With the Patient Protection & Affordable Act continuing its squeeze of the American healthcare system into one that offers a greater number of citizens access to quality, affordable medical care while reigning in the overall costs of care to the economy, the Physician Insurers Association of America (PIAA) focused its 2013 Annual Medical Liability Conference on […]

A few doctors around the country are taking a less traditional route and moving to a cash only based practice. They say that this helps cut out the middle man and allows more time with the patient. An interesting concept for sure, but can it survive in an ACA world? Another question to ask is […]

After the lunch break for the first day of the PIAA Medical Liability Conference, I had the opportunity to attend two more educational sessions. Following are some of the notes I compiled: • Quality Measures and Data Collection: What is the Real Impact on Patient Safety * The quality benchmarks required by the Centers for […]

The PIAA Medical Liability Conference is breaking for lunch, so I’m taking the opportunity to share my notes on the first-half of the first official day of seminars. Following is a synopsis of those I attended. Welcome and Opening Remarks • PIAA president and chief executive Brian Atchinson introduced members to the organization’s new branding […]

We know that what you consume directly impacts your health and weight, but do we know to what degree? Could there be other factors at play that could help lower the skyrocketing obesity rate in our country? Well, scientists at Harvard University, with the help of researchers at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital may have found […]

Whenever we experience a tragedy from a distance, the first feelings are usually shock.  However, what if you are at ground zero?  What type of emotions are typically racing through your body and mind?  Well….if you’re a doctor, “first responder” is the mode that you turn on during these types of events. Dr. Vivek Shah. […]

Medscape recently conducted a survey to figure out which physician specialties are experiencing the most burnout, and more importantly, why? Sifting through the data shows us that the doctor’s interactions with their patients is not the root cause, as most people would think. The issues at hand are the following: 1. Too many Bureaucratic Tasks […]

There is a trend right now happening on the West Coast for medi-spas to offer what is being called a Blood Facial.  Essentially, a blood facial is a cosmetic procedure where a doctor draws a few vials of blood from your arm, puts it in a centrifuge to separate the plasma and platelets from the […]

In a world in which we only hear negative news, this was a breath of fresh air when we saw this today.  (excuse the pun!) It was a typical day at this supermarket in Australia….but it turned serious when a two year old girl stopped breathing due to a high fever.  At first, everyone thought […]