Today’s fee-for-service oncology business model misaligns incentives by rewarding practices for keeping margins and service volumes high — even when it’s wasteful — rather than for optimizing patient outcomes. While discussions of drug pric…
Category: Policy
A new rule that could be a game changer for health care
As President Donald Trump was fighting with Congress over the shutdown and funding for a border wall, his administration implemented a new rule that could be a game changer for health care. Now, hospitals must publicly reveal the contents of their mast…
The devaluation of physicians
Chip Kelly was a former coach and general manager of my beloved Philadelphia Eagles. He was a firm believer in his “system” and felt that his players were disposable and easily replaced. Because of that, he proceeded to trade away or release very tale…
The power of advocacy: How doctors can be empowered physicians
An excerpt from Recapturing Joy in Medicine, During my year as chief resident, I was also president of the Florida Association of Family Medicine Residents. The faculty at my residency program inspired me by their excellence as clinicians and teachers….
The power of advocacy: How doctors can be empowered physicians
An excerpt from Recapturing Joy in Medicine, During my year as chief resident, I was also president of the Florida Association of Family Medicine Residents. The faculty at my residency program inspired me by their excellence as clinicians and teachers….
How pharmacy-based primary care takes the low-hanging fruit
With the announcement of CVS Health HUBs, the synergy of data and business is rapidly coming to the health sector; health systems will become havens only for the severely acutely ill, the more complex, the expensive. In the same way that urgent care ce…
Language matters: the not-so-innocuous provider effect
Language matters. The use of the word “provider” may seem innocuous, but it is significant both for patients and physicians. For patients, it has been perhaps the most pronounced step — if not leap — away from transparency. (Who is who? Nur…
In our health system, who “owns” patients?
A guest column by the American College of Physicians, exclusive to KevinMD.com. When talking with patients – particularly those with multiple, complicated medical issues – it often doesn’t take very long to hear about their increasingly sub…
When physician pay packages become hospital kickbacks
For a hospital that had once labored to break even, Wheeling Hospital displayed abnormally deep pockets when recruiting doctors. To lure Dr. Adam Tune, an anesthesiologist from nearby Pittsburgh who specialized in pain management, the Catholic hospital…
Here’s the secret to emergency department efficiency
A gray-haired emergency medicine physician once provided the most succinct view of ED efficiency ever uttered. He said, “Sometimes they ask us to dig a ditch. Then they give us spoons with which to do the job.” Though cynical, it is the view of many. T…
