…the quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgment. I read today a collection of words that exude wisdom. I share it with you because the purpose of this blog is to do create value through education. Peggy Girshman was an award-winning health journalist. When ill with a life-limiting illness, she wrote her own eulogy. […]
Some of my most poignant moments in medicine happen after the ablations and devices are finished. That’s when I go visit with patients up in the medical wards. My legs are fried from standing all day. So I sit, a key move because then you are ready to listen. One good thing about computers in […]
Stanford economist Raj Chetty and coworkers published an important paper in the Journal of the American Medical Association this week. It’s free. They looked at the association between income and longevity in the US. The results will disrupt a lot of what you might have thought about healthcare. The first finding was not surprising: higher […]
I head to Chicago this weekend for the 4th Annual Lown Institute Conference. The Lown Institute seeks to catalyze grassroots movements for transforming healthcare systems and improving the health of communities. For those of you who want to be on the right side of the street of history, Dr. Bernard Lown, a cardiologist, activist, and […]
I have been seeing a new trend in the AF clinic. I never thought this would happen, but I’d estimate that at least once daily, often multiple times daily, a patient says they have read this blog before the visit. That is nice. Many of these patients, some who have traveled across the country, or […]
In my last post, I wrote my initial thoughts of an important new study on how the decision to take a medication or have a screening test in the name of prevention is similar to playing the lottery. I promised to think and write about the study more carefully. My latest thoughts are now published […]
A new study published last week in an open heart journal changes the conversation about how patients and doctors think about and discuss preventive therapies–such as statins. Dr. Richard Lehman may be the smartest doctor on Twitter. This is what he said: This is a game-changer https://t.co/WgGdLlodbL — Richard Lehman (@RichardLehman1) March 20, 2016 Most […]
When I heard Justice Antonin Scalia had died suddenly, presumably of cardiac causes, I spent time reading and thinking about the famous judge. Three themes seemed worth putting down in writing. Read more here: Justice Scalia’s Death: Three Lessons for the Healthcare Community JMM
Thanks to Dr Bernadette Keefe (@nxtstop1) last night’s Hospice and Palliative Medicine (#HPM) Tweet Chat has been “storified.” Here you go> [
Tonight, February 17, at 2100 EST, Staci and I will host a Tweet Chat about cardiology and palliative care. It’s a great way for the general audience to learn from Staci. As a cardiologist married to a palliative care doctor, I get to know things that most cardiologists don’t know. The one-hour session revolves around […]
Bernie Sanders has intensified the debate about US healthcare. Specifically, he has people talking about a single-payer government-controlled system. Critics, uninformed as they are, point to the VA system as an example of inferior care. A well-conducted study refutes such misthink. Yale researchers performed a massive cross-sectional study to compare outcomes among older men in […]