Family physicians and others have for years complained about ridiculous quality measures such as the meaningless use program, HEDIS, MACRA, etc. To its credit, the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality was willing to take a step back and ask, “Wh…
It’s a widely held belief that eventually all living human doctors will be replaced by robots. Some say as soon as 2035. I say, “Why wait? Replace me now!” If the idea of a robot diagnosing and treating — and examining — you and your loved ones seems o…
So, who doesn’t want a better health care system? We are barraged with stories in the medical literature and in the public press about the terrible state of our health care system, what poor outcomes we have, the inefficiencies in care, complaint…
I was struck by the difference between my care and that of the rest of the system as I cared for a patient recently. She was complaining of a strange pulsating noise in her ear that had started a few weeks before. We chatted for a while, as I asked abo…
It wasn’t even nine o’clock when the screen on my laptop suddenly froze. From that moment until my last patient left the building, my clinic had no internet. For my part, the day went pretty smoothly, mostly because of some of my own work habits. It al…
I’m a doctor. And, like most medical professionals, I’m a bad patient. Two years after my last appointment, I got a CTJ, “Come to Jesus” from my doctor. I called his office for a form. I needed proof that I don’t have tertiary syphilis. For my Thai vis…
A few months ago, I realized it was time to have a conversation with my tweenage son that I had been dreading. It wasn’t where babies come from. It wasn’t about death or illness or substance abuse. My son, always sensitive and inquisitive, was sitt…
It’s a funny world we live in. Lots of people make a handsome living, defining their work and setting their own fees and hours with little or no formal education or certification There are personal and executive coaches, wealth advisers, marketing expe…
When the Human Genome Project began in 1990, bioethicists feared that giving people the results of genetic tests would do them a lot more harm than good. Experts feared that individuals who received genetic information about their future health status …
Falling through the cracks, when it comes to health care, is a bad thing, but the way things are going, it’s getting harder and harder to avoid. Providers in every setting are bombarded on all sides with data, results, messages, and things crying…
