“It is high time for us to recognize that the physicians who spend so much of their lives caring for us are often suffering in silence, and effective interventions would be good medicine for all of us.” – Joan M. Anzia, MD On February 4, 2007, I …
Category: KevinMD
5 ways to lessen the physician burden in the product evaluation process
Keeping tabs on the sheer volume of medical drugs and devices on the market is nearly impossible – the FDA approved a record 105 novel medical devices and 59 new drugs in 2018 alone. At the same, hospitals and physicians face ever-growing pressure to c…
The System has a tremendous advantage over physicians
My niece, whom we will call Anne, recently completed her residency. I remember Anne as a child: always smiling, always happy, idealistic. She excelled academically and chose medical school despite my reservations. I watched Anne proceed through medical…
ER staff deserve a safe place to do their jobs
Many years ago, it was called the emergency room. Now we call it the emergency department. However, unlike so many departments in the world, the emergency department has almost too many purposes, duties, and mandates to number. However, in the process …
How drugmakers became masters at producing authorized generics
When PDL BioPharma’s $40 million blood-pressure medicine faced the threat of a generic rival this year, the company pulled out a little-known strategy that critics say helps keep drugs expensive and competition weak. It launched its own generic version…
Should USMLE Step 1 be pass-fail?
On March 11th and 12th, representatives from the NBME, AMA, AAMC, Federation of State Medical Boards and the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates gathered in Philadelphia for InCUS — the Invitational Conference on USMLE Scoring — to dis…
Arm yourself with new dementia information
Everyone knows someone today who’s dealing with dementia. And as a geriatrician — that means a lot of questions come my way. Questions about parents who recently had cognitive testing, about the role of assisted living, about prevention — you nam…
Want resilience? Look to your patients.
On a beautiful spring morning, I found myself in an outpatient OB clinic, ready to begin the last rotation of my third year of medical school. My attending physician greeted me and patiently (but quickly) showed me the ropes. I spent the better part of…
Want resilience? Look to your patients.
On a beautiful spring morning, I found myself in an outpatient OB clinic, ready to begin the last rotation of my third year of medical school. My attending physician greeted me and patiently (but quickly) showed me the ropes. I spent the better part of…
While pharmacy benefit managers are watching cable, patients are streaming Netflix
Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) including Express Scripts, CVS Health, and OptumRX are the subject of intense criticism by virtually everyone in medicine and politics. While the purpose of PBM’s group purchasing business model was intended to contribu…
