NEJM: For-Profit Medical Schools — Concerns about Quality and Oversight

The nonprofit-governance requirement for medical schools was a core component of U.S. medical care’s transformation. But recently, several for-profit schools have been provisionally or fully accredited. Here is the link to the New England Journal of Medicine article: For-Profit Medical Schools — Concerns about Quality and Oversight

We’re Having A Pediatric Care Crisis

Across the country, children have for weeks been slammed with a massive, early wave of viral infections—driven largely by RSV, but also flu, rhinovirus, enterovirus, and SARS-CoV-2. Many emergency departments and intensive-care units are now at or past capacity, and resorting to extreme measures. At Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, in Maryland, staff has pitched a tent outside the emergency department to […]

Candy Stripers

A famous critical care doctor once told me that “they want candy stripers delivering medicine.” That choice of the phrase probably dates both of us, but hopefully, it’s not too prehistoric to make the point. He was griping about what he viewed as an institutional assault on physician judgment and prerogatives. Long after that, I […]

Patient-Care Satisfaction Centered Modeling? Really?

When I represented hospitals, my boss used to stress bedside manner as the most effective risk management. It’s been forty years and the industry is still trying to figure out a way to make that stick. Healthcare is fully embracing the concept of consumerism, and with that comes the need for consumer and patient satisfaction—and […]

“By the time Jeremy came back with help, I had delivered the baby by myself with no one else in the room. All alone.”

Ever felt alone in a crowd? How about alone in a crowded emergency room surrounded by professionals who could help but choose to ignore you? These things happen. Here is the link: ‘I delivered my baby scared and alone.’: Mom raises awareness about hospital malpractice after traumatic birth

The Case For Tort Reform Gets Harder And Harder To Make (But That Won’t Stop Some)

It is absurd to criticize a fee structure that puts a lawyer in complete concert with his client’s interests and allows clients without resources or influence to pursue remedies against the most powerful institutions in their community for real harm done to them. Back in the day, the argument was that verdicts were too numerous […]

Unnecessary Medical Tests Are #QualityFraud

DOJ pursues billing fraud cases. In some cases, the patients did not know what they were being tested for. TRICARE beneficiaries were enticed to provide urine or saliva specimens in exchange for $50 gift cards. Evidence at trial demonstrated that Rao was paid in exchange for signing off on medically unnecessary and repetitive toxicology and […]