Category: KevinMD

What advocacy means to this physician

Patients first Patient care brings me enormous satisfaction. Nearly 40 years ago, when I chose medicine as a career, this was a driving force. Within moments of patients coming into my office, they often share aspects of their life history known only t…

What advocacy means to this physician

Patients first Patient care brings me enormous satisfaction. Nearly 40 years ago, when I chose medicine as a career, this was a driving force. Within moments of patients coming into my office, they often share aspects of their life history known only t…

Before you vent about your doctor on social media, read this

John and I met as young children and were high-school sweethearts. We married and put him through college and had four children during the process. He joined the Air Force to pay for medical school, and we spent four years overseas to help pay off the …

Are clinically integrated networks a cure for checkbox medicine?

Years ago, I was contacted by a health plan about an elderly nursing home patient who had not been screened for osteoporosis. While brittle bones are a big problem in skilled nursing settings, the real problem for this health plan was its low HEDIS sco…

The problem with abbreviations in the medical record

Several patients seen in our practice recently were significantly and dramatically transformed by the electronic health record (EHR). And not in a good way. Take, for instance, the patient whose outside chart was reviewed when she showed up in our offi…

Should residency programs review their applicants’ social media history?

By now, I’m sure most of you probably have heard about the Cleveland Clinic first-year resident who was fired last September when it became known that in 2012 she had tweeted she would “purposely give all the yahood [Jews] the wrong meds …” The website…

Why doctors-in-training need better nutritional education

Obesity is a global epidemic, and its prevalence is increasing in every part of the world. While we have new medications and complex surgical techniques that promote weight loss, the awareness of healthy eating habits and dietary education are still th…

Your patients are counting on you

A guest column by the American Society of Anesthesiologists, exclusive to KevinMD.com. I recently attended a state medical society’s annual meeting where the agenda consisted of an awards program, several speakers and a keynote address.  The highlight …

Get ready for health care disruption

Just like you, I’m trying to make sense of the world around me. But there are no templates for the bridge that health care’s building for its future. All we can do is listen to weak signals and amplify them. Recently (and finally), CVS boug…

Get ready for health care disruption

Just like you, I’m trying to make sense of the world around me. But there are no templates for the bridge that health care’s building for its future. All we can do is listen to weak signals and amplify them. Recently (and finally), CVS boug…