of the findings from athenahealth's ninth "Ep...
Source: HealthBlog - October 20, 2015 Category: Information Technology Authors: hlthblog Tags: Uncategorized Clinical Workflow clinics cloud collaboration communication compliance Digital Health Days doctors e-mail eHealth hospitals internet microsoft Office 365 Skype for Business Yammer Source Type: blogs
What doctors aren ’t learning in medical school, and what needs to be done about it
I came across the most wonderful article today on ForbesBrandVoice by athenahealth contributor, Dr. Stephen Klasko. The article, What Doctors Aren’t Learning In Medical School And Why It Matters, touches on a theme that has been near and dear to me over the course of my own medical career–the importance of communication and collaboration in healthcare.
Dr. Klasko has intimate knowledge about education, doctors and medical students. He is the President and CEO of the highly regarded Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health in Philadelphia. In the article, he cites some of the findings from athenahealth&...
Source: HealthBlog - October 20, 2015 Category: Information Technology Authors: hlthblog Tags: Uncategorized Clinical Workflow clinics cloud collaboration communication compliance Digital Health Days doctors e-mail eHealth hospitals internet microsoft Office 365 Skype for Business Yammer Source Type: blogs
Health Information Technology: A Guide to Study Design For the Perplexed
This study, which was widely reported in the news media and influenced policy, found significant differences in the rate of flu-related deaths and hospitalizations among the vaccinated elderly compared with their unvaccinated peers. Although it controlled for certain easy-to-measure differences between the 2 groups, such as age, sex, and diabetes, it did not account for other more difficult-to-measure “healthy user” factors that affect the well-being of the elderly, such as their socioeconomic status, diet, exercise, and adherence to medical treatments and advice.
The cohort design has long been a staple in studies of...
Source: The Health Care Blog - September 13, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: John Irvine Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs
CMS Proposed Fee Schedule for 2016 Overview
As we previously published, on July 15, 2015, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published its proposed rule to update the Medicare physician fee schedule for 2016. Among the many proposals, CMS seeks comment on whether to add Open Payments data to its “Physician Compare” website. Additionally, the proposal includes funding previously controversial advance care planning codes, the first regulations implementing the post-SGR legislation, Stark Law exceptions, and more.
Comments are due no later than 5 p.m. on September 8, 2015. You may submit electronic comments on this regulation to www.regulations....
Source: Policy and Medicine - August 21, 2015 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan Source Type: blogs
The crumbling walls of health care is a good thing
There was a doctor. The doctor had an office. In the office, he had a practice. The doctor worked hard, was honest, smart and compassionate. He took care of many patients, everyday, and helped many people. The people paid with cents, checks, and chickens. He was solo, alone, by himself. It was good.
There was a hospital, near the doctor. It was an important hospital. It took care of many patients, everyday, and helped many people. The hospital was alone, by itself. It was good.
And, there was a nursing home.
And, there was a pharmacy.
And, there was an insurance company.
And, there was big pharma.
And, there was a medical ...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - August 18, 2015 Category: Journals (General) Authors: James C. Salwitz, MD Tags: Policy Hospital Source Type: blogs
GP Conference and Scientific meeting
Attention GPs and Solo Practitioners
ABOUT THE CONFERENCE
Date : 3rd October 2015 .
Time : 8.00am till 5.00pm
Venue : Sunway Putra Hotel
1.JOINTLY ORGANISED BY FPMPAM( Federation of Private Medical Practitioners Association’ Malaysia ) affiliated societies , MMA ( Malaysian Medical Association ) , MPCAM ( Medical Practitioners Coalition Association Malaysia ) , PERDIM ( Pertubuhan Doktor Islam Malaysia )
2.To preserve the uniquely evolved Malaysian General Practice System .
3.To unite GPs despite diversity and lead them to agreed goals in an ever changing socia-economic environment filled with covert challeng...
Source: Malaysian Medical Resources - August 14, 2015 Category: Global & Universal Authors: palmdoc Tags: - Events FPMPAM GP MMA Source Type: blogs
What happens when moral physicians stand up to power
Dr. Melos is a gastroenterologist in solo practice in a medium-sized Midwestern city. One day she hears a knock on her door. When she answers, she finds two representatives of Athenian Health System, who request a few minutes of her time. She invites them to take a seat in her office.
After exchanging pleasantries, the visitors get down to business. They extend Dr. Melos an offer to join the ranks of Athenian’s employed physicians. If she declines, they say, they will hire their own gastroenterologist, whose practice will grow rapidly on referrals from their large network.
The representatives of the health system...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - August 14, 2015 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Richard Gunderman, MD, PhD Tags: Policy Hospital Source Type: blogs
