The Medical Professionalism Blog
Category Archives: Medical Education & Training
Where, Oh Where Do Physicians Learn About Cost-Effectiveness?
The Institute of Healthcare Improvement (IHI) defines the Triple Aim as: Better health (population health) Better care (quality improvement) Reduced cost Although many quality improvement organizations and delivery systems are focused on the Triple Aim, cost is not often a part of their efforts.
Cost Awareness in Health Care: An Idea Whose Time Has Come
Costs of Care, where this post was originally published, is a Boston-based nonprofit organization that helps caregivers deflate medical bills and provide high-value care. Learn more at www.CostsOfCare.org or follow them on Twitter (@CostsOfCare). “Nothing is as powerful as an idea whose time has come.” – Victor Hugo
Inspired by the Youthful
Maybe the awareness of cost and effective decision-making in health care will be propelled by the next generation of physicians and clinicians. After all, it was the American Medical Student Association that propelled the conflict-of-interest “movement” by grading their academic medical centers’ conflicts of interest with the pharmaceutical and device companies. The generation now in [...]
Extremist Proposal Shocks the Medical Establishment
I suspect many were shocked, even disturbed, upon reading the article, Professionalism, the Invisible Hand, and a Necessary Reconfiguration of Medical Education by distinguished professor of medical education at Mayo Clinic, Fred Hafferty, and his two colleagues, Drs. Brennan and Pawlina. In the article, the authors call for all medical students to achieve competency in [...]
Trying to Make Professionalism Real And Parsimonious
There has been a lot of both positive and negative reaction by physicians and others to the recently released American College of Physicians (ACP) Ethics Manual that states: “Physicians have a responsibility to practice effective and efficient health care and to use health care resources responsibly. Parsimonious care that utilizes the most efficient means to [...]
Compassionate Care Requires Compassionate Systems
In the article, “An Agenda For Improving Compassionate Care: A Survey Shows About Half of Patients Say Such Care Is Missing,” published in Health Affairs (September 2011, Vol. 30 No. 9), Beth Lowen et al. make a good case for the connection between compassionate care and quality outcomes and patient experiences. The authors also conclude [...]
Whittling Costs in White Coats
At the beginning of last week, I was excited to be invited to take part in the ABIM Foundation Forum, where the who’s who in medicine convened to discuss how to create a sustainable healthcare system, where costs are controlled and quality of care is preserved. We heard some bold vision and ideas, many of [...]
Part-Time Women
In a recent op-ed in The New York Times, Dr. Karen S. Sibert opines that female physicians working part-time are contributing to a physician shortage and are “not making full use of their training” and the societal resources invested in medical education and residency. She also has the following message for current and aspiring female [...]
Vampires and Urban Legends: Teaching Residents about Health Care Costs
This past weekend, I gave a talk at the Committee of Interns and Residents, the largest housestaff union in the United States. The most inspiring moment of the meeting that I witnessed were the two standing ovations earned by Dr. Koffler for advocating for residents to get paid in 1936 (her first paycheck was 15 [...]
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