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Scheduled for Surgery? How about Some Unnecessary Tests!
ByadminSurgery can be risky. People with major cardiovascular or respiratory illnesses undergoing major surgeries, for example, are at risk for major surgical complications, even death. But healthy people receiving less intense interventions typically fly through with nary a concern. Nevertheless, perhaps worried about those few patients who suffer major complications, many physicians order a gaggle…
On Our Way to Being a Smoke-Free Nation
ByadminGreat picture from a NEJM article showing a continuing reduction in American tobacco consumption, a decline that accelerated during the Obama years. (Irony – Obama was a smoker during much of that time!) My question – What would this look like if you added in all the people using e-cigarettes?
Copay Assistance – Good For Patients, Bad For Prices
ByadminPeter Bach and I have an essay in the Annals of Internal Medicine laying out some of the problems with pharmaceutical funded copay assistance programs. Check it out.
Is It Fair to Reward Medicaid Patients for Receiving Flu Shots?
ByadminMy son was underperforming at school, and I was gently encouraging him to try harder (if gesticulating like an over caffeinated Italian qualifies as gentle encouragement). He could not understand why I was upset: “Dad, most of my friends are doing drugs and engaging in unprotected sex. You should be rewarding me for being such…
Your Physician Can't See You Yet – She's Busy Filling Out Paperwork!
ByadminLeft to our own devices, most of us physicians try our best to provide high quality care to our patients. But almost none of us provide perfect care to all of our patients all of the time. In fact, many of us get so caught up in our busy clinic schedules we occasionally forget to,…
Obamacare Insurance Premiums – Not Growing Too Fast
ByadminHere’s a picture from a New England Journal of Medicine article showing that in 2015 and 2016, Obamacare premiums grew more slowly than private insurance premiums rose before the law came into effect: The Obamacare markets are new and unsettled. But so far they aren’t leading to runaway inflation. But what will happen to these…

