People Don't Sue Doctors That They Like

There is a new book out entitled, "Personality Not Included” by Rohit Bhargava.  In his book he writes that people don't sue doctors that they like.  That statement got my attention since I had a conversation with a friend yesterday who was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer.  He has decided to have the prostrate removed surgically, the old fashion way, no robotic surgery for him.  He thoroughly researched it and decided that there are too many complications with the robotic surgery versus the traditional approach.  He has narrowed the choice of surgeons down to two.  One is the best in the city where he lives, but plain and simply put, the guy is an ass.  The second isn't as experienced, but highly recommended and a nice guy.  I got to thinking how easy it is to be nice to people and how you get so much in return.  I have dealt with many doctors in my career and once you are out of the major tertiary care setting, i.e. academic medical centers, large well known urban hospitals, etc., your chances of finding a personable one are far greater.  Don't get me wrong, there are still asses in rural health systems, doctors and others, but the numbers are far less.  Also, it is true; you have a far greater chance of not being sued if you are honest and personable.  So, you would think that more doctors, as well as the rest of us, would come to realize that and conduct ourselves more appropriately with whom we come in contact both professionally and personally.

Personal Responsibility

There were two news stories that caught my attention this week.   The first was the one about the Triple Bypass Burger causing a heart attack in a customer at the Heart Attack Grill in Las Vegas.  The second story was an investigation into the death of Whitney Houston.  Both of these stories involve trying to focus the responsibility elsewhere rather than where it belongs.  I will give you that if Whitney Houston's death is the result of a single physician or pharmacy prescribing or distributing a host of different types of drugs, then prosecute away.  However, that scenario is highly unlikely.   Addicts with money and means use a plethora of sources and ways to obtain their drugs.  They use bodyguards, handlers, agents, assistants," uncles" and "cousins" to get their drugs legally and illegally; it doesn't matter.  As for the blame for the burger heart attack, that rests with the individual and not the Heart Attack Grill.   Unfortunately, the food police are now pressuring the restaurant to drop the 6000 calorie burger from its menu.  Would I eat at the Heart Attack Grill?  Nope.  Is it crazy that people go there and attempt to eat a 6000 calorie burger?  Heck, yeah.  But these people have a choice and they choose to eat there.  Just as Whitney Houston had a choice, she chose to marry Bobby Brown, who got her hooked on drugs.  Maybe the authorities should be pursuing him instead of the physicians and pharmacists.

You're Fired

I just read yesterday that there is a growing trend among pediatricians in firing patients, well actually their parents.  More and more parents of children are refusing vaccinations due to concerns about autism.  I have blogged previously on this issue and shared my concerns about questionable research studies performed linking vaccinations with autism.  I applaud these pediatricians for their actions.  There is so much that can go wrong with these children, placing these physicians at great risk in caring for unvaccinated kids.

The Highly Valued Human Resource

In the most recent issue of Harvard Business Review, I read an article about selection and on boarding primarily of employees.  The article was about the CEO of the Gilt Group, Kevin Ryan, and how he approaches hiring.  Actually, the article and the description of his approach to selection were both interesting and refreshing.  He describes his role in the process and that he is heavily involved in the hiring of virtually every employee.  He highly values the all employees and feels that they are critical to the success of any organization. 

The refreshing part is his approach to the reference.  He says that most managers place too much emphasis on the resume and interview and much less value on the reference.  He will provide any information to another organization that is hiring one of his employees, past or current.  In turn, he expects the same.  He pressures any former employer listed on a perspective employee's resume as well as a reference for an accurate portrayal of an individual.  He also digs deep in a person's background and finds references who will speak candidly about a candidate.  He feels that the days of acknowledging simply whether or not an individual worked at an organization along with their employment dates are over.   We all need to "man up," if you will, and provide an accurate account of an individual's tenure at our place of employment.  We no longer have the luxury of making poor hiring decisions for our organization.  In this day and age, there is far too much at stake.

What a Weekend at WMHS (Sunday)

On Sunday at WMHS, we had a welcoming brunch for new physicians and advanced practice professionals.  We had a great turnout by the medical staff, nurse practitioners, our board members and administration.  The concept is not a new one, but one that hasn't been repeated for quite some time.  We decided to have the brunch based on the success of our recent recruitment.  In addition, George Garrow MD, who is our new Chief Medical Officer, was able to attend and meet board members and docs to whom he was not yet introduced.  A new twist to the brunch was the ability to identify your areas of interest, biking, hiking, golf, fine dining, etc.  Everyone participated and we will establish a data base and attempt to match areas of interest between attendees as well as future docs and advanced practice professionals joining WMHS.  My thanks to our Dietary staff for yet another great event; they continue to exceed my expectations event after event.  Also, thanks to Dotsy Malone, our physician recruiter, for the great job in putting the event together. 

What a Weekend at WMHS (Saturday)

On Saturday beginning at 6 AM, the process started to switch out our electrical breakers in five phases.  Much planning went into this time-consuming process that took over 10 hours to complete.  Electrical power is critical and essential to all that we do in treating and caring for our patients.  Because it was so well planned, the entire process came off without a hitch.  We had to work around an OR case and some emergency Interventional Radiology procedures, but at no time was any patient or staff member in jeopardy.  We even located the source of our original problem which required us to replace our breakers after an unplanned outage a few weeks ago.  Great job on the part of Jo Wilson, VP Support Ops, the facility staff and so many other individuals who put our patients before anyone and everything this past Saturday.  Another job so very well done at WMHS.  I will blog about Sunday's event tomorrow.

Keep the Government Away from my Health Care

I continue to be amused when I hear that the government needs to keep its hands off our health care, usually related to national health care reform aka Obamacare.  I am sorry to say that the US government and the government of all 50 states are playing an active role in our health care.  Currently, 56% of our health care is paid for by Medicare and Medicaid, not to mention the plethora of regulation that both levels of government subject hospitals and physicians to related to the provision of care.  I recognize that there are some distasteful aspects of health care reform, but, in some cases, our government is attempting to streamline the delivery of health care in an effort to bring improvement to a broken system of payment and regulation.