When end of life care becomes a confrontation
How dare you! Life can change in a heartbeat. Most of us believe that our lives, our loves and all the that things that make us who we are is a gift from a higher power. One that can be taken away as...
View ArticleHow social media facilitates peer review
Much has been written about how Web 2.0 tools can change the healthcare landscape. It would appear a recent set of circumstances has upped the ante. This story begins with a recent study that...
View ArticleThe population health benefits of EMR implementation done right
I’m back at it again, talking about my continued love/hate relationship with EMRs. From my conversations with doctors at different hospitals in our region, it seems that most docs appear to be falling...
View ArticleWhen patients secretly record their doctor visits
“Doctor, can I record this conversation?” It’s happened to me a couple of times already. But the question above was never asked. Rather I was informed later on that my conversation with a patient or...
View ArticleThe ethical dilemma of saving the American Ebola patients
It was with much fanfare that two American aid workers were airlifted from across the world and brought to Emory University Medical Center where they began experimental treatment for Ebola. We hope for...
View ArticleShould ACLS certification be mandatory?
I can recall, though it seems quite long ago, my first basic life support (BLS) course as a first-year medical student. The instructor dutifully demonstrated on a mannequin to eager young medical...
View ArticleIn the airport for a routine flight. And an adventure with urine and an AED.
I arrived at my designated gate at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. After handing over my crumpled boarding pass for scanning, I made my way down the jetway and onto what appeared to be a small but fairly...
View Article5 tips for travelling with your CPAP
Sleep apnea is a condition that afflicts millions of people. There are two types of sleep apnea: central, and obstructive. Obstructive is by far the most common, and is usually what is referred to...
View ArticleTelevision ruins your sleep. Here are 5 ways how.
As a sleep physician, I spend a lot of time educating patients about what sleep is and how it works. Sleep, as I often explain, is not simply the lack of being awake; any more than landing a plane is...
View ArticleHow can we reduce firearm-related deaths? Here are 6 ways.
Like a lot of people, I get pretty numbed to gun violence on television. I stopped watching the local news because all they seem to show is news about shootings. The general public’s perception about...
View ArticleThere’s a good reason why doctors don’t send test results
Recently I read an article in the New York Times by Elisabeth Rosenthal. She’s the same author of the enlightening article, “My doctor charged me $117,000 and all I got was this lousy hospital gown.”...
View ArticleRepealing Obamacare faces these 7 challenges
Republicans have been waiting a long time for this moment. After sixty previous attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, their moment has arrived. President-elect Trump...
View ArticleThe hurricane in Puerto Rico is leading a shortage in saline bags
“Doc, you mind switching that to an oral preparation?” our clinical pharmacist inquired during multi-disciplinary rounds as intravenous infusion devices beeped annoyingly in the background. Taking...
View ArticleWhen someone is not dead but not alive
May lay in a hospital bed, her wrinkled skin covered with sensors that monitored her every breath and heartbeat. Her husband sat at her bedside gently stroking her withering gray hair as her chest...
View ArticleWe can’t build our way out of the ventilator shortage. But there is a solution.
“Hey buddy, can you spare some ventilators?” No, this is not an attempt at dark humor. This is the preamble of numerous calls that are going on across the nation right now. Whether the call is made to...
View ArticleWhen end of life care becomes a confrontation
How dare you! Life can change in a heartbeat. Most of us believe that our lives, our loves and all the that things that make us who we are is a gift from a higher power. One that can be taken away as...
View ArticleHow social media facilitates peer review
Much has been written about how Web 2.0 tools can change the healthcare landscape. It would appear a recent set of circumstances has upped the ante. This story begins with a recent study that...
View ArticleThe population health benefits of EMR implementation done right
I’m back at it again, talking about my continued love/hate relationship with EMRs. From my conversations with doctors at different hospitals in our region, it seems that most docs appear to be falling...
View ArticleWhen patients secretly record their doctor visits
“Doctor, can I record this conversation?” It’s happened to me a couple of times already. But the question above was never asked. Rather I was informed later on that my conversation with a patient or...
View ArticleThe ethical dilemma of saving the American Ebola patients
It was with much fanfare that two American aid workers were airlifted from across the world and brought to Emory University Medical Center where they began experimental treatment for Ebola. We hope for...
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