“The patient has a severe infection of the hand and is not improving on the current antibiotics,” I explained to the medical director at the insurance company. “I understand. However, the patient has no elevated white count or fever, …
Category: primary care
Let doctors in recovery be able to recover their careers
The stigma of addiction is alive and destructive in Nebraska. I can speak to the truth of this statement because I am an opioid addict in recovery. And if you happen to be a physician like I am, you better be prepared to have your profession and life d…
The elephant in the room: end-of-life discussion with patients
I have been at my current hospital for 12-plus years now. Like many of you, I have gotten to know some of my patients very well. I have known some of them since I first started out here. We talk about my dogs and cows, our newest grandkids, and politic…
Amazon vs. Apple: Only one will rewrite the rules of health care
Big Tech has had a surprisingly small impact on U.S. health care, so far. Artificial intelligence, for example, outperforms physicians in many complex tasks (like reading mammograms and analyzing chest X-rays), yet AI remains woefully underused. Meanwh…
Literacy and patients’ understanding of health education
In my first bioethics class, the components of health education (HE) were just being developed, and despite the passage of time, full understanding remains elusive as HE proved far more complex than originally conceived. We learned, simplistically, by …
I will not sell my soul to modern medicine: Curing physician moral injury
Something is wrong. You can feel it, but you cannot put your finger on it. You go through the motions daily, but your joy is gone-its soul-sucking. Your patients sense it too. They used to love coming to see you, but now they see the changes. The light…
The nicest patient I’ve ever met
The nicest patient I’ve ever met was Mr. Harris. I first met him in the ED with his son and daughter by his side, noticing a foley bag filled with bright red blood. He was an elderly gentleman with ALS and was brought by his children for hematuri…
4 steps to de-escalate hostile people [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes! “The boundaries of unacceptable behavior have eroded in the past few years. Politicians, law enforcement, movie stars, health care providers, the health care system, and society, in g…
Football pervades our society so we must be prepared to deal with it
It’s not that I hate football; truly I don’t. I try hard to get into it. I scan the sports page to become familiar with names, rivalries, predictions, and opinions. I tune in to Sports Extra on Sunday nights for the weekend analysis and wra…
How this primary care doctor found his dream practice
Eleven years ago, I escaped the drudgery of the corporate medicine hamster wheel to set up a solo family practice where I could be my own boss and practice medicine my way. After 38 wonderful years as a family doctor, I am ready to retire. I hope to gi…
