Taking care of heart attacks is about speed, the “door to balloon time” is the primary metric used to determine a hospital’s worthiness. So congratulations to the Santa Rosa Memorial’s staff for being the fastest in the country, but they should not delude themselves with the notion that high quality care is all that is […]
The new MacBook was scrolling fast but this headline grabbed the eyes… “Self-discipline, perseverance needed for successful cardiac rehabilitation, cardiologist says.” The story of cardiac rehab acts as a metaphor for the entire cardiac health quagmire. Cardiac rehab following a stent, coronary bypass, or heart attack is indeed scientifically proven to improve outcomes. Problematically though, […]
Categories
A break from the serious…
After a stressful first week at the new practice, here are three observations from a welcome Saturday: – The definition of a fine product – the Macbook: Having to wait in line to spend nearly 2000$. To Miss Amy at the apple store, “I am just here to buy a Macbook, I know the model […]
Not sure if using a question from the comment section is ‘pc’ in the blog-o-sphere but the issue raised is highly worthy of commentary. “Until last May I considered myself to be pretty serious cyclist as well, until exercise induced atrial fibrillation became a problem. Now I’m actually afraid to get on the bike, lest […]
Just when news in medicine seems all bad there comes some gratification in the lab… The patient calls and says her heart rate has been 120 beats per minute for a couple of weeks. There is progressive shortness of breath, increased fatigue and now some swelling. Similar symptoms that were present four years ago when […]
One of my new tasks in joining a new practice is learning CPT codes for what I do. Said differently, I am learning how to bill for services rendered. Never needed to this in the past as my large group had an army of business folks (coders) who did this for me. They of course […]
Being married to a palliative care doctor is enlightening in so many ways. As has been noted previously, CMS (government) decided that commonly ordered stress scans and ultrasounds of the heart are much less valuable. Undoubtedly, there are many reasons for this, but at least one is likely the notion that there are too many […]
In the doctors lunch room… “Hey doc, are you riding your bike in this weather?” “It is the off-season, I am resting my body and exercising the mind.” A look of bewilderment, like what does “off season” mean? I quickly remember that “normal” people do not do this nonsense that is bike racing. Three months […]
Categories
A good bye and a thank you…
A little self-absorption tonight. A pledge to keep this triviality to a minimum going forward, but it is my blog and herein lies the beauty of the blog-o-sphere. Tomorrow is my last day at my current job. I have worked with the same private practice group since 1996.  The senior partner at the time, Dr […]
Categories
A good bye and a thank you…
A little self-absorption tonight. A pledge to keep this triviality to a minimum going forward, but it is my blog and herein lies the beauty of the blog-o-sphere. Tomorrow is my last day at my current job. I have worked with the same private practice group since 1996. The senior partner at the time, Dr […]
Another huge day for cardiologists today. CMS, or medicare or the government or whoever has decided that cardiologists who read images are making too much money. Nuclear scans and echocardiograms (ultrasound) are being arbitrarily cut by up to 40 percent. These scans form the backbone of a cardiology office. Although they require a substantial initial […]