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,…
Let Them Eat Flounder
by Pat Conrad MD •
“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…
Some Cash After Metrics
by Pat Conrad MD •
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…
What Lies Between?
by Pat Conrad MD •
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,…
God Save the Mean
by Pat Conrad MD •
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…
What If Occam Used a Safety Razor?
by Pat Conrad MD •
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…
What the AAFP Does Best
by Pat Conrad MD •
Combine the expertise and philosophies of the federal government and organized medicine, and you wind up with something about as nutritious and appetizing as Thanksgiving dressing made from last year’s salmon mousse. The self-deluded at the AAFP have cranked out another joke disguised as farsighted thinking in their Primary Care Patient Protection Act of 2019 (cue…
This Is Our Reality
by Pat Conrad MD •
“Whatever the Party holds to be the truth, is truth. It is impossible to see reality except by looking through the eyes of the Party. That is the fact that you have got to relearn, Winston. It needs an act of self- destruction, an effort of the will. You must humble yourself before you can…
Authentic Nursing
by Pat Conrad MD •
There is a lot wrong with health care, most of it in fact, from my very jaded perspective. But there is one component that is still very good and decent. Some of the truly finest people I’ve met since entering medicine have been the nurses. As a class of professionals, they hold themselves, and the rest of the…
“Quality and Me Can Save You a Bundle!”
by Pat Conrad MD •
“Waste in the U.S. health care system ranges from $760 billion to $935 billion per year, or more than total annual federal defense spending, according to a new study.” For my money, the U.S. military is too big, way too expensive, and should be pruned back. Yet all of that wasted money is expended under the permission…