My blog represents my personal experiences and perspectives. This includes many anecdotes from my life and from my medical practice. I have been scrupulous to anonymize all medical anecdotes and to avoid ever belittling or making fun of patients. (I often make fun of and criticize myself, my colleagues, and the institutions where I have worked.)
In health care, replacing volume based economics with value based economics is essential.
One has to ask the right question in order to get the answer.
The chief complaint on the encounter form said ‘panic attack’ and a quick review of the chart before I entered the room showed a healthy 28 year old woman with no health or emotional issues who came in every year for a routine birth control visit. She told me she had had a ‘panic attack’ the day before and was sure there was nothing serious wrong, but came in at the insistence of a colleague. “It’s probably a waste of time, but Seeley made me promise to come.”
This week I received an email from the leadership at my hospital, encouraging me to contact my elected (Maine) state representatives in support of some pending legislation...
Two points:
Before we think about how these two principles apply to medicine, let’s consider two approaches to coaching basketball: one using incentives tied to outcome metrics, and one using interventions designed to identify and address process problems.
It is all too easy to forget that it is (or should be) entirely about the patient.
Horseshit on a trail run is fitting and pleasant, but in the work place is painfully destructive.
…a meaningfully usable and user friendly EHR.
It’s impossible to learn from one’s mistakes while busy denying or hiding them.
I recently read an online discussion about whether or not patients should have direct access to their own EKG.
First hike of the season and it’s official: I’m out of shape.
The plan was to do Baldpate via the AT from Grafton Notch, and I was enthusiastic enough to be fully packed before I went to bed the night before, up at 5:00, on the road at 6 and at the trailhead by 7:30: