Primary Care Visits Prior to Cancer Diagnosis Tied to Lower Mortality
Regularly visiting a primary care physician (PCP) before cancer diagnosis was associated with better disease outcomes among a cohort of patients from the Veterans Affairs health system. Compared with no prior visits, annual PCP use among over 200,000 veterans with 12 different tumor types was linked with lower odds of being diagnosed with metastatic disease […]
Emergency Physician Faces Charges After Car Crash Kills Colleague
An emergency medicine physician is facing a myriad of charges following a car accident in July that claimed the life of his 47-year-old colleague, Douglas Rockacy, MD, from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), CBS Pittsburgh reported. In addition to DUI charges, Joseph Yanta, MD, 38, is also facing charges of homicide by vehicle […]
Doc Groups Unhappy With 4.5% Cut in the 2023 Medicare Fee Schedule Final Rule
WASHINGTON — Physician groups expressed concerns over what one group called a “substantial” decrease in Medicare fee-for-service physician payments under a final rule for 2023 issued Tuesday by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The 2023 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule includes a 4.5% decrease in the conversion factor — the multiplier that Medicare […]
Opinion | Isn’t It a Seller’s Market for Healthcare Professionals?
I recently had the opportunity to catch up with a physician colleague who reports that she left her position at one facility due to workplace strife and dissatisfaction, and took another position as a temporary step to maintain financial stability while evaluating when and where to go next. However, shortly after her move, her new […]
Doc Couple Tried to Slip Americans’ Health Info to Russia, DOJ Says
A pair of physician spouses are facing federal charges of conspiracy and handing over confidential health information of Americans in order to assist Russia in its war against Ukraine, according to an announcement from the Department of Justice (DOJ). Anna Gabrielian, MD, and her spouse, Jamie Lee Henry, MD, both of Rockville, Maryland, were charged […]
CIA Doc Sent to Investigate Illness Developed Havana Syndrome
A CIA physician who traveled to Cuba to get to the bottom of the mystery illness known as “Havana Syndrome” wound up experiencing some of the same debilitating symptoms, he told CNN. During the network’s weekend special report “Immaculate Concussion: The Truth About Havana Syndrome,” Dr. Paul Andrews (a pseudonym) told CNN medical correspondent Sanjay […]
Opinion | I Got Monkeypox Drugs — Not Everyone Is So Lucky
When I first contacted my primary care physician about some minor rectal discomfort that surfaced a few days after New York City’s Pride festivities in June, he and I both knew the most likely diagnosis: a sexually transmitted bacterial infection. We performed an STI screen, and I went home to await the seemingly inevitable positive […]
Here’s Where Private Equity Is Most Involved in Medicine
When it comes to private equity investment in physician practices, variations exist across geographic regions and medical specialties, according to research announced by the National Institute for Health Care Management (NIHCM) Foundation this week. Of the six specialties reviewed, the proportion of physicians working in private equity-acquired practices was highest in dermatology (7.5%) and gastroenterology […]
Opinion | Stop Bashing Physician-Entrepreneurs
I see your comments on social media, and I wonder: Why are you upset? How do the negative comments toward physician colleagues serve you? This is not an attack (that would be hypocritical). Rather, I invite you to genuinely ask yourself these questions as I sense something familiar — a projection of frustration and pain, […]
Medicare’s Proposed Physician Fee Schedule a Mixed Bag, Doc Groups Say
WASHINGTON — Physician group responses to the proposed 2023 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule ranged from disappointment over the proposed 4.4% overall payment cut to praise for many of the provisions related to accountable care organizations (ACOs). “The scary part for most of us is we’re getting these reductions despite the fact that we’re still fighting […]