Tag Archives: reflection

Preconceived Ideas Don’t Always Lead to What We Expect

A commonly held premise of shared decision-making is that the healthcare profession neither adequately gives specific treatment options nor discusses the trade-offs of surgical intervention. Predominantly, the thought is that if more in-depth conversations were to occur concerning the trade-offs, and there is more appropriate management of expectations, the chosen solution would be the more conservative approach. With… Read More »

The Future of Medical Education May Look Drastically Different

During this pandemic, I am blessed to have a son finishing his senior year of college from our home. Candidly, it was fascinating to observe the dynamics of the educational process through a digital platform. It became apparent, rather quickly, that some, but not all professors excelled utilizing the online platforms; and some struggled to hold their student’s… Read More »

Will Price Transparency in Healthcare Make Things Better?

United States purchasers of healthcare pay higher prices for a unit of service relative to other countries. In fact, these prices are primarily opaque, and the consumer rarely knows what it will owe for payment before they make a purchase. Market-based economics argue that price transparency of products leads to greater competition, thus leading to lower costs over… Read More »

Can Spending More on Primary Care Help to Reduce Healthcare Costs?

Recently, there has been a tremendous amount of focus and thought surrounding the idea that if patients use primary care more frequently, healthcare costs will improve. The thought is if more time is spent on prevention it will decrease the need for additional expensive interventions over time. Simultaneously, there is also conversations surrounding a shortage of primary care… Read More »

Should We Re-Examine the Length of Medical Education?

Not too long ago, I recall my hospital patients repetitively inquiring, “When can I go home?” Frequently, my response was, “Not a day longer than you need to be here, nor a day shorter.” I was not trying to be audacious, but as many know, an exact time frame was not always possible since a person’s illness, and… Read More »

Supporting the Healthcare Workforce of the future

If we plan to evolve our care models to focus on embracing those we serve remaining in their environments of their choice, care givers will need to contain different skill sets than those that provide hospital-based care. Knowing this, with the current landscape, our ability as providers and health systems is unfortunately, more complacent than we should be… Read More »

On the Topic of Enhanced Recovery After Surgery

In over sixteen hundred articles published since 2000, the value of enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) is irrefutably clear – “ERAS optimizes operative functional status to improve clinical outcome and patient satisfaction.” ERAS concepts are a comprehensive patient care movement that originated in Europe. By treating undesirable perioperative pathophysiologic processes, like colorectal surgery, which was the first surgery… Read More »

How do people determine the quality of physicians?

Understanding precisely how individuals consume and translate clinical quality information is imperative as we continue to focus on delivering value to those we serve. Now a very data-driven industry, our focus centers on the reliability and accuracy of the data itself. However, this is only half the problem. The method in which we share this information followed by… Read More »

Patient, Person, Customer, Member; Which one is Appropriate?

One of my earliest blogs discusses the difference between using the words person and patient to describe those we serve. We use numerous descriptions, depending on what part of the healthcare ecosystem and the message one is delivering. Health plans frequently refer to those they serve as members, whereas physicians and hospitals use the term patients, patient advocacy… Read More »

What Data Should We Give Our Patients?

In healthcare, we continue to increase our focus on preventing illness and disease. With prevention, we also must balance the polarity of whether the preventive treatment outweighs the risks involved. For instance, the association of vaccine usage with possible long-term impacts prevails in the minds of numerous people still, even though the research has staunchly supported their benefit… Read More »