March 25th, 2014
The Next Big Patient-Centered Initiative: Spiritual Care
Nicholas Bergfeld, BS, BA
Medical student Nick Bergfeld shares his thoughts about a need that many patients have but that medical practice largely neglects.
February 22nd, 2012
What’s Good for the Goose Is Good for the … Swan?
Tariq Ahmad, MD, MPH
A colleague of mine who is a cardiology fellow recently made this confession: “I really love doing procedures. I can’t wait until the new patient gets here so we can Swan him.” Playing devil’s advocate, I asked: “Would you want to be ‘Swanned’ if you were admitted to the CCU?” Astonished, she replied, “Of course not. I […]
January 6th, 2011
The Shame of Removing Reimbursement for End-of-Life Discussions from Health Care Reform
Barry M. Massie, BA (Harvard), MD (Columbia P&S)
My recent postings have been about heart failure mortality statistics. Dry stuff! It’s not that I am fixated on death, but yesterday, I learned that CMS (Medicare) has decided not to pay for discussions with patients about prognosis and planning end of life care. Reimbursement for such discussions was a key aspect of the health care […]
NEJM Journal Watch — Recent Cardiology Articles- Self-Expanding Supraannular Valve vs. Balloon-Expandable Valve in TAVR for Small Aortic Annulus
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