In an era when Apple gives away its Mavericks OS X operating system for free, when completely free open-source operating systems like Linux and BSD are available, when even Microsoft is considering giving away its Windows operating system for free, one has to ask the question, why is medical software, in particular EHR (Electronic Health… Continue reading The Rent is Too Damn High. Why Does Medical Software Cost So Much?
Category: Medicine
Making a MOCkery of Medicine
I thought I’d weigh in on the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) recertification process after reading an excellent article on it today. After all, I’ve been through the process several times, most recently enduring it in 2012. I was lucky enough to be “grandfathered” with regard to my Internal Medicine and Cardiology board certifications.… Continue reading Making a MOCkery of Medicine
Fair Use Justification of CPT® Codes in EP Coding
The following is a formal justification for use of a limited number of CPT® codes under the US Copyright law fair use exemption in the soon-to-be-released mobile app EP Coding. Introduction As CPT® codes are copyrighted by the American Medical Association, it is important to make the case that use of a very small… Continue reading Fair Use Justification of CPT® Codes in EP Coding
Device Reps and Patient Care — An Inconvenient Truth
Most people who don’t deal with the Health Care System on the inside are likely unaware of the exact role that industry representatives play in the care of patients. As a cardiologist who implants pacemakers and defibrillators, I have worked with the representatives of the companies that manufacture these devices for many years. I will… Continue reading Device Reps and Patient Care — An Inconvenient Truth
EP Studios on a Mission
EP Studios has never had a mission statement — until now. The only mission up until this point has been to do some computer programming, write sometimes serious but often silly blog posts, and otherwise use up your precious bandwidth with whatever comes into my head to write about. Now that I have reached the… Continue reading EP Studios on a Mission
Winding Down
The countdown clock app on my phone reads 73.6 days. That is the number of days until January 1, 2014. My retirement day. It has been a good run. I graduated from Dartmouth Medical School in 1976, got married, and have practiced medicine ever since. I went through internship and residency in Rhode Island, thought… Continue reading Winding Down
The Evils of CPT®
Current Procedural Terminology (CPT®) codes are 5 digit codes for billing procedures performed by physicians in the United States. The use of these codes is mandated by all insurers and the whole CPT® coding system forms Level I of the CMS (i.e. Medicare and Medicaid) Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) code set. The system is… Continue reading The Evils of CPT®
The MOC Program’s Story (With Apologies to Lewis Carroll)
… They had not gone far before they saw the MOC Program in the distance, sitting sad and lonely on a little ledge of rock, and as they came nearer, Alice could hear him sighing as if his heart would break. She pitied him deeply. What is his sorrow? she asked the Gryphon, and the… Continue reading The MOC Program’s Story (With Apologies to Lewis Carroll)
The Old Man and The Doctor — A Fable
Once Upon A Time, there lived an old man and an old doctor, in a far away village. The old man was sick, and so he called for the doctor. The old doctor came to visit, and found the old man had a diseased heart. The doctor knew he was going to die soon. The… Continue reading The Old Man and The Doctor — A Fable
Ask Your Doctor if TV Drug Ads Are Right For You
The only thing more annoying than TV commercials is TV drug commercials. Nowadays the two have become virtually synonymous Whatever happened to commercials for Tide or the Ginzu knife? Now it’s one mind-numbing Cialis, Pristiq, or Lyrica commercial after another. There’s the commercial with the doctor standing in his white coat out in public next to a giant mirror,… Continue reading Ask Your Doctor if TV Drug Ads Are Right For You