December 12th, 2011 by John Mandrola, M.D. in Health Policy, Opinion
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My last post centered upon the funny-sounding word, ‘parallax.’ I was using it to describe how middle-age athletes see their sport.
But it seems to me that parallax relates to healthcare policy.
First, the definition:
Parallax: an apparent change in the position of an object resulting from a change in position of the observer.
Here goes…(in less than 360 words!)
As America and its government grapple with how much austerity can be tolerated, the cost of healthcare consumption holds center stage.
And…
Everyone knows a portion of the rising costs of healthcare stem from paying doctors a fair wage. (Worry not; I’m not prepping you for a rant about declining reimbursement and higher regulatory costs. This would be too fatiguing. Plus, doctors’ wages lie way beyond the scope of a clinician’s blog.)
Let me tell you a real-life story about a recent situation? It’s meant to illustrate one of the many healthcare policy conundrums. And it shows how one’s views of healthcare policy may depend–on the position of the observer. (ie, parallax) Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr John M*
July 4th, 2011 by Michael Kirsch, M.D. in Opinion
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As of this writing, 5 air traffic controllers have been found asleep at the switch. By the time this piece is posted, several others may have joined the slumber party. Keep in mind, there’s a lot more snoozing in the towers than we’re aware of. We don’t know the denominator here. Our wise reactive government has recently issued orders that airport control towers must not be manned by only one individual. Somehow, prior to NappingGate, our bloated and inefficient government that is riddled with redundancy, thought that one sole guy watching the radar at night was sufficient.
There are some jobs where nodding off poses no risk. Let me test my readers’ acumen on this issue. Which of the following professions would not be at risk if an unscheduled siesta occurred?
- A race car driver
- A congressman
- A circus clown (not to be confused with above listing)
- A lawyer (not to be confused with the above listing)
- A school bus driver
Let’s face it. Some folks on the job simply can’t safely snore their way through it. We don’t want Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at MD Whistleblower*