“Fraud in the health care industry is a fact of life. In 2016 alone, the federal government estimated that improper payments by Medicare and Medicaid totaled about $95 billion. And that’s only a single year’s amount for just two of the governme…
Category: Public Health & Policy
What we can learn from England about universal health care
It’s winter in Oxford, and I’m biking to the John Radcliffe Hospital, the flagship medical center of England’s National Health Service. It’s raining, and the chain on my bike keeps slipping off the gear. “Figures — I…
Why is the government so scared of directly negotiating drug prices?
President Trump recently signed two executive orders directly related to prescription drug prices in the U.S. One order would allow the “reimportation” of prescription drugs from Canada. This longstanding idea would allow U.S. pharmacies an…
How being an immigrant shaped my approach to patient care
Think about the fear and uncertainty that ensues when being involuntarily uprooted from one’s home and community. Now imagine a shy, self-conscious fourteen-year-old girl being told that she has to switch high schools – not once, but twice. You may rea…
Speak up for Black lives
I never gave much thought to racism until the Black Lives Matter movement, let alone dwell on my role as a physician with the power to contribute to the marginalization of Black Americans. I didn’t think that I needed to do so; I considered mysel…
Can there be hope amid politics?
I consider myself to be an apolitical person. I try to stay informed. I vote. But when it comes to politics, I prefer to listen to what others have to say more than I like to talk about what I think. But after watching the first woman of color accept t…
Why physician advocacy is so important [PODCAST]
“We need to stay healthy for our patients, but also for ourselves and our families. We need to mobilize the faction not just with regard to this pandemic, but by anticipating the arrival of others. So how do we advocate for ourselves? A great way…
The path to a healthy nation starts with the you, the voter
It is hard to envision that this is an election year. With a paucity of campaign ads and the presidential nominees locked up for quite a while, I didn’t even know that the Democratic convention was going on until I saw a report about it after the…
Love one another. Respect each other. We sure could use this today.
I never have a problem going to sleep. In fact, after I work a night shift, I easily go into a semi-coma. But tonight is different. 2 days off from work, with a regular sleep schedule at night, but my mind is twirling. I can’t sleep. So at 3 a.m….
Pediatric practices face financial strain [PODCAST]
“Physicians are trained to do what is best for their patients and to do no harm. Independent practices have sat quietly watching, feeling hopeless as our communities cannot access the care they need, shamefully shutting our doors to spend hours o…
