May 2010 - Posts

• The Times Hits the Right Notes on Hospitalists

  You probably saw yesterday’s hospitalist piece in the New York Times, arguably the best lay article on the movement to date. It hit all the right notes, and did so with uncommon grace and fairness. The piece, written by the Times’ Jane Gross, profiled Read More... Posted Fri, May 28 2010 8:05 AM by Bob Wachter | 5 Comments Filed under: Hospital Care, Hospitalists/Hospital Medicine, Ambulatory/Primary Care, Media/Press Coverage

• In Defense of Paul Levy

  Paul Levy, the blogging CEO of Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, found himself in hot water last month over an inappropriate relationship with a female subordinate. While some of the details of the transgression remain sketchy, I think I Read More... Posted Mon, May 24 2010 7:07 AM by Bob Wachter | 6 Comments Filed under: Hospital Care, Transparency and Reporting, Medical Education/Academia, Health Policy, Media/Press Coverage, Medical Ethics

• Badness in Baltimore: Can Peer Review Catch Rogue Doctors?

  A couple of months ago, a Baltimore reporter called to get my take on a scandal at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Towson, an upscale suburb. A rainmaker cardiologist there, Dr. Mark Midei, had been accused of placing more than 500 stents in patients who didn’t Read More... Posted Tue, May 11 2010 6:42 AM by Bob Wachter | 15 Comments Filed under: Quality Improvement, Hospital Care, Quality Measurement, Health Policy, Media/Press Coverage, Medical Ethics