Don’t blame doctors for outrageous prices

--------------------------------------------------------------- Here are the stories you missed on KevinMD. Thank you for your continuing readership. --------------------------------------------------------------- Sponsors [eBrief]( How to move the needle on patient satisfaction and other measures that matter. Consumers have a choice -- are they choosing your hospital? [Get the eBrief now](. Each member of a medical care team plays an [important role in reducing the number of incidents]( that can cause patient dissatisfaction, injury, and lawsuits. We could all learn from these [tips to improving hospitalist/patient communication](. A typical provider spends close to $4,000 on paper and fax supplies each year and loses another $41,000 to patient no-shows. Sound high? [Calculate your spend](. [Infographic]( 7 questions that will help prepare your hospital for the unexpected. [Learn more](. [Patient misidentification can lead to medical errors, patient harm, and costly inefficiencies]( for providers. Get the facts on patient misidentification, and [learn how to avoid it]( from organizations that use biometrics to do so. --------------------------------------------------------------- KevinMD Plus: Jun 14, 2018 [Don’t blame doctors for outrageous emergency department prices]( Recently I posted a piece, describing research out of Johns Hopkins, showing that when patients come to ERs — either with no insurance or insurance that is out-of-network — they often face charges that are four, six, or even ten-fold greater than what Medicare would pay for the same services. After the post, I was inundated with […] [Being idealistic is a necessary component in achieving your goals]( I am a first-year medical student, and just like some of you once did, the primary reason I am becoming a physician is to really make a difference for my patients by [insert x, y or z]. “Wow, that’s really great, but we’ll see how you feel about it in a few years.” “That’s not […] [Identifying social determinants of health is critical to the patient interview]( After a semester of medical school, I returned home to the Antelope Valley in California, an area CNN coined, “health care’s nowhere land” because of low health insurance rates and limited provider networks that force residents to travel far for care. I wanted to help my family and neighbors by using the physical exam skills […] [A better way to follow-up your office visit is needed]( Actual conversation heard in the hallway outside an exam room earlier this week: Doctor: “So, we’re going try this medicine for your blood pressure; you keep checking it at home as we discussed. If the numbers remain high, we can increase the dose or add another medicine.” Patient: “Well, what do we do if the […] [5 reasons why you can’t start passive income streams]( It seems like everywhere I look these days people are talking about passive income streams: why you should start them, which ones you could start, how they can change your life, and how much money you can make from them. Doctors commonly look for ways to create passive income as a way of being able to […] [Colon cancer screening at age 45: Here’s what a gastroenterologist thinks]( The American Cancer Society (ACS) recently released new guidelines regarding colorectal cancer screening for the average-risk individual. The big news is that they now recommend that screening for colorectal cancer begin at age 45 rather than age 50. This reduction in the starting age was in reaction to recent data showing that colon cancer is increasing in […] [How this physician deals with race-based comments]( It seems like every other day, there’s a new discussion or debate which emerges about the unique challenges that minorities face in America. This is, of course, a sensitive topic, because minorities in any arena will always have their personal story. Whether it’s because of your color, or anything else that makes you feel like […] --------------------------------------------------------------- [Conference planners!]( Find vetted, handpicked physician speakers that shine on stage. [Physician Speaking by KevinMD: Your audience deserves the best](. --------------------------------------------------------------- [This physician loves his podcast. Here’s why.]( I love my podcast. I believe that it may become one of my greatest accomplishments in life. A podcast is like a talk radio show. The difference is that it is broadcast over the internet instead of on the radio. Podcasting is a fast-growing form of entertainment and educational media. I started podcasting a few […] [7 habits of being on call]( 1. You sleep when you can. Despite what medical television dramas portray, call room beds are for sleeping. Period. As you curl up into the bed you have no idea whether you are about to get a couple hours of sleep or a couple of minutes, but in that moment of sheer exhaustion, the drab […] [Not me: the story of a female surgical subspecialist]( I’ve thought long and hard about writing this, so here goes: I am a female surgical subspecialist. I trained at a Harvard program back in the 1990s, and was one of a handful of women to have completed residency training at a stodgy 125-year-old program. The eighth, to be exact. During that time, I was […] [This physician vows not to rush]( My last patient of the day was an elderly woman with metastatic lung cancer, a non-smoker who had been battling this terrible disease for more than a year. I was running thirty minutes behind. I had a packed afternoon with difficult cases and patients who required more of my time and care. I peeked into […] [Why physicians should care about structural racism]( This year marks the 50th anniversary of the passage of the Fair Housing Act, which formally outlaws racial discrimination in the sale and rental of housing. The Act, passed in the wake of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., had, at its core, the goal of affirmatively promoting equitable and integrated housing across the […] [The new doc on the block: 7 lessons from my first year of being a doctor]( Congratulations! You made it through medical school, got your MD/DO degree, and can officially be called doctor! One day, you’re a student. The next, you’re a doctor and with that come the responsibility, trust, compassion, and professionalism associated with our career. But how do you transition? It starts with your mindset and then deciding to […] [A doctor on a recent winning streak]( There are many days in primary care when you feel like you are treading water; nobody gets substantially better as time and disease progression seem to always win over your own and your patients’ efforts. But sometimes you hit a winning streak. The past few weeks seemed to bring me one diagnostic or therapeutic coup […] [Has the anti-vaccine movement affected vaccination rates?]( Vaccines have been hailed by virtually all medical experts, as well as medical historians, as the among the greatest triumphs of public health to occur in the past two centuries. Yet since Jenner first proposed vaccination for smallpox using the vaccinia, or cowpox, virus there have been both skeptics of its effectiveness and people who […] [The cognitive dissonance of prescribing narcotics]( I know a bit about the opioid epidemic ravaging America. My wife and I grew up in West Virginia and follow the news from home. I practice emergency medicine in rural South Carolina, and have worked in Georgia, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Indiana. I have seen the enemy, and it is terrible to behold. The […] --------------------------------------------------------------- If a friend sent you this email and you want to subscribe, go to [KevinMD](. --------------------------------------------------------------- 345 Hudson Street New York NY 10014 USA [Unsubscribe]( | [Change Subscriber Options](