I had just finished an eye examination for one of my patients and swiveled around to the computer. It was clear that he needed cataract surgery; he was nearly blind despite his Coke-bottle glasses. But even before I logged in to the scheduling system, I knew what I was going to find: He wouldn’t be able to get an appointment with an ophthalmologist for more than three months. Everyone’s schedule was full.
As a neurosurgeon who focuses mainly on spine surgery, I sometimes use medical devices like pedicle screws and intervertebral cages to treat spinal instability. Watching the Netflix documentary “The Bleeding Edge” made me wonder what the misuse of medical technology means for patients and for doctors.
Physicians have long dismissed or downplayed women's sexual- and reproductive-health concerns—but in 2018, stories about "health-care gaslighting" are consistently breaking through to the mainstream.
In the U.S., racial and ethnic minorities have higher rates of chronic disease, obesity, and premature death than white people. Black patients in particular have among the worst health outcomes, experiencing higher rates of hypertension and stroke. And black men have the lowest life expectancy of any demographic group, living on average 4.5 fewer years than white men.
About 80 of Central Maine Healthcare's 300 doctors left in the past fiscal year, and its three hospitals all issued votes of no confidence in its top executive this summer. Central Maine Healthcare staff members say things have been bad within the hospital system for a while.
Make a list. After evacuating two weeks ago for the Mendocino Complex Fire, hospice CEO Corrigan Gommenginger offered that advice as the most critical piece for leadership teams at small health care companies all around California.