The Paradocs Podcast with Eric Larson

Everyone knows that one of your most important assets is your identity. Without that you will have difficulty getting anything accomplished. Most importantly, whoever holds the key to your identity will wield the ultimate power. Thankfully, today's digitized world and the emergence of block chains for public accounting and private security is bringing us to a place where you can store this information in a decentralized space allowing the individual to have the power. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you knew that millions of people were being murdered by government in the world what would you do? If you found out these people were being murdered for 'spare parts' to be sold to the highest bidder - what would you do? These are the questions we have to ask ourselves as we look at the practice of involuntary organ harvesting occurring in China to this day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the most overlooked aspects of medical training is what to do after you finish your training. Especially any guidance for how you introduce new products to market as a physician. Doctors are coming up with products all the time that keep us healthier, make our life easier, or doctor's lives easier but there is usually not a lot known by those launching new products about how to do it. And what the pitfalls are. Today, I will discuss just those things with two physician entrepreneurs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's easy to forget that physicians are people. Certainly when we discuss doctors in our national political debates we forget that there is a critical relationship ignored - the patient-physician relationship. As that relationship is strained with the introduction of electronic medical records, production pressures, administrator rules changes, and malpractice physician burnout is almost inevitable. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the biggest obstacles faced by patients and doctors in health care is the exchange of payment for services as this is now accomplished through intermediaries like insurance companies, Medicare, etc. What would happen if we used a cryptocurrency with verifiable records on a blockchain with miniscule transaction fees? Or if you could earn credits as a patient by performing healthy acts? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Would residents (doctors in training) forget to rest and nap if there was no bureaucrat making rules regulating it? Would people leave rotten food in refrigerators without ACGME accrediting body recommendations? Who exactly is in charge in the hospital teaching centers? Do the hospitals function to get people better and who new doctors how to do it or do they exist to enforce rules from far off bureaucracies at the expense of educating new doctors and treating their patients? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why is health insurance so expensive? Why have premiums accelerated under the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare) even more than they were before? Even with the increased guaranteed coverage requirements, the price increases on premiums has outstripped those variables even more than you would expect. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What does it mean to treat a patient? Is it knowing your patient and making an educated decisions about how best to treat them or is it viewing people in the aggregate and working towards making the best medical choices for your community or health system? This is the crux of the question that Dr. Michel Accad poses when deciding how you want to practice medicine (or be cared for by physicians.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What impact do FDA (Food & Drug Administration) regulations have on Americans? Are they truly benign or could they be costing us not only extra money at the pharmacy but our lives? Today, Dr. Mary Ruwart and I discuss the true impact of FDA regulations and how they do in fact shave years off of our lives. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 009: Doctors Getting Worked Over By the ABIM with Dr. Wes Fisher Once again we revisit the issue of maintenance of certification (MOC) only this time with a lurid tale of conniving, cronyism, and dishonesty. Today's tale is of the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) which is charged with setting the standards for board certification for about one quarter of America's physicians. Their exploits have made the rounds even in the lay press and many physicians have called for the torches and pitchforks to take on this seemingly corrupt board. Dr. Wes Fisher stumbled upon the story with the extra time he was afforded while recovering from surgery. The questions he posed publicly was noticed by a forensic accountant, Charles Kroll, who also had time on his hands. Together they have uncovered an almost unbelievable tale of corruption, million dollar offshore accounts, downtown real estate purchases, and missing tax filings all on the backs of the physicians they claim to support. Join Eric and Wes as they tell the tale of the ABIM and how they abuse their own physicians with little respect for their time, talents, or money. Whether you are a physician or not, you will want to get involved and visit the GoFundMe page to begin a class action lawsuit against the ABIM and its parent organization, the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS). I donated after the show and urge you to do the same - even $5. [caption id="attachment_1743" align="aligncenter" width="108"] Dr. Wes Fisher, an electrophysiologist from Chicago, uncovered this tale of corruption and retells it in this episode.