Emergency Physicians Emerge as Healthcare’s Management Specialists
History’s great achievers—Napoleon, da Vinci, Mozart—have always managed themselves. That, in large measure, is what made them great, according to Peter F. Drucker, father of modern management theory....
View ArticleWhat Emergency Medicine Can Learn from the Teamsters
If emergency physicians are going to have a chance at influencing healthcare policy in Washington, they’re going to need to get serious about organizing and fundraising. The power of unions is...
View ArticleExpanding Medicaid Will Hurt Emergency Departments
“[P]eople are no longer going to the emergency room and they now have good health care, they’re now getting preventive care.”President Barack Obama, September 24, 2013 Read the counterpoint by Seth...
View ArticleOpening Wide the Door to Non-Certified Docs is a Step in the Wrong Direction
Last month, Rick Bukata suggested that ACEP open its gates to non-boarded EPs. This would be an insult to EM residencies, and would set our specialty back decades. Last month’s editorial by Dr. Rick...
View ArticleSepsis: A Mandate In Search of a Meaning
NQF and CMS are attempting to regulate treatment for a disease we can’t really define, which could force emergency physicians to adhere to non-evidenced based guidelines The National Quality Forum...
View ArticleThe New Payment Paradigm
10 reasons why emergency medicine shouldn’t bear the blame for healthcare’s “value” problem Listen up: the way that insurers pay for medical care is going to radically transform in the next 5-10 years....
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FECs: New Face, Better ‘Bond’
After transitioning from the “big box” ED to a freestanding emergency center (FEC), I was amazed by how our performance metrics, and my outlook, improved Who’s your favorite Bond? Personally, until...
View ArticleEPs Not To Blame for the Opiate Crisis
Until the government stops treating emergency physicians as the scapegoat for opiate addiction, we won’t be able to address the real issues facing this challenging patient population. The comments...
View ArticleWhen it Comes to Accreditation, We Need to Get Beyond ‘Publish or Perish’
Core faculty publication requirements have turned some residencies into paper factories. Let’s take a hard look at why we do research, and what truly makes a better resident. I recently read an article...
View ArticleWomen, Take the Stage!
Increasing the number of women speaking at educational conferences is low lying fruit for addressing some of the gender gap in emergency medicine. Here are some concrete tips to get us started. Close...
View ArticleDoes the Use of APPs Turn Back the Clock?
Advanced practice providers are becoming a mainstay in the emergency department, but are we turning away from EM’s founding principles? Recently I was arranging a memorial lecture in honor of one of...
View ArticleLess is More: Redefining Balance
Want a better work/life balance? Hint – it’s not about being better at multitasking. I am tired of hearing about balance. We talk about it, we go to lectures on it, we give mandatory presentations on...
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Workplace Violence – The Resident’s Perspective
60% of residents reported sexual abuse and workplace violence We are vulnerable. The emergency department is among the most frequent locations for violent events in the health care setting as patient...
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With Aetna Gone, Is ACA Dead?
The latest blow to the ACA exchange is bad news indeed, but some perspective is warranted. Aetna announced they will be departing from the Obamacare marketplaces in 11 of the 15 states they currently...
View ArticleWhy I Call My Patients
Why patient follow-up calls might actually deserve your time It’s 2:30 am, and I am taking a quick break in the call room after a busy start to the night shift in my small town ED. The nurse calls me...
View ArticleObamacare’s Future: Repeal, Replace or Revise
While the first attempt to repeal and replace the ACA came up short, it’s anyone’s guess what will happen next. One thing is for sure: This isn’t our first rodeo, and we’d be wise to take a few lessons...
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How the PMG Became the Mother of All Physician Support Groups
How the Physician Moms Group (PMG) became one of the most powerful physician communities on the internet. On the day my husband’s mother fell suddenly into a coma, I was over an hour away, and I felt...
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The Calculus of Emergency Medicine
Have you ever dealt with a patient or specialist who is confused about the scope of emergency medicine? Here’s a quasi-mathematical way to think about it. As a relative newcomer to the pantheon of...
View ArticleABEM Should Set an Example for Board Transparency
ABEM is growing wealthy, alongside the other medical boards, but they should remember their roots and choose a path of transparency. Drolet and Tandon, in their research letter to JAMA on August 1, dug...
View ArticleDo EPs Need to Unionize?
Emergency physicians often find themselves on an uneven playing field when it comes to contract negotiations. And yet a union’s greatest weapon – the strike – runs contrary to the ethos of emergency...
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