Why I Wear a White Coat
A recent article in a major newspaper asked why physicians still wear white coats. The theme...
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Author: SkepticalScalpel
Shorter Hospital Stays: Lessons from Disaster
I recently wrote about my plan to reduce hospital readmissions. Now I will discuss the problem of reducing length of stay. The recent hurricane in New York City and the closures of some hospitals requiring the transfer of a...
Read MoreWhat Do Interns Do When They’re on Call?
You may be surprised and dismayed when you find out. A study in the Journal of General Internal Medicine from a VA hospital affiliated with the University of Wisconsin reveals some startling facts. During a 14-hour call period...
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TCT 2012: Stroke Risk With PCI vs. CABG
The Particulars: Research does not clearly indicate whether stroke risk is lower for patients who...
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TCT 2012: Renal Nerve Ablation Achieves Long-Term Blood Pressure Benefits
The Particulars: Treatment options are limited for patients with refractory high blood pressure...
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TCT 2012: Managing Atherosclerotic Popliteal Artery Stenosis
The Particulars: Few studies have compared primary stenting approaches with balloon angioplasty in...
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TCT 2012: Reducing Cardiovascular Events in Patients With ACS
The Particulars: Dual antiplatelet therapy with aspirin and a P2Y12 platelet inhibitor has been...
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TCT 2012: Internal Pudendal Artery Stenting May Improve Sexual Function in Men with ED
The Particulars: Treatment options are limited for men with suboptimal responses to drugs for...
Read More44 Journals I’d Like to Read If I Had the Time
The following are all actual journals that seem really interesting [with my comments in brackets]. If I only had more time … 1. Anadolu Kardiyoloji Dergisi – The Anatolian Journal of Cardiology 2. Antioxidants & Redox...
Read MoreMedical School Grading: Everyone Gets a Trophy
“Variation and Imprecision of Clerkship Grading in US Medical Schools” is the understated title of the paper in the August 2012 issue of the journal Academic Medicine. The authors, from the department of medicine at Brigham and...
Read MoreWhy Malpractice Claims Take Forever To Be Resolved
Two recent papers have prompted me to ask myself the question, “Why do malpractice suits take so long to be resolved?” One was by a group from Harvard, USC and the RAND Corporation. They looked at more than 10,000 closed...
Read MoreHow to Lower 30-Day Hospital Readmission Rates
As new Medicare rules kick in, some 2,200 hospitals nationwide are facing financial penalties for 30-day readmission rates for myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure and pneumonia. Medicare payments will be lowered by...
Read MoreLawyers Dodge Malpractice Insurance; Should Doctors Follow Suit?
The September 2012 issue of the AARP Bulletin has a story about a woman who sued an elder-law attorney for legal malpractice. Bear with me. It’s an interesting tale. In 2004, a man consulted an elder-law attorney to set up a...
Read MoreA Simple Mistake?
If you pay attention at all to news about medicine, you must have heard about the tragic death of a 12-year-old boy who was seen and discharged from the emergency department of the prestigious New York University Medical Center....
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NY Hospital Installs Hand-Washing Cam
Doctors and nurses in the ICU at Long Island’s North Shore University Hospital are being watched...
Read MoreNew Additions to the “Never Events” List
You are probably familiar with the CMS “never events” initiative. CMS has decided it will not reimburse hospitals for treatment related to complications that it says should never occur. Here is the current list. Foreign object...
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A Shortage of General Surgeons: Coming Soon?
There is much hand-wringing about the shortage of primary care physicians. But primary care is not...
Read MoreWhatever Happened to Personal Contact?
Not long ago, I attended a retirement party for a former colleague. He had been a surgeon for 43 years at a hospital where I was once chairman of surgery. A number of old friends and colleagues whom I hadn’t seen for a long time...
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Physician Decision-Making: Damned If You Do…
Here’s a little story from the early days of my first job as a chairman of surgery. Shortly after...
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Pregnancy Among Women Surgeons
A paper reporting the results of a survey of women surgeons on the topic of pregnancy appears in...
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