Feb

15

Overdoctored

February 15, 2008 | 26 Comments

Rocking Your Fragile World-View
Let us again consider Albania, a tiny country tucked into a little corner of Europe which is only now emerging out of the communist Dark Ages in which it had stagnated while the rest of Europe moved on. This very poor country sits on the Northern border of Greece for [...]

Feb

8

The Non-Crisis in America’s Emergency Departments: The Death of Triage

February 8, 2008 | 18 Comments

Staying Power
I suppose the only good thing about my patient’s twelve-hour wait in the Emergency Department waiting room before he even made it into a room, and his subsequent two-hour wait before he finally saw me, was that the results of the basic lab work ordered in triage where immediately available and, as his chest [...]

Feb

5

How I Am Learning to Throw Money Away With Both Hands and a Big Shovel

February 5, 2008 | 54 Comments

Other People’s Money
Medical care is expensive and to a large extent this is unavoidable. Medical knowledge has advanced considerably in even my lifetime and there are hundreds of new medical therapies and technologies of unquestionable value to both individuals and society as a whole. It is therefore impossible to bring back the Good [...]

Dec

31

Throwing Money Away and other Medical Topics

December 31, 2007 | 30 Comments

(I confess, what with the feasting, shopping, caroling, and wassailing of the holidays I cannot collect my thoughts to write anything coherent longer than a couple of paragraphs. My apologies. -PB)
Taking Leave of our Common Sense
In a previous article I mentioned that politically, health care reform was not a big issue for me and [...]

Dec

13

Putting Granny Down and Other Health Care Conundrums

December 13, 2007 | 31 Comments

(I hesitate to present this article because everything in it is so indisputable to those who work in health care that I might be accused of belaboring the obvious. With this in mind I ask for the indulgence of you, oh my regular readers, who may skip this article entirely as nothing new will [...]

May

31

What ED Crisis? (And Other Random Thoughts)

May 31, 2007 | 36 Comments

Shake that Money Maker
They say there is a crisis in the Emergency Rooms and while I certainly see a little of its effects at my own program, the crisis is not universal. Some Emergency Departments compete for patients, at least this is my understanding from the numerous billboards I saw the other day as I [...]