EpiPen Outrage: Lifesaving Devices at a Premium Price
The controversy continues over the EpiPen auto-injector, a life-saving dosage of epinephrine used for quick acting relief from allergic reactions. For years, the product has included two auto-injectors costing around $100, although since 2004 the pricing for the anaphylaxis treatment has risen gradually to $600 — a price that has caused sheer outrage. Patients and families have taken to social media in an attempt to get the maker of...
How to Deal with Parental Vaccine Refusals
As a locum tenens traveling around the country, you get to see what it is like to work in many different healthcare organizations. You have the opportunity to work in urban and rural communities, as well as meet many different patients and their families. If you’re a locum tenens pediatrician (or a permanent one), one issue that you may have to deal with is managing parental vaccine refusals. New Policy Changes Many physicians across...
ProduceRx: Let Food Be Thy Medicine
This month has marked the start of the Penn State Health System’s innovative program called ProduceRx. Although it’s an ancient idea, treating food as medicine is getting a modern update. With so many diseases that can be prevented with a proper diet, it’s amazing how food gets overlooked in healthcare. Things like obesity, certain types of cancers, osteoporosis and others can all be better prevented through...
Care Continuity Lowers Trips to the ER, Study Says
We like continuity – especially when it comes to our healthcare. According to a study done by Annals of Emergency Medicine, care continuity can greatly decrease the chances of an ER visit. Researchers studied the administrative data of more than 3 million Medicare beneficiaries between 2011 and 2013 and found that the relative risk of an ED visit, observation stay, or admission through the emergency department fell by up to 20% for...
Physician Burnout & What Locums Can Do To Help
What is burnout? Before we can help we must learn what we are dealing with. Burnout is a specific combination of chronic stress and depression that leads to exhaustion, cynicism, and ineffectiveness. It is often found among working professionals in any high-stress career. But no work-related stress compares to that of a physician. Sure, physicians usually have a lot on their plates and wear many hats. But they also deal with tough...