An excerpt from The Pharmacist is a Whore: How Pharmacists Lost Control of Their Profession and Why You Should Care. The day patients became customers was a black day for us all. Don’t get me wrong, pharmacy has always been a service profession, and we take that very seriously. However, by virtue of our degree in […]
As you sit here in the office, waiting for this visit to be over, I wonder if you would let me share just a few things with you. Despite your impeccable eyeshadow, your impressive GPA, and the smile you flash so readily, I sense that there are things left unsaid. I am curious if there […]
I sat in seat 23F next to the window, took out my leftover dinner from my backpack, and furiously started eating. A few minutes later, a man wearing an Astros baseball cap sat next to me with a puzzled look. “You sure look hungry.” “I am, can’t beat fried noodles with chicken. My name’s T.J. […]
The stories are disturbing. A pregnant emergency physician assaulted in a hallway. A patient leaping from the bed, wielding medical equipment as a weapon against the care team. A security guard intervening in a tense waiting room confrontation late at night. Most people find the violence hard to fathom, but for emergency physicians, these threats […]
When I talk to medical practices about hierarchical condition category (HCC) and risk-adjusted diagnosis coding, I receive a lot of questions that point to the existence of persistent urban legends! Let’s separate fact from fiction. Urban legend #1: CPT fee-for-service coding will be a distant memory when we switch from volume to value Not anytime […]
I spent my first two years of medical school collecting stories. I journaled about my thoughts in the anatomy lab. I wrote about what it was like to learn how to interview and examine patients, about the immense honor and privilege I felt just being able to don a white coat with a stethoscope around […]
“There’s no heartbeat.” Three words no one ever wants to hear. Three words no one ever wants to deliver. And yet, as a community of physicians, we deliver those crushing words on a daily basis. None of us would ever take the task of bearing this piece of news lightly, but for me, it was […]
I cannot get behind fat acceptance, or better stated in medical lingo as “normalizing obesity.” As a physician and as someone who has been obese or morbidly obese my adult life, I know first hand what it’s like to hate my body and feel ashamed of it. I still do this very moment as I […]
The California Department of Justice mandate to consult CURES (Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation) prior to prescribing, ordering, administering, or furnishing a Schedule II, II or IV controlled substance becomes effective on October 2, 2018. The law states that CURES must be consulted the first time a patient is prescribed, ordered or administered a Schedule […]
I’m proud to announce that I have partnered with Health eCareers to launch Careers by KevinMD.com: a new, dedicated career center ready to support your career at every stage. Whether you’re ready to make the leap to a new job or just keeping your ear to the ground, there’s something here for every medical professional. […]
