Emergency physician Ferdinando Mirarchi and attorney Thaddeus Mason Pope explain why 80 percent of physicians read an advance directive as a DNR order.

Almost 50 years into practice, a cardiologist says American health care is getting worse by the day. Peter R. Kowey specializes in heart rhythm disorders and ran a cardiology division for 25 years.

For most of the past two decades, community practice has managed treatment-resistant depression (TRD) the way STAR*D described: one medication after another, with remission rates falling below 15 ...

A patient receives a hospital bill and does what every responsible article tells them to do. They check it. They see room charges, imaging charges, pharmacy charges, supplies, insurance adjustments, ...

Being offered partnership in a medical practice is usually good news, but not always. One physician paid $60,000 to buy in, then signed a contract making her cover all of a $325,000 bonus her two ...

Pregnancy. Marriage. A cancer diagnosis. A sick child. A family tragedy. Too often, something must happen before we start asking what our DNA might tell us. It shouldn't. Genetic screening and ...

As physicians head to the polls, we are afraid for our patients and our profession. We are in a moment of extraordinary turbulence. Administrative overload, political intrusion into clinical care, ...

Doctors and nurses are trained to take excellent care of other people’s health, and often don’t look after their own. Close to half the health care workforce has burnout, and it shows in rounded ...

The words you put in a patient’s chart can be used to deny their disability claim. A note that says “stable” or “improved” can mean one thing to you and another to the insurer. Jennifer Hess, an ERISA ...

Many doctors who run their own practices spend hours on work someone else could do. One practice owner who charges $300 an hour was his own receptionist, verifying insurance all night and stepping ...

An older patient who tries to climb out of bed after surgery usually draws attention. Someone lying quietly, answering slowly, or turning away from conversation may ...

The most important moment of a medical appointment usually happens at the very end, with a hand on the doorknob. Every physician knows the moment. The visit is over. The official reason for it (the ...