<span itemprop="author">Richard Young, MD

Author's posts

Patients in Sweden received fewer post-op opioids. Why is that?

When I was in Sweden, I heard this phrase several times: “There is no such thing as bad weather, just bad preparation.” They said this when we asked them what they did with their children in dead of winter. The proud parents made it very clear that no …

Medicine is too complex for computers to keep up with or understand

Family physicians and others have for years complained about ridiculous quality measures such as the meaningless use program, HEDIS, MACRA, etc. To its credit, the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality was willing to take a step back and ask, “Wh…

An American physician in Sweden. Here’s what he thought about its health care.

I had the distinct pleasure working with family physician colleagues in Sweden recently. It was a similar experience to a trip I made to Britain about five years ago that I also wrote about. I got to spend some time watching one of my colleagues care f…

Fee for service is not the root of all evil

Some people think that the solution to better-supported primary care is in direct primary care/salaried physician payment models. I don’t think it is the best answer. I realize money is not the only motivator explaining why people perform work. Meaning…

Why managers will never be a source of disruptive innovation in health care

I have had several dealings with the benefits managers/HR managers of large corporations and other large organizations over my career. I have one over-arching conclusion about what motivates these people: They will never be a source of disruptive innov…