The doctor-patient relationship is an intimate relationship. It is based on trust. One of the tenets of trust is that it will not be exploited for personal gain. Doctors become aware of patients’ most private secrets. And their vulnerabilities. Still, medicine is “hands-on.” Examination of the patient often requires touch. And, if a patient initiates … Read more
Most telemedicine visits are little more than visual addendums to standard phone call encounters. Still, they add a face to a voice. One can pick up on body language. And they do enable limited examinations. For example, does the patient have a tremor? If so, what type? How would you characterize the patient’s gait? Is … Read more
This question hit my desk. I’ve received some version of this same question over and over. A plastic surgeon performed aesthetic surgery on a patient. Objectively the results look good. Subjectively, the patient disagrees. Sound familiar? There’s a conflict. The patient takes the conflict online. She posts photos which are a few days post-op. They … Read more
Dr. Hassan A. Saad is an orthopaedic surgeon practicing in Michigan. This physician shares the same first and last name as another physician, who worked in the same city. This other Dr. Hassan has a different middle initial. His middle initial is “T” and opposed to our protagonist, whose middle initial is “I”. What a … Read more
We live in a world of deadlines. When I was growing up, I learned the maxim, “Failure to properly plan on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.” Sound familiar? The excuse “the dog ate my homework” did not work in my childhood home. If you practice medicine (or any licensed profession … Read more
Stem cells are promising. They may impact so many conditions down the road. Some clinics have a head start. They’ve been making claims that the future is here. Now. One major unknown was what authority the FDA has, if any, for regulating treated and spun-down fat for re-implantation. In California, a lower-level federal court ruled … Read more
If you’ve been living under a rock for the past few years, take note that there are very effective medications used to treat obesity and type II diabetes. They include products with glucagon-like peptide (GLP-1) activity. The two dominant players in the industry are Novo Nordisk and Lilly. Novo Nordisk distributes semaglutide: Ozempic for Type … Read more
Many physicians are asked to serve as Medical Directors. Seems like easy money. What do Medical Directors do? Two things, actually. They act as administrators overseeing various operational issues – such as credentialing and privileging. And they serve as supervisors, assuming co-responsibility for mid-level providers. Every state addresses physician relationships with physician assistants (PAs) and … Read more
Physicians take all sorts of photographs. Some are part and parcel of a surgeon’s practice. Before and after photos of cosmetic surgery. For example. No surprises there. Patients of Lehigh Valley Health Network were surprised that hackers obtained photos of their naked bodies while undergoing radiation treatment. Hackers breached the network. A Lehigh Valley Health … Read more
Generally, a patient needs to sign a HIPAA authorization form to disclose their protected health information. Unless there’s an exception. Such as addressing Treatment, Payment, or Operations (“TPO”). No written authorization is needed for such exceptions – for example, to disclose limited protected health information to resolve a financial dispute (say, a credit card chargeback … Read more
