I was reading an article in The New York Times entitled, “The Rise of the Virtual Restaurant.” More and more people, particularly in urban settings, are using apps like Uber Eats, Grubhub, and DoorDash to bring fresh, warm food directly to …
Category: primary care
Communicating honestly with patients about uncertainty
When looking at the way medical education and patient care is delivered, there is no question that there is a culture of “knowing.” From the moment a pre-med enters high school, they are bombarded with tests that assess knowledge. This extends througho…
Communicating honestly with patients about uncertainty
When looking at the way medical education and patient care is delivered, there is no question that there is a culture of “knowing.” From the moment a pre-med enters high school, they are bombarded with tests that assess knowledge. This extends througho…
It’s time for physicians to bring clarity to their lives
I meet doctors in different arenas. I meet them in clinical settings, at conferences, and by referral. I am noticing a trend. We are keenly aware of what we do not want in medicine. We talk about physician burnout and the impact it has on doctors’ liv…
When Medicare stops covering a test without warning
There are two versions of “the conversation” we have with men: One is for teenage boys, and it is about wet dreams, sexually transmitted disease, unwanted pregnancy and at one point also about testicular self-examinations. Those have now been edited ou…
Convincing patients to stop cancer screening isn’t always easy
During my training to become a primary care physician, the importance of preventive cancer screening was ingrained in me. The idea of catching cancer at an early stage so we can better treat it made intuitive sense. But as I’ve learned over the years, …
What is low-value care, and why does it matter?
Doctors and policy wonks hear a lot these days about “low-value care.” What exactly is that, and should you care? The term refers to tests, medications, and procedures that add little to a patient’s health or well-being but which cost them or the syste…
Asking patients the right questions isn’t as easy as you think
I made my 10:20 a.m. patient wait while I told my support staff about my day off. “I was getting an ice cream when I saw a car accident. By the time I got there, it was clear that there were no serious injuries and all I did was to distract the p…
How coding is like Scrabble
One of the great nuisances in medicine is diagnosis coding. According to Medicare and insurance companies across the U.S., each and every disease must have a unique number. Everything must be quantified and recorded. Why? To facilitate analysis, number…
Drs. Lynette Charity and C. Nicole Swiner highlight the Indiana State Medical Association’s 2019 Annual Convention
Indiana physicians! I’m excited to announce that two speakers from Physician Speaking by KevinMD, Drs. Lynette Charity and Nicole Swiner, will be conducting a day-long physician wellness workshop at the Indiana State Medical Association’s 2…
