If doctors wanted to be wealthy, they would have become UPS truck drivers

--------------------------------------------------------------- Here are the stories you missed on KevinMD. Thank you for your continuing readership. --------------------------------------------------------------- Sponsors [Secure communications in health care: Do you know all your options?] Good security is important when it comes to personal health information, along with the imperative for easy, constant, and mobile communication among health care professionals and organizations. [Read the eBrief now]. [Is your hospital communication system trapped in the dark ages?] Just like a medieval page boy, pagers are annoying and inefficient. This leads to delayed patient care, frustrated providers, and potential HIPAA breaches. Learn why you need to ditch your [Page Boy] today. Will the hospital of the future just be one big ICU? [Find out how digital health technology will change hospitalization]. Plus, how technology will [empower patients for good -- and for bad]. [Video]: See how your staff can protect sensitive information with a variety of devices that offer flexibility, convenience and security, including smartphones, tablets, and pagers. [Watch the video]. --------------------------------------------------------------- KevinMD Today: Sep. 22, 2016 [If doctors wanted to be wealthy, they would have become UPS truck drivers] Do doctors make too much money? I don’t think so. I read with great interest the blog by Dr. Michael Kirsch defending physicians’ salaries: “If you think doctors make too much money, think about this.” Unfortunately, the public’s perception of physicians’ incomes has been that physicians make too much money. Whenever I hear this remark […] [What medicine can learn from Wells Fargo] In 1996, Jerry Maguire was fired for advocating a reduction in his sports management firm’s client base thereby risking the firm’s profits. While writing his infamous memo (or as he would tell you, his mission statement), he recalled his mentor’s advice: “The key to this business is personal relationships.” Tom Cruise’s voiceover continues: “Suddenly, it […] [You’ll be shocked and saddened when you find out what doctors really do] The television doctors: Striding purposefully through the ER, giving orders, surrounded by a gaggle of eager learners and a super-team of nurses and techs. Or spending hours operating, then sipping martinis while waiting for the next disaster. Maybe saving lives in between daydreams and liaisons with hot colleagues and nurses. All in a day’s work! […] [Fee-for-service isn’t always a bad thing] One of the biggest shifts in American health care over the last several years (and we’ve only just seen the tip of the iceberg so far) is the shift of the system away from the traditional fee-for-service model, and towards a system based more on quality, outcomes, and yes, a degree of rationing. By all […] [One action that could ease our EHR pain] A guest column by the American College of Physicians, exclusive to KevinMD.com. This September, I reached a milestone, the tenth anniversary of my electronic health record (EHR) “go live.” Note that I did not write “I celebrated my tenth anniversary,” because while the event was the most disruptive change in over 25 years of practice, […] [Does psychiatry worsen mental illness stigma?] When a person gets depressed over their divorce, they are said to have a mental illness. When a person becomes psychotic from a manic episode due to their bipolar disorder, they are also said to have a mental illness. But are both of these illnesses mental illnesses? The definition of mental is that which relates […] [It’s important for doctors to also be teachers] As physicians, we often don’t have time to down a cup of coffee, much less spend extra time on patient education, but we might want to rethink this. I’ve been involved in a study that illustrates a strong connection between educating patients about medical technologies and their decision to go forward with necessary treatments. This […] [A Justin Bieber opioid ballad] Treat Yourself: An ode to everyone suffering during this opioid epidemic. From the one and only ZDoggMD. [A hospital bullies a physician and threatens termination for her disability] Dear Dr. Wible, I am writing to you with great sadness, but with relentless determination to ignite change. I am a doctor with a disability. Two years ago I began residency training in pediatrics. The privilege was overwhelming as I stood a doctor in the very halls where I had been wheeled in as a […] [Reflecting on sepsis: Definitions, new ideas, and a continued commitment to patient care] September is Sepsis Awareness Month, a month which aims to raise awareness of sepsis and strategies for prevention and treatment. Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening complication of an infection. Sepsis occurs when the body’s response to infection becomes dysregulated and white blood cells and chemicals cause injury to organs throughout the body. Earlier this year, […] [Medical couples inadvertently sabotage their long-term happiness] Medical couples are experts at delaying gratification. Medical school’s rigid, unpredictable, and demanding schedule forces couples to postpone vacations, outings, dinner plans, and relationship progress. Glen Gabbard and Roy Menninger, in their book Medical Marriages, call this common trend among single- and dual-physician couples “the psychology of postponement.” They explain that medical school and demanding […] [Fixing our EHR mess: What needs to be done] In 2009 the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) was signed into law by President Obama and this law quickly changed the way medicine in the United Sates is practiced. The law was a first step in requiring all physicians to utilize electronic records. The president promised that creating and electronic […] [I question the ethics of any doctor who sells supplements to patients] I was seeing a patient who brought me a bag of supplements she bought from another specialist. I looked skeptical and then she pulled out the list of lab results the other doctor ordered on her. I reviewed the results with her and asked why all these tests were ordered in the first place, some […] [What truly palliates? Do we choose or do we allow the patient to choose?] The day I met Mr. Lightfoot, he was a medical curiosity on teaching rounds, “a great example of a Sister Mary Joseph’s Nodule,” a sign of metastatic stomach cancer. Earl was lying in a hospital bed in the cancer unit of the hospital, his stomach completely distended, nauseous and vomiting, unable to eat anything. He […] --------------------------------------------------------------- [Follow on Facebook] | [Twitter] --------------------------------------------------------------- You are receiving this email because you subscribed to the KevinMD e-newsletter. If a friend sent you this email and you want to subscribe, go to [KevinMD]. --------------------------------------------------------------- 173 Daniel Webster Highway Nashua, New Hampshire 03062 [Unsubscribe] | [Change Subscriber Options]