[/caption] show notes Dr. Wes's Home Page: The place to follow Dr. Fisher and his continued reporting on the shenanigans at the ABIM. GoFundMe class action lawsuit against the ABMS/ABIM: Click here to donate to end MOC with a class action lawsuit. Practicing Physicians of America: The organization leading the charge in the lawsuit. Join today whether you are a physician or not you can remain updated by signing up. Why You Should Care About Maintenance of Certification with Dr. Meg Edison A primer on the maintenance of certification issue and why physicians are so upset and leaving the practice of medicine early. What Happened to All the Medicine: The interview with Dr. Mass discussing the role GPOs and PBMs have in creating meciation shortages referred to in the show. Patreon - Become a show supporter today and visit my Patreon page for extra bonuses. Every dollar raised goes towards the production and promotion of the show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One unique stressor facing physicians is malpractice litigation. Its occurrence is so common that 10% of physicians are in the litigation process at any one time. The incidence of physicians admitting to suicidal ideation in a year is 7% - twice the rate of the general population! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join me as Dr. Wacasey's folksy humor, vignettes, and aphorisms take you on a humorous journey to leave you better informed the next time you head into the health insurance market. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 006: "Doc, I'm Over Here, That's Just a Computer Screen." Why Don't Electronic Health Records Help with Dr. Ken Fisher Electronic health records (EHRs) were supposed to revolutionize the way we practice medicine. They were going to improve efficiency, reduce errors, and radically change we take care of patients. EHRs have managed just one of those goals - radically change the way we take care of patients - but not in a good way. As people taking care of patients we spend more time clicking, typing, and searching for critical information than we do in laying on of hands and talking to those who are ill. How did this happen? Computers and electronic record systems have made many aspects of our economy so much better. We can order food online, carry maps in our pockets to never get lost (unless you're a new teenage driver), and efficiently order products to minimize waste. But few of these benefits present themselves in hospitals despite billion dollar efforts to computerize everything. Dr. Ken Fisher joins me as we try to get to the bottom of why we have these clunky EHR systems and why they don't work as advertised. How did they come to pass and why is the market for EHRs dominated by so few products. As the author of a popular book titled Understanding Health Care: A Historical Perspective, we also get sidetracked to discuss ways to improve upon the delivery of health care in general. Specifically, we discuss HSAs and Medicaid spending. Dr. Fisher is a nephrologist in Kalamazoo, MI who has run multiple residency and fellowship programs and has been published both in scientific journals and the lay press. [caption id="attachment_1706" align="aligncenter" width="200"] Dr. Ken Fisher, Author of Understanding Health Care: A Historical Perspective[/caption] show notes Understanding Healthcare: a historical perspective Freedom in Healthcare: A website with links to alternative places (other than Amazon) for finding his book. EHR: An Ill Conceived Idea: Article from Medical Economics about EHRs. Why Your Doctor's Computer is so Clunky: Wall Street Journal article referred to in the episode. Episode 002: How Direct Primary Care Direct Primary Care Made Me Love Medicine Again with Dr. Belen Amat Episode 004: A Step-by-Step Guide to Starting a Direct Primary Care Practice with Dr. Chad Savage Patreon - Become a show supporter today and visit my Patreon page for extra bonuses Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are you aware that we face critical shortages of basic medication and medical supplies on a daily basis in the United States? Currently, over 100 generic medications are at various levels of critical supplies. Spinal anesthetic kits are undersupplied as are a large number of chemotherapeutic medicines. If we have a country where you never have to go a day without kale in the supermarket, why should we not have basic pain medications for months? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Have you wondered what the steps are to open your own direct primary care practice? Whether you are a resident physician or established physician this episode will offer a guide to starting your own practice to begin practicing medicine the way you want on your own terms. In this episode, Eric and Chad walk through the advantages of opening a direct primary care practice and each step you need to complete to make the plunge. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Eric and Congressman Justin Amash (R-MI3) discuss the state of health care in the United States and what changes are likely to transpire at the federal level. Is Congress hopeless (spoiler alert: yep)? What would he do if he were in charge of transforming the US Health Care Industry? Which is better, Star Trek or Star Wars? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Eric speaks with Dr. Belen Amat, a med/peds physician who switched from a traditional medical practice of using insurance to one of direct primary care in Grand Rapids, MI. Eric & Belen discuss the direct primary care model for delivering health care in America. Dr. Amat describes how the switch to a new model changed her whole attitude about primary care and has made her happier, empathetic, and a better doctor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Eric & Meg discuss what maintenance of certification (MOC) is and why it is a problem for physicians and their patients. Meg describes why the MOC process is so destructive to the practice of medicine and why non-physicians should care. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices