‘They Are the Gatekeepers in Patient Care’: What We Heard This Week

— Quotable quotes heard by MedPage Today‘s reporters

by
MedPage Today Staff



April 9, 2023

“They are the gatekeepers in patient care.” — Linda Murphy, president of revenue cycle solutions at AMN Healthcare, on the influence doctors have over commercial health insurer claims.

“Frankly, he wasn’t diagnosed earlier in his life because he wasn’t white.” — Jennifer Taylor-Cousar, MD, of National Jewish Health in Denver, on the difficult journey of a 34-year-old South Asian patient to finally get a diagnosis. Hear more cases like this on the latest installment MedPage‘s Anamnesis podcast, ‘Mysteries: Cracking the Complex Case.’

“How many of the assault weapon injuries that we see in the emergency department, or that result in deaths at the scene, are the result of defensive efforts?” — Christopher Colwell, MD, of Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center, about the rise in firearm deaths in the past two decades.

“It will save a lot of time.” — Yee Hui Yeo, MD, of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, on the benefits of ChatGPT to help field patient questions.

“What we found is that it’s virtually impossible to look at any hospital website in the country without exposing yourself to some tracking.” — Matthew McCoy, PhD, of the University of Pennsylvania, after finding nearly all U.S. hospital website home pages had at least one third-party data transfer.

“We really are just asking for a seat at the table.” — Sascha Murillo, MD, a third-year internal medicine resident at Mass General Brigham in Boston, on seeking unionization despite a recent 10% salary increase.

“It seems that introduction of exogenous estrogens after a long pause is not a great idea.” — Rachel Buckley, PhD, of the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, discussing hormone therapy and higher regional tau in the brain.

“What I’m a little worried about myself is general neurodevelopment and not just autism.” — Beate Ritz, MD, PhD, of the University of California Los Angeles, about lithium levels in drinking water.

“What this study shows is that you need good sleep to have good mental health, period.” — Karen Pierce, MD, of Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, about the connection between poor sleep and worse mental health among kids and adolescents.

“The decision of when to bring the patient in for in-person care really is a clinical decision that should be made by the clinician.” — Brian Hurley, MD, MBA, president-elect of the American Society of Addiction Medicine, on the DEA’s proposed telemedicine rule.