Category: KevinMD

Heart health begins in childhood: 5 tips from a pediatrician

Heart health starts in childhood to avoid cardiovascular disease, hypertension, obesity, and diabetes. Kids today have developed so many bad health habits that they are facing heart attacks in their 30s. Many experts predict they will be the first gene…

The hidden curriculum of medicine

Think all the way back to your grade school years. Did you know that your personality traits were starting to be honed for the work you do today? Let me give you some examples about myself and see if you can relate. I remember the praise and exhilarati…

The dilemmas faced by the chronically ill as they age  

I’ve been concerned lately. Here’s why. In 2001, I got sick with what the doctors assumed was an acute viral infection, but I never recovered. I’m mostly housebound, often bedbound. My diagnosis is the little understood (but much misunderstood) myalgic…

CMS risks ACO success by forcing move to another track

Like many accountable care organizations, Austin Regional Clinic (ARC) in Texas is building a record of success on the Medicare Shared Savings Program’s (MSSP) so-called “Track One.” Now looming, however, is an automatic transfer of ARC to the MSSP’s r…

@HIMSS, physicians don’t want hype. They just want sensible EMR solutions.

A few years ago, I wrote a KevinMD blog post about how cumbersome it was to complete notes in the electronic medical record (EMR). I proposed a solution in our residency clinic but encountered resistance in the adoption process that eventually led to i…

6 easy hacks from a pediatrician to make healthier kids’ lunches

You may have noticed your child seems to be bored of their bag lunch and most of it being brought back home or dumped in the garbage. Lunch is an important meal to get kids the energy they need to get through the second half of the school day. Strive t…

The crippling health effects of another government shutdown

At midnight on February 15th, if Republicans and Democrats don’t come to an agreement about border security funding, the American people will be facing the possibility of a third government shutdown since President Trump took office. The most recent go…

Why increasing patient volume won’t work

Once again, we find ourselves stuck between a rock and a hard place. Increasingly, providers are being pressured to improve access for our patients, which we certainly think is a good thing. We want our patients to come in, whether it’s for their…

Dr. C. Nicole Swiner: Physician Speaking by KevinMD spotlight speaker

Physician Speaking by KevinMD is a boutique speakers bureau founded by Kevin Pho, MD. Today’s spotlight physician speaker is Dr. C. Nicole Swiner. C. Nicole Swiner, MD, known as “DocSwiner,” is a family physician, two-time best-selling author, blogger,…

Is gaming disorder a real addiction, and how can I tell if it’s affecting my child?

Studies have shown that video games and other addictions, such as alcohol and nicotine, affect neural pathways in similar ways: They all lead to an increase in dopamine levels in specific pleasure centers of the brain. While drugs increase dopamine lev…