changes in healthcare Archives - Page 4 of 5

You Need a Specialist to Choose a Specialist.

May 29, 2019

Some years ago I spoke at an American Hospital Association meeting to a large group of hospital executives and trustees. The first slide of my presentation was a picture of a 747 jumbo Jet. The question I asked was, “Why would I start my presentation with an aircraft to an audience of hospital leadership?” Then I asked, “How long would we Americans tolerate a 747 jumbo jet crashing every day-and-a-half?” The response was obviously universal - we would not. My next comment was that if you do the calculation, that was the number of hospital deaths caused by nosocomial (hospital...

Conspicuous Caring

Mar 26, 2019

In an interesting article on Medscape.com, “Have We Missed the Hidden Cause of Medical Overuse,” the author raises a provocative issue about medical overuse. He cites the story of when a mother kisses the scrape of a toddler, "No healing takes place, yet both parties appreciate the ritual." Continuing, he states, "The ritual shows how we might be programmed to both seek and offer healthcare even when it isn't medically useful.” He believes this is "Conspicuous Caring". The provocative conclusion is that healthcare isn't just about health; it's also a grand signaling exercise called conspicuous caring. If healthcare was only a transaction about getting well,...

5 Things to Look for When You Find a Health Coach

Feb 20, 2019

Like an athletic coach who directs players in practice and rallies them from the sidelines, a health coach can be an indispensable aide for someone who wants to proactively improve or maintain his/her health. Whether living with disease, recovering from a surgery, trying to lose weight, or building stamina for more tennis, a health coach can help someone ensure they are in the best position to reach their goals. A good health coach will get to know the real you. Your health coach should be going above and beyond to know you.They will need a detailed family medical history, personal...

Caught in “too big to care”?

Nov 29, 2018

There have been two compelling articles in the “New York Times” over the past few weeks focused on healthcare. The first article dated Tuesday, October 30, 2018, is entitled “A Sense of Alarm as Rural Hospitals Keep Closing”1 and the second article dated November 14, 2018, entitled “When Hospitals Merge to Save Money, Patients Often Pay More”2. These two articles are really bookends of the same set of issues emerging in our healthcare delivery system. "Since 2010, nearly 90 rural hospitals have shut their doors. By one estimate, hundreds of other rural hospitals are at risk of doing so." 1 In many communities...

Unlocking Access to Healthcare

Oct 29, 2018

Some years ago, a physician friend told me this story, and it has remained with me. He was one of the finest diagnosticians around and highly respected for his medical skills. He was visiting with his family members at his daughters home and realized he was in the process of having a heart attack. He requested his son immediately take him to the hospital. There was a hospital with an emergency room quite close. However, even in the midst of his coronary, he insisted that his son drive to another hospital that had a highly respected coronary team. I asked him, "Why didn't...

changes in healthcare

You Need a Specialist to Choose a Specialist.

Conspicuous Caring

5 Things to Look for When You Find a Health Coach

Caught in “too big to care”?

Unlocking Access to Healthcare

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