Primary Care is in trouble. The job is very hard, doesn’t pay as much as it should, and the numbers of PCPs is dwindling. 

How can we save the field? Dr. Bobby Scott has another novel idea to help reduce the burden on Primary Care Physicians.  Our conversation is the subject of this week's episode on Healthcare Musings. 

Dr. Bobby Scott: https://substack.com/@bobbyscottmd 

Sensible Medicine article: https://www.sensible-med.com/p/on-the-conservation-of-primary-care 

There is a dire shortage of Primary Care Physicians, and it is projected to get even worse. 

We need Primary Care Physicians, and creating more Residency slots takes years to come to fruition. 

This week’s guest on the Healthcare Musings Podcast, Emergency Medicine physician Dr. Colleen Smith, has a novel idea to help relieve the shortage. 

Dr. Smith’s Substack: https://substack.com/@drcolleensmith 

There is a common perception that hospitals are nonstop, money making machine machines. Reality, however, it’s quite different. 

In this episode, I sit down with Mr. Ken Kaufman, a Managing Director at Kaufman Hall. He gives an eye-opening assessment of what It’s really like to run a hospital. 

About Ken Kaufman: https://x.com/kenkaufman12 

There has been an uproar on the part of some over the new dietary guidelines published by the government (www.realfood.gov). 

Is the uproad justified? I asked the perfect person: America's Cardiologist, Dr. Mohammed Alo (https://www.dralo.net/). We had a great conversation. 

Telecritical care is part of the future of Critical Care Medicine in the United States and world. There are various models of implementing TeleICU programs, and one of them is a “hybrid” between on site and tele ICU. 

To know more about what it’s like to be a teleIntensivist, see my conversation with Dr. Eugene Yeh: https://www.healthcaremusings.com/a-day-in-the-life-telecritical-care-with-dr-eugene-yeh/ 

Acute hypoxic respiratory failure is diagnosed by one of these three criteria: 

That's it.

Payers like to add all sorts of clinical criteria alongside this. This is totally wrong, and we should not let them get away with this when they dispute the presence of acute hypoxic respiratory failure during post-discharge DRG denials. 

During this episode, Dr. Hassaballa goes into the criteria of acute hypoxemic respiratory failure, so we can be better equipped to deal with the ever-increasing payer denials of this major co-morbid condition. 

Increasingly, insurance companies and third-party auditors are denying sepsis claims and DRGs based on the “Sepsis-3” article published almost 10 years ago. 

Specifically, they contend that if there is no SOFA score of 2 or greater there is no sepsis. Not so fast. The article never said that, and this is crucial when fighting sepsis denials. 

I was honored to be a guest on the Becker’s Healthcare Podcast.

During the episode, I discussed how AI is transforming clinical care; the irreplaceable human elements of medicine; and the leadership values that guide my work. I also shared insights on physician excellence, system level improvement, and what inspires me as I look ahead to 2026. 

Ever since the death of my daughter on June 7, 2009, I have written and reflected on many things that remind me of her, including many popular songs. It is one of the ways the Lord saved my life after her death. 

Today, on her birthday, I embark on a new series on Healthcare Musings: "The Soundtrack of My Grief," where I discuss those songs that have helped me cope with her death. 

The first song upon which I will reflect is "Clarity," by Zedd. 

Song link: https://music.apple.com/us/song/clarity-feat-foxes/1440861976 

Can an AI Chatbot version of you make an end-of-life decision if you cannot make it on your own?

This possibility was brought up to me on a previous episode with Eiman Abdelmoneim. I was so intrigued by the possibility that I sat down with Dr. Muhammad Aurangzeb Ahmad, Resident Fellow at the Harborview Medical Center (UW Medicine). He is also Affiliate Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at University of Washington Bothell and Affiliate Faculty member at Responsible AI Systems and Experiences, University of Washington. 

One of his main focuses of research is LLMs and end of life. It was a fascinating conversation.