Words matter. They are the bullets in the fight for public perception, in the battle for change.

A diamond and a rock, sitting side by side. Both discovered near the bottom of the Udachny diamond mine in the Sakha Republic region of Russia, one of the world’s ten deepest open-pit diamond mines.

But are they of the same value?

Hospital based medical groups are often faced with a choice upon exclusive contract renewal: The expectation or demand on the part of the hospital that the group must provide its services, perhaps even at a higher level of intensity, for lower or no stipend support.

You’re under competitive pressure, so why cut your own group off at its knees?

Speed kills. I read it on the message board that stretched across the lanes of the highway. (I suppose that reading message boards kills, too, but they aren’t advertising that.)

Years ago, one of my former partners had a case in which a stock broker built up a huge book of business, only to have his clients “reassigned” to a famous heavy-hitter at the firm that took over the brokerage.

I know. In light of tons of illegal profits, complying with the federal anti-kickback law (“AKS”) is a hard sell.

But, it’s easier than a prison cell. And better than paying a $125 million fine.

I knew that I had taken the wrong job after my first day at the firm.

More than thirty years have passed, so now I can laugh about it. But back then, I thought I was screwed.

I stood there with the other workers, a large rotating table separating us. As the parts moved by we each glued on another piece until Mary took them and put them in a box.

His comment still sticks in my craw. The so-called expert said something like, “In the new economy, physicians need to lower their income expectations.”

Why?