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Healthcare’s Monetary Musical Chairs: Seniors Most Likely To Lose

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From “War on Specialists” in the Wall Street Journal:

Take a provision in the Baucus bill that would punish any physician whose “resource use” is considered too high. Beginning in 2015, Medicare would rank doctors against their peers based on how much they cost the program—and then automatically cut all payments by 5% to anyone who falls into the 90th percentile or above. In practice, this rule will only apply to specialists. , Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes*

The Ban On Drug Company Gifts To Physicians, Captured In A Photograph

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Select states have taken a hard line against doctors accepting any type of gifts from drug companies.

And that includes food of any kind, which makes for some awkward moments at national physician conventions.

So, during this week’s ACEP Scientific Assembly in Boston, WhiteCoat snapped a picture of this notice, which borders on farcical:

drug company gifts

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*This blog post was originally published at KevinMD.com*

Ambulance Service Called 800 Times By 21 People: EMS Responds With Preventive Strategy

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EMS/ED frequent fliers are both a bane and (supposedly) another cost of doing business for EMS systems.  Maybe not.

My city of Fort Worth is trying to do something about it, proactively and correctly (emphasis mine):

MedStar program sends paramedic to homes of some repeat callers before they dial 911 | Fort Wor…
FORT WORTH — Last year, MedStar was called more than 800 times by 21 people.

Those “frequent fliers” weren’t necessarily facing life-threatening emergencies. Some may have needed primary care but didn’t have a regular doctor or transportation. Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at GruntDoc*

Will Spending More Federal Money On Healthcare Improve Outcomes?

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One need only look at the experience with education.

*This blog post was originally published at A Happy Hospitalist*

Teens Respond To Suicide Crisis: Talk To Me! T-shirts

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I wish every teenager in America would wear a t-shirt that says “Talk to Me.” In fact, I wish the t-shirts would say “talk to me, touch me, connect with me, help me change our world!”

After three recent teens suicides, two teens at a local high school have started selling t-shirts that say “talk to me,” and I am just thrilled because these teens found a way to tell the adults around them that they need more communication! They need adults to talk with them, touch them, connect with them, and spend time with them! Every teen needs that connection, but when stressed, vulnerable and traumatized, they need it even more!

My heart is with this community and I hope these t-shirts become the school uniform!

Photo from lumaxart

This post, Teens Respond To Suicide Crisis: Talk To Me! T-shirts, was originally published on Healthine.com by Nancy Brown, Ph.D..

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IDEA Labs: Medical Students Take The Lead In Healthcare Innovation

It’s no secret that doctors are disappointed with the way that the U.S. healthcare system is evolving. Most feel helpless about improving their work conditions or solving technical problems in patient care. Fortunately one young medical student was undeterred by the mountain of disappointment carried by his senior clinician mentors…

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How To Be A Successful Patient: Young Doctors Offer Some Advice

I am proud to be a part of the American Resident Project an initiative that promotes the writing of medical students residents and new physicians as they explore ideas for transforming American health care delivery. I recently had the opportunity to interview three of the writing fellows about how to…

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Latest Book Reviews

Book Review: Is Empathy Learned By Faking It Till It’s Real?

I m often asked to do book reviews on my blog and I rarely agree to them. This is because it takes me a long time to read a book and then if I don t enjoy it I figure the author would rather me remain silent than publish my…

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The Spirit Of The Place: Samuel Shem’s New Book May Depress You

When I was in medical school I read Samuel Shem s House Of God as a right of passage. At the time I found it to be a cynical yet eerily accurate portrayal of the underbelly of academic medicine. I gained comfort from its gallows humor and it made me…

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Eat To Save Your Life: Another Half-True Diet Book

I am hesitant to review diet books because they are so often a tangled mess of fact and fiction. Teasing out their truth from falsehood is about as exhausting as delousing a long-haired elementary school student. However after being approached by the authors’ PR agency with the promise of a…

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