Category: Editorials

(Snippets from the frontline) Bad news As a physician, giving bad news is not an easy task.  In the past, the hardest thing to tell a patient was they have … Continue Reading →

(Snippets from the frontline) Making a hospital complaint As a primary care doctor, I am responsible for admitting patients who are ill.  A plan is developed, discussion made with patient … Continue Reading →

(Snippets from the frontline) Start a revolution To my colleagues: Throughout the nation, we convene at education meetings to coalesce evidence-based information improving medical care. Missing at these conferences is … Continue Reading →

(Snippets from the frontline) Your physician “quarterback” When admitted to a hospital, you might be too ill to ask questions or make good medical decisions.  Having a family member or … Continue Reading →

(Snippets from the frontline) Insurance company denial is your risk My patient was admitted to the ICU with a heart attack.  At that time we did not have coronary angiograms … Continue Reading →

(Snippets from the frontline) US healthcare – another inconvenient truth Profit:  Business takeover of medicine at the expense of quality patient care. Doctors:  Marginalized without a voice becoming a mere … Continue Reading →

(Snippets from the frontline) Daylight savings preventive care She got on a stool to change the clock and fell, breaking her hip. From that point on “fall back in Fall” … Continue Reading →

(Snippets from the frontline) DNA DNA links your past to present weaving together multiple generations.  Simple testing (spitting into a test tube) may reveal information you might never suspect.  Some … Continue Reading →

(Snippets from the frontline) How hospitals minimize doctor input Despite physicians being on the frontline of healthcare, doctor input in hospitals is nil.  Medical decision-making is now in the hands … Continue Reading →

(Snippets from the frontline) Symptoms Your body talks to you.  Billions of cells work in harmony allowing you to live and survive our environment.  But when something goes wrong, the … Continue Reading →

(Snippets from the frontline) Powered by Toyota Everyone wants their hospital to run like a lean machine.  Efficient, safe, and providing timely quality service.  Some hospitals indeed are launching a … Continue Reading →

(Snippets from the frontline) Archimedes et al in tribute He was a Greek mathematician who historians say was on the verge of developing calculus, but was deliberately killed by a … Continue Reading →

(Snippets from the frontline) Character counts People cheat and have no scruples.  I’ve seen it in business and government.  Worse, I’ve seen it in my own profession with doctors. I … Continue Reading →

(Snippets from the frontline) Learning a lesson Here is the dilemma:  Medicare patient has chest pain and calls 911.  Ambulance transports patient to the emergency room and a diagnosis of … Continue Reading →

(Snippets from the frontline) Paying off my medical school loan Yep…it’s done.  It took only 37 years. Why did it take so long?  Partly because of the principal, but mostly … Continue Reading →

(Snippets from the frontline) Prescription denied He was an opera coach with a deep melodious voice.  Now in his 80’s, my patient uses a walker and suffers from lumbar spinal … Continue Reading →

(Snippets from the frontline) Retirement worry Some want to retire, while others are forced to retire.  We rely on savings, social security, investments, retirement benefits, and family.  In reality, you … Continue Reading →

Snippets from the frontline) Mike He was a veteran who lost both legs below his knees in Vietnam, yet returned to California, married, raised three daughters, and started a successful … Continue Reading →

(Snippets from the frontline) Hospital “code words” Over the past decade, the business mentality takeover ascribed “code words” to hospitalized elder seniors, herding them out of the hospital into nursing … Continue Reading →

(Snippets from the frontline) Decreasing life expectancy After rising 26 years, US life expectancy decreased for the second straight year.  News reports attributes opioid fatalities as a contributing factor to … Continue Reading →

(Snippets from the frontline) Sepsis In hospitalized patients, experienced doctors and nurses instinctively recognize imminent death, and that awareness makes them act immediately to save a life. This instinct is … Continue Reading →

(Snippets from the frontline) Elder suicide We’ve heard these words before:  “He died peacefully in his sleep.” As a geriatric physician, I fear that an elder senior has committed suicide … Continue Reading →

(Snippets from the frontline) Being au naturel Sometimes statistics are baffling.  Why do many autoimmune diseases (fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, lupus, multiple sclerosis, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, etc.) effect significantly more women than … Continue Reading →

(Snippets from the frontline) Readmission If you are admitted, discharged, and return with the same diagnosis within 30 days, hospitals are penalized by Medicare for the readmission. Nowadays, hospitals are … Continue Reading →

(Snippets from the frontline) The easy way out “Take this pill.”  Words patients like to hear from their doctor assuming it will solve all medical problems.  Likewise, grabbing fast food … Continue Reading →