Dr. Kevin

1. Chronic Disease: The Financial Crux Of The Healthcare Crisis
   A guest post by Val Jones, MD.On the eve of our second presidential debate, I had the chance to interview Dr. Ken Thorpe, Executive Director of the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD), about America’s healthcare crisis. Here’s what he had to say (click here to listen to the podcast):1. ...
   Mon, 06 Oct 2008 20:04:49 -0500
   
   

2. Prison doctors
   Despite the potentially tough environment, there are some advantages to being a prison physician. Salary for a board-certified physician starts at almost $250,000 a year. Furthermore, there are some other perks that you may not have thought of:There are no hassles with third-party payers, patients...
   Mon, 06 Oct 2008 13:05:30 -0500
   
   

3. Will the current economic woes save primary care?
   While watching the stock market dives 500 points today, Richard Reece gives an interesting take. Maybe the economic turmoil will force another look at rampant health care spending. There will be an epiphany that no other solution exists except for the re-emergence of primary care. Perhaps it takes...
   Mon, 06 Oct 2008 12:32:30 -0500
   
   

4. Paper charts
   Electronic records are a recent theme here. #1 Dinosaur give his take in a Medscape piece (registration required), calling the current crop of EMRs nor ready for widespread use:The EMRs promise of a "paperless" office is as distant as ever. It's much easier to keep my efficient, time-tested paper c...
   Mon, 06 Oct 2008 12:27:59 -0500
   
   

5. Bashing Demerol
   For good reason. Both Shadowfax and ER Stories write about the addictive potential of this narcotic, and how there is really no positive indication for its use.
   Mon, 06 Oct 2008 09:10:35 -0500
   
   

6. Politicians and cosmetic procedures
   It seems like they all get work done, which is no surprise given the media attention. Joe Biden's probable botox treatment is next to be analyzed by this plastic surgeon.
   Mon, 06 Oct 2008 08:46:43 -0500
   
   

7. Legal trouble with blog comments
   Dr. Wes alludes to his legal ordeal with anonymous comments. I applaud his stand not to take the offending comment or the post down. It's more than I would have done. However, he did pay a price in terms of a hefty legal expense and three visits to court.Comments are moderated here, and because of...
   Mon, 06 Oct 2008 08:44:47 -0500
   
   

8. Massachusetts and emergency overcrowding
   Massachusetts' emergency departments are overflowing with newly-insured patients. Don't want to say I told you so but I can't help it:Doctors and counselors working the front lines of emergency care say a major reason patients still flock to their doors for routine care is that there are too few pr...
   Mon, 06 Oct 2008 07:51:40 -0500
   
   

9. Recruiting versus retaining doctors
   Doctors are at odds with administrators in this California hospital. The administrators simply calls the physicians "whiners", and are ignoring the reasons behind the exodus of physicians.I'm sure this scenario is being played out nationwide:In our quarterly staff meetings, the number of doctor res...
   Sun, 05 Oct 2008 21:59:49 -0500
   
   

10. The NY Times targets doctors, again
    A recent editorial comments on Medicare's never-event policy.There is no question that hospitals and doctors shouldn't be paid for catastrophic mistakes, like wrong-site surgery. However, the editorial seems to support the widespread expansion of the initiative:In the long run, as the list of condi...
    Sun, 05 Oct 2008 21:50:36 -0500
    
    

11. Implementing electronic records
    A technologist notes some of the pitfalls obstructing widespread EMR adoption. One important point is that those behind the systems don't know how doctors work, or what makes their lives easier. Until they do, and can come up with systems that improve physician's lives, resistance will continue:A l...
    Sun, 05 Oct 2008 21:37:23 -0500