"This last mile of the COVID pandemic—Omicron or not—is a painstaking one-on-one endeavor. As is most of primary care. Sadly, we now have to deal with political epidemiology as much as emotional and clinical epidemiology.

We’ll sit with each of our patients, listening as much as possible, attempting to understand and address their concerns. With some, the bloc of silence may be impenetrable. This is heartbreaking, especially for those of us who’ve penned more condolence cards this past year than we have in a lifetime of clinical practice. But such is the reality of our society’s self-inflicted wounds."

Danielle Ofri is an internal medicine physician and editor-in-chief, Bellevue Literary Review. She can be reached at her self-titled site, Danielle Ofri.

She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "Emotional epidemiology of disease is as critical as clinical epidemiology."

Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode.

This episode is sponsored by Athelas, the number one provider of remote patient monitoring.

Did you know more than 65 percent of doctors are actively investing in remote patient monitoring?

That’s because RPM is the fastest-growing segment in health care today. And for good reason:

RPM boosts patient outcomes through preventative care. In fact, a recent study by the VA showed that implementing RPM at a practice can reduce hospital readmission rates by as much as 25 percent, saving more than $20,000 per patient in medical costs.

If you’re not investing in RPM, you’re missing out. Luckily, Athelas can help you roll out RPM end-to-end. They provide devices to your patients, handle 100 percent of billing, and even provide a team of nurses to monitor patient vitals for you. All at zero net cost to your practice.

Try out RPM for your practice by going to KevinMD.com/tryrpm.

Did you enjoy today’s episode?

Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD.

Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out.