On June 1, two doctors, a medical receptionist, and a patient were gunned down in the doctors’ outpatient office in Tulsa, Oklahoma. An investigation revealed that one of the doctors was the intended target — a patient, angry because his pain was…
Category: Public Health & Policy
Gun control vs. violent criminal control
KevinMD contributors, virtually without exception, have asserted the solution to events like the horrific tragedy in Uvalde, Texas, is “gun control.” Allow me to present an alternative viewpoint in the interest of diversity of opinion. Firs…
The “wonder years” of health care
In the wake of medical home certification, meaningful use, the Cures Act, and the pandemic, it’s clear that virtually all health care is now built on a digital foundation. EHRs are pervasive in the delivery system and are increasingly connected to prac…
America trains enough doctors: Redefining medical supply and demand
If the U.S. medical system is a chessboard, and providers are the game pieces, America is playing those pieces with one column, row, and role instead of using the whole space. Several journals, economists, and medical professionals forecast physician s…
Medicaid expansion for postpartum support
As an emergency medicine physician, I see firsthand the consequences of being a patient in America without health insurance. While the Biden administration previously addressed a key gap in insurance coverage known as the family glitch, other gaps rema…
Utilization management is medicine’s great conspiracy theory
So-called “evidence-based guidelines” are slowly destroying the practice of medicine, and companies that develop these proprietary guidelines are guilty of conspiring with payers to deny individuals necessary medical treatment. Guideline de…
How to tackle the physician shortage
The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) predicts that at least 139,000 doctors will be needed by 2033, particularly in rural and low-income areas. In an attempt to address this need, states have been replacing physicians with non-physician …
Stop financially handicapping non-citizen physicians
“I’m sad you are leaving! But I’m sure you had your loans forgiven by coming here! So I am happy for you!” A colleague said this upon learning I was leaving to pursue a fellowship. Her comment stung. As a non-citizen with privat…
Politics is health care on a grand scale
At the same time that gun violence becomes the leading cause of death for children in the U.S., lawmakers and political pundits caution the public against turning gun violence into a political issue. Yet as Jelani Cobb writes in the New Yorker, the mas…
It’s time for evidence-based change to reduce gun violence
As we are all processing the horrific events that occurred in Texas, as a psychiatrist and advocate for individuals suffering from mental illness, I beg you not to state this individual was mentally ill. We do not know enough information to come to thi…
