The Costs of Childbirth
By Ray Burow We entered the hospital with great anticipation. Our baby was overdue and with no signs of delivery, I was admitted and was to be induced the following morning. Three days later our baby would be our greatest blessing on Thanksgiving Day. It wasn’t until weeks later that we found ourselves scratching our heads over costs we incurred bringing our daughter into the world. We were fortunate to have had fantastic health insurance through my husband’s work, but even with sixty percent of the bill covered we were having trouble deciphering the hospital bill. Only in healthcare do...
Read MoreCommunication Counts
By Jessica Heney As a medical student, one quickly learns not to question the wisdom of authorities, and appropriately so. Do your work quietly and conscientiously and study hard. Take all criticism enthusiastically and graciously. Do not speak unless spoken to. Beyond the compassion and empathy we are all expected to champion, these are the proverbial medical student keys to success. In our roles as the lowest rung on the medical ladder, this indoctrination comes from a combination of both trial and error and, put frankly, fear. I was no stranger to the age-old horror stories passed down...
Read MoreThe Most Important Thing I didn’t learn in Med School
By Jessica Jou Mrs. B was washing dishes in the kitchen when she heard a thump where her twelve-month-old son was asleep. She ran to him and found her son had fallen from a chair (code: e884.2). He was crying (code: 780.92) and visibly shaken, but did not have overt signs of bleeding, bruising, or trauma. She picked him up and immediately brought him to the emergency room. There, he was triaged by the nurse (nursing report #1) and vitals were taken (nursing report #2). Shortly after the mother and son pair settled into the pediatric emergency room, he vomited once (code 787.03). The emergency...
Read MoreSilver Linings Strike – Learning to do more with less
By Christopher Moriates, MD and Andrew Lai, MD MPH University of California, San Francisco The daily “Resident Report” conference at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) started a little differently yesterday. The Chief Resident stood at the front of the room and asked the audience, “How many of you ordered labs for a patient this morning?” Only 2 people in a crowd of more than 20 put up their hands. Yesterday’s lab ordering restraint was not because of our focus at UCSF over the last two years on decreasing unnecessary services and costs of care, nor the fact that...
Read MoreThe Challenges of Treating Homeless Patients
By Amol Sura For most of our patients, the Student Run Homeless Clinic is the last stop in a long, fruitless search for healthcare in the city of New Orleans. Recently, an insulin-dependent diabetic came in who had his insulin pump stolen, an unfortunate side-effect of homelessness. The physician prescribed a 150 dollar-per-month supply of insulin—far out of our price range—not knowing how much insulin costs. This was in addition to a sixty-dollar albuterol inhaler for his COPD and lisinopril-HCTZ for hypertension. As the pharmacy director, I was placed in the unusual position of...
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