Category: Advocacy
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“The Way the System Is Going, I Didn’t See Any Other Solution Legally Available To Us.”
The quote in the headline is from Dr. John Wust, an obsetrician at Allina Health who voted with his colleagues to unionize in March 2023. Read the full article from Noam Scheiber of The New York Times here. When doctors are resorting to unionization, you know things are bad. At the time I was terminated…
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Big Box Medical Fails to Match Patients with Their Ideal Doctors (and Vice Versa)
A profound lack of choice within Big Box Medical creates a matching problem that leads to dissatisfaction and disillusionment on both sides of the equation. Patients typically don’t get much choice over what doctor they see, especially if they want to in their medical insurer’s “network” to make the service at least remotely affordable. Doctors,…
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How Much Does This Cost?
When you’re a consumer, “How much does this cost?” should be a simple question with a simple answer. Inside Big Box Medicine, however, it rarely is. Why? Come on. They don’t want you to see those prices. And, who cares, right? Your health insurance will take care of it! Ha… I’m showing a bill from…
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Terminated Without Cause, Effective Immediately
Today is about amplifying someone else’s story. By reading Ashley Saucier, MD, MHA, FACEP, FAAP’s abrupt termination story, I hope others can learn, gain awareness and empathy, and start thinking about what they can do to make themselves more prepared to weather a storm like this if it happens. If something like this has happened to…
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So You’ve Been (Abruptly) Terminated…
I discussed, among other things, my without cause, abrupt termination by my employer on the October 28, 2023 episode of The Podcast by KevinMD. I’m grateful to Kim Downey, a fierce advocate for physicians, and Kevin Pho, M.D., for facilitating this important conversation and helping bring it to a larger audience. Doctors need to know their jobs…
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Big Oil, Big Tobacco, Big Tech, Big Pharma… Big Healthcare?
New York Times Headline: “Doctors Unionize at Big Health Care System” I love that the Times chose to refer to Allina Health as “Big Health Care System”. Doest that remind you of anything? Intentional or not, for me it brings to mind other notorious BIGs: Big OilBig TobaccoBig TechBig PharmaBiggie Smalls (j/k) There are plenty of perks to being…
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When Creams and Ointment Aren’t Cutting It: Dupilumab For Atopic Dermatitis
October is Eczema Awareness Month, so let’s keep talking eczema. Last Monday, I talked about the itch that unites all forms of eczema that can be so debilitating and crazy-making. I’ve cared for enough patient with eczema to know that itch should be classified as a type of pain. And many frustrated sufferers aren’t getting…
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Do You Recognize These Bumps? — Demystifying Dyshidrotic Eczema
Do you recognize these exquisitely itchy little bumps? It’s time to demystify a troubling and sometimes mysterious rash called dyshidrotic eczema. In dermatology residency, many of us learn the term “tapioca-like vesicles” (we love using food-related descriptors) to describe the characteristic appearance of a type of eczema called dyshidrotic eczema (AKA pompholyx and acute recurrent…
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You Don’t Need Amazon Prime
An estimated 170 million Americans are Amazon Prime subscribers. Well done, Bezos and company. A masterclass in branding and customer-first business strategy, no doubt. But, you still don’t need Prime. In an episode of The Daily from The New York Times, technology correspondent Karen Weise discusses the U.S. government’s recently filed landmark antitrust lawsuit against Amazon. While the details of…
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October Is Eczema Awareness Month!
Per the National Eczema Association, which is the driving force for an eczema community fueled by knowledge, strengthened through collective action, and propelled by the promise for a better future: “More than 31 million people in the U.S. have eczema and each one of them has a story to tell. For Eczema Awareness Month 2023,…
