Staff News Writer

In Lewis v. Superior Court (Medical Board of California), a lower court ruling grants law enforcement and other government employees broad access to the state’s prescription drug monitoring program’s database. Physicians are flagging the ruling as a violation of confidentiality in the physician-patient relationship.

In his role as commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health, Bechara Choucair, MD, leverages his experience as an internal medicine physician to empower patients to make the right choices.

The AMA-sponsored Learning Environment Study, which collected data and insights on the medical student experience throughout the four years of medical school, found that both men and women showed an overall decline in attitudes toward empathy from their first to second year of school.

Transitioning from medical school to residency isn’t easy, but it is exciting. Seasoned residents shared what they wish they knew about residency so new residents and medical students know how to prepare.

Physicians should look for their confidential Medicare feedback reports next month. They will detail how the cost and quality of care physicians provided to their Medicare patients last year compares to that of other physicians.

For one physician, treating obesity is all about taking a new approach. It’s more than just diet and exercise for many patients, she said. Her work includes investigating how patients’ environments, such as their sleep patterns, can affect their biology.

Roughly one-half of all hospital admissions come from emergency department (ED) visits, according to a recent study by the RAND Corporation.