The Affordable Care Act, aka “Obamacare,” has improved patient’s access to health care since its passing in 2010. The increase in coverage, however, does not address the restriction of prior authorization (PA), where a physician is required by a patien…
Category: KevinMD
Medical residents need parental leave
My wife and I had a baby a few months ago. Or, more accurately, she birthed a child while I sat in the corner, contemplating the miracle of reproductive physiology in a vasovagal fugue. In the months leading up to and following that wondrous moment, we…
Health care is like lions for lambs
I just watched the movie 1917 at the theatre. Shot in a unique way giving an immersive experience, showing the frontline reality of war through an unforgettable human story, it has to be one of the greatest war movies ever made. I’d encourage everyone …
Margaret Mead was right about health care
One of my graduate school professors proclaimed that what is wrong with our society is that most people have not reached formal operations or have not been in psychotherapy. Formal operations is the stage of development, described by French researcher …
Why medical students shouldn’t always fall in line
As I saw the fellow purposely manipulate her fractured ankle, I knew I was wrong in not stopping him. Three hours earlier, Mr. Sanchez*, a past boxer, and soccer player, came in with a broken pinky. He was moving from Atlanta to Houston, and in the pro…
Everyone has their moments. Even doctors.
I sit in Dr. Victor’s small crowded waiting room, awaiting my turn. I am seated between two women, the one on my left probably 45, and the one on my right, somewhat older, both though younger than me. The lady on my right doesn’t have much …
How health care is like a convoluted financial investment scheme
The business of medicine is unlike any other type of standard “business” in that health insurance and hospitals confound what would appear to be a simple exchange of services for a set price. You know that the confusion is bad when neither doctors nor…
How you can show patients you are listening
Being a physician is an important role. It’s easy to forget the impact that you have on a patient just by being at their bedside. It’s huge. Have you ever been a patient? It’s an incredibly vulnerable experience. You’re not real…
Doctors: Take a sick day
Every winter, flu season descends upon the hospital. The most consistent reaction among any of our physicians — trainee and attending alike — who succumb to this nasty virus is one of guilt. Even the thought of “calling out sick” leads to s…
Doctors: Take a sick day
Every winter, flu season descends upon the hospital. The most consistent reaction among any of our physicians — trainee and attending alike — who succumb to this nasty virus is one of guilt. Even the thought of “calling out sick” leads to s…
