I’ve written a few times about Veneta Masson, a nurse practitioner who wrote in Health Affairs and the Washington Post about her decision to forego further mammograms despite the fact that she was in a higher-risk category.
Veneta is also a poet. She sent me a video animation of her poem “Reference Range,” which I’m pleased to share with you. I think the poem and the video are beautiful, touching on important issues of how meaningless numbers and scores may be, subject to misinterpretation. She writes:
Here’s an interesting article, talking about stuff that’s not new to anyone who has read my blog for the last three years. The current relative value unit (RVU) system is a scam, perpetuated by a super-secretive group of subspecialists each inflating their own worth for the benefit of themselves, at the expense of primary care.
If you don’t understand what I’m talking about, first read about RVUs explained. Then come back and read this article put out by the National Institute for Health Care Management. It’s titled “Out of Whack: Pricing Distortions in the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule.” In his essay, Dr. Robert Berenson shows how distorted primary care specialties are paid, relative to other specialties, in an all Medicare practice with the equivalent input of hours worked. Read more »
Physicians can take some comfort that their average pay is more — $191,000 compared to more than $85,000 — unless they’re women, who among all the life sciences average $13,000 less than their male counterparts in comparable positions and with similar experience. (WCSC TV, Fierce Practice Management, Academic Medicine)
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
“Physician Extender.” It sounds like the name of a male enhancement product. It’s a term often used to describe a nurse practitioner or a physician’s assistant. I hate it. It’s insulting.
A nurse practitioner is not an adjunct physician. They do not supplement the care of a physician. They provide essential advance-practice nursing services, services that include diagnosis and provision of medical care.
While some of these services overlap those of medicine, nurse practitioners are not extensions of another profession, they provide care in their own right — as educated, licensed practitioners. Sometimes the only care provider for a community is a nurse practitioner. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Emergiblog*
“Team care” has become a rallying cry for those who think the patient-centered medical home is bad for healthcare reform. Comments on a recent blog post in the New York Times provide a good example of this. When patients get sick, as the argument goes, they want to see their doctor — not some nurse or PA who they don’t know. I agree.
There are a whole bunch of things wrong with all the current focus on team care in the patient-centered medical home. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Mind The Gap*
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