More than twenty years ago in family practice residency, we were introduced to caring “for the whole patient.” We were supposed to know everything about their entire lives, their jobs, economic status, their families, and so forth. The logical discipline was, of course, that really knowing someone would translate to better treatment, better care. That makes sense. Yet even…
Once again, another fine case of a hospital deciding to target a physician, in this instance, an OB/GYN named Rebecca Denman, MD. “In December 2017, a nurse practitioner at St. Vincent Carmel Hospital reported that Denman smelled of alcohol while working an overnight shift” and reported her … the next day. Was Denman drinking on duty? “She noted that…
Has the average human body temperature dropped? Some researchers think so. Having looked at data spanning 157 years, and adjusting for potential variances in measuring methodologies, they figure our average temp has dropped by about one half of one degree Fahrenheit. A lot of variables are postulated, including less overall inflammation, different microbial exposures, and improved hygiene…
If physicians have any worth to society, it ought to begin with their telling the truth. Some of you have read my repeated claim that health care is a thoroughly dishonest industry, and it is. Our profession is guilty of allowing that corruption to infect and direct us. An old friend of mine who works in an…
A Milwaukee woman died earlier this month because her local ER wait times were purportedly too long. She Facebook’d: “’Idk what they can do about the emergency system at freodert (sic)but they damn sure need to do something,’ she wrote around 7:35 p.m., according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. ‘I have been here since 4:30 for shortness of breath,…
“There is perhaps no phenomenon which contains so much destructive feeling as ‘moral indignation’, which permits envy or hate to be acted out under the guise of virtue.” – Erich Fromm Stereotypes exist for a reason. One of my favorite stereotypes is the hand-wringing bleeding heart who seeks to gain adoration by demonstrating their inestimable goodness, so…
The headline “Physician Compensation Programs Move Toward Value-Based Pay” suggests that this is a fait accompli, and maybe it is. A broad survey showed “value-based incentive components in primary care compensation was up five percent from last year, with 62 percent of organizations incorporating these incentives into their physician compensation programs.” Hmm. “The report found that value-based incentive…
If the holidays are starting to leave you feeling a little run down, it’s perfectly understandable. Between the Thanksgiving stuffing, frantic shopping, and frantically running to the doctor after your mother-in-law Googles “RSV,” everyone is likely feeling depleted. Sure, you can go the traditional route of less consumption, more exercise, and more rest to get tuned up,…
As a long-time, dedicated critic of Medicare and all other forms of central planning health care, it is amusing to see some of the presidential candidates swirling about a core dedication to single-payer health. And make no mistake, that is precisely the goal of any and all enlargements, enhancements, amplifications, and spreading of Medicare and Medicaid. It’s…
It is frightening how much of this society devotes itself to making things more complex than they need be. Sure, a great portion of this is simple parasitic graft, legions of government employees, swarms of consultants, and the entire accounting industry whose economic survival depends on leaching cash out of those who earn it. Yet beyond these…