Information and Critical Thinking for Your Health
(Snippets from the frontline) Paperwork sequela OFFICE SCHEDULE: Morning: Paperwork, paperwork, paperwork, paperwork, paperwork, paperwork, paperwork See patient Paperwork, paperwork, paperwork, paperwork, paperwork, paperwork, paperwork See patient Paperwork, paperwork, paperwork, … Continue Reading →
(Snippets from the frontline) Living shorter lives Life Expectancy in the United States decreased last year for the first time in 23 years. Despite advancing technology, innovation in drug therapy, … Continue Reading →
(Snippets from the frontline) Private Practice I’ve been practicing medicine for 36 years. One of my patients fought in the 1898 Spanish-American War; a handful lived in three centuries…born in … Continue Reading →
(Snippets from the frontline) Doctor Shortage We do not have enough doctors. Passage of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) amplified this deficiency in our healthcare system. Even with new insurance … Continue Reading →
(Snippets from the frontline) Infrastructure Society needs roads, bridges, and power to function. Likewise, the human body has an infrastructure requiring vision, hearing, and good teeth. Physiologic infrastructure deteriorates … Continue Reading →
(Snippets from the frontline) Good hands We know a tight end can catch a football. How do you know a surgeon has similar hand-eye coordination? Shouldn’t this quality be possessed … Continue Reading →
(Snippets from the frontline) Doctor Bonus Primary Care Physicians are internists, family practitioners, and pediatricians who are frontline doctors encountered by patients seeking medical care. Some physicians are in private … Continue Reading →
(Snippets from the frontline) Improving Nursing Home Care None of my seniors want to go to a nursing home. Being surrounded by screaming patients, the odor of incontinence, and the … Continue Reading →
(Snippets from the frontline) Cost of Drugs Pharmaceutical companies have a stranglehold on us. Medicare Part D was written by their lobbyists. Drugs developed decades ago have gone up 10 … Continue Reading →
(Snippets from the frontline) Hospital administrators on a pedestal Last month, a hospital administrator retired and all local media outlets had press-release headlines lauding his accomplishments. Two years ago, our … Continue Reading →
(Snippets from the frontline) Look at the medication As our mother entered her late 80’s, living at home alone became more challenging. Within a four month span, she was admitted … Continue Reading →
(Snippets from the frontline) Courage, Character, Responsibility Sometimes my surgical colleagues impress me with not just their skills, but the quality and spirit of their character. A neurosurgeon gets up … Continue Reading →
Denied You’ve been told surgery required to repair a herniated disc has been denied; a mammogram to evaluate a new lump won’t be allowed; or you must be discharged from … Continue Reading →
(Snippets from the frontline) Congress doesn’t go on Medicare With all the recent headline hubbub concerning creation of a new healthcare law, the public must realize Congresspeople don’t go on … Continue Reading →
Paperwork Doctors and their staff are inundated with paperwork…and it is getting worse. Despite computerization, the volume is overwhelming, and the data collected is mostly used to substantiate insurance payment … Continue Reading →
(Snippets from the frontline) Comfort Care – Know the difference Your loved one is seizing and brought to the Emergency Room. The staff offers “comfort care” and of course who … Continue Reading →
(Snippets from the frontline) Bring accountability to your hospital stay You or your loved one has been hospitalized. For most, this is an unfamiliar road. Beware, as nowadays hospitals are … Continue Reading →
A pediatrician decides a struggling teen with mental illness needs hospitalization to neutralize psychologic demons impacting their personal and social life. A Workers’ Compensation doctor requests a neck MRI in … Continue Reading →
(To Readers: A previous posting here in early 2016 discussed Life Expectancy. This is a re-write of that article as statistics have borne out for the first time in 23 … Continue Reading →
I had never heard the term “throughput” before a meeting at our hospital two years ago. It was used to discuss how the emergency department (ED) could yield greater profits … Continue Reading →
War is being waged on behalf of American citizens against the business takeover of hospitals, yet most people don’t realize this battle exists. Surprisingly, the warriors scattered throughout our country … Continue Reading →
Hospitals have always served as a lifeline to survival. Whether from pneumonia, heart attack, stroke, or trauma, they have been a community safeguard between life and death. Today, cost of … Continue Reading →
With the 2016 Rio Olympics coming to a close, we honor four participants claimed by the Santa Clarita Valley as their own: Allyson Felix, Anthony Ervin, Abbey Weitzeil, and David … Continue Reading →
Born in Canada, our mother came to the United States after World War II and blended into the Greatest Generation. Raising a family in the second half of the 20th … Continue Reading →
Growing up in a family that emphasized education, I had trouble staying on mark as I wanted to be a baseball player. At the age of 11 though, I underwent … Continue Reading →