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• My Patients Are Dying… And I’ve Never Been Prouder

  I’m on clinical service now and my patients are dying left and right. And I’ve never been prouder of my own care, and that delivered by my colleagues and hospital.When I was in training, a patient’s death was invariably considered a medical failure, and Read More... Posted Thu, Nov 27 2008 8:16 PM by Bob Wachter | 6 Comments Filed under: Hospital Care, Transparency and Reporting, Quality Measurement, Medical Education/Academia, Hospitalists/Hospital Medicine, Health Policy, Medical Ethics

• Is “Patient-Centeredness” a Healthcare MacGuffin?

  Last week’s ABIM Foundation Summer Forum focused on patient-centered care… and who could be against that? But is patient-centered care just a healthcare MacGuffin? What’s a MacGuffin, you ask? In a spectacular talk at the Forum, Michael Richardson of Read More... Posted Mon, Aug 04 2008 4:16 AM by Bob Wachter | 8 Comments Filed under: Hospital Care, Transparency and Reporting, Ambulatory/Primary Care, Health Policy, Medical Ethics

• Snooping At Britney’s Chart: Why Should Docs and Nurses Have Different Rules?

  Should doctors and nurses be subject to different penalties for precisely the same infraction? Of course not. Are they? Sure. Just ask Britney Spears. Britney was hospitalized at UCLA at least twice in the past few years – once when she gave birth to Read More... Posted Sun, Apr 20 2008 8:53 PM by Bob Wachter | 2 Comments Filed under: Hospital Care, Information Technology, Patient Safety/Medical Errors, Nurses/Nursing, Media/Press Coverage, Medical Ethics

• Absurd: Resuscitating 90-year-olds with Dementia or Metastatic Cancer

  Last month on the wards, I unilaterally told two patients’ families that we were not going to resuscitate their loved ones. My residents were horrified – this violated the DNR playbook – but the alternative seemed both immoral and absurd. What do you Read More... Posted Tue, Mar 11 2008 6:23 AM by Bob Wachter | 15 Comments Filed under: Hospital Care, Health Policy, Medical Ethics