Supporting Safer Healthcare

Just who do you think you are? I still remember how she looked as she hurled those angry words at me. It was a challenge intended to forcefully remind me that, in my co-worker’s opinion at least, I had no right to question her actions. In the years since that episode, I’ve asked myself that [...]

Josh Dobbelstein drives as close to the middle of the road as he can. Over on the side… he knows the enemy hides bombs. Just the other day he dove to the floor of a vehicle he was riding in when he mistook the sound of a trucker hitting his brakes for a machine gun. [...]

A resident was called in late one night to care for a patient because the attending had shown up at the hospital drunk. Concerned for the attending physician, the next day the resident approached a senior member of the medical staff and asked what could be done to help him.

I’ve lived in the medical community for nearly thirty years. Nice place, although a bit chaotic at times, especially over on ED Street. One of the features I like about the neighborhood is how many doctors and nurses show up at the block parties. I’ve always believed that people who are drawn to the care-giving [...]

Proving once again that medicine is a tough field…  A new web site allows the public to rate and comment about doctors online; RateMDs.com. The site claims that as of today 20,379 physicians have been rated, with 74 new ones added yesterday. Developers assert that the site is changing the way the world looks at [...]

Aggravated DocSurg is living up to his name today – he’s really quite aggravated. The target of his wrath is the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. He labels them The Death Star of American Medicine.  Medpundit and Bard Parker have joined in the fray. As a veteran of many encounters with JCAHO surveyors [...]

 Welcome! As this is National Medical Staff Services Awareness week, this week’s Best of the Medical Blogosphere is dedicated to my hardworking colleagues around the country.  It started out as a typical day in the Medical Staff Office. I leaned back against my leather executive chair and surveyed the top of my gleaming rosewood mahogany [...]

Nearly a hundred years ago John D. Rockefeller said "The ability to deal with people is as purchasable a commodity as sugar or coffee. And I will pay more for that ability than for any other under the sun." That statement remains as true today as it did when Mr. Rockefeller uttered those words – [...]

As we watched events unfold on September 11, 2001 we knew the the firefighters in New York were heroes.  We came to have a new appreciation for their training, dedication, and endurance in the face of overwhelming obstacles.  Among the heroes of New Orleans, Biloxi, Mobile, and beyond, are the doctors, nurses, technicians, and others [...]

If you’ve read my article in July/August Synergy magazine, you know that I did an informal poll asking “what’s the best reason to attend a national conference?” The number one answer was networking. You’ll get no argument out of me. The opportunity to interact with colleagues from around the country is one of the great [...]