I just returned from IDWeek in New Orleans where one of the running themes was on the future of the infectious disease specialty. In brainstorming what we could do differently one question revolved around what could infectious disease physicians learn from hospitalists who have become an attractive specialty in just two decades. The New England […]
Coding Sepsis
September is sepsis awareness month and I want to discuss coding sepsis. First I will introduce the concept of medical coding and the definition of sepsis. Skip to half way down for specific coding sepsis examples. What is Medical Coding? Medical coding is the transformation of diagnoses and procedures into a set of universal alphanumeric […]
Infectious Disease – The Coolest Medical Specialty
I may just be biased but the coolest medical specialty out there by far is infectious disease (ID). It has been a while since I sung its praises on my path to being an infectious disease specialist here, here and here so this is a very overdue blog post. Everybody in medicine knows that the […]
America’s Ebola Mayhem Continues
An elderly Black woman goes to visit her family in Jamaica. Soon after returning home to the United States she has a fever and presents to the Emergency Room for evaluation. She is triaged into a solitary room where no-one takes her vitals and no-one evaluates her. Instead, the Emergency Room physician places a call […]
Dark Clouds A Lifting
I rarely discuss finances but have been disturbed by the many stories of student loan debt in recent years. Most people realize that a medical education comes with great financial undertaking and indebtedness though I doubt most understand the delayed gratification required. After all, doctors are inherently rich! Are Student Loans Good Debt? I realize that […]