JOHN SHUFELDT, MD, JD, MBA, FACEP I am tangentially involved in a medical malpractice suit in which the physician in question complied completely with the standard of care. Her documentation was great, her care exceptional, there was no discrepancy between her charting and the nurses’ charting, the doctor-to-doctor hand-off went well, and she communicated with the patient and family. Unfortunately, the ultimate patient outcome was horrible. In the aftermath, the physician was named in a …
Read MoreCommercial Motor Vehicle Medical Examinations – Act Now to Participate!
JOHN SHUFELDT, MD, JD, MBA, FACEP This is not the call you want to receive. “Dr. Shufeldt, one of urgent care centers your group just purchased was named in a multimillion dollar suit. The allegation is that one of the center’s providers performed a DOT physical on a driver who was reportedly overweight, had Type II diabetes, had hypertension and undiagnosed sleep apnea. While driving, he fell asleep, crossed the median and a struck a …
Read MoreThe Game Part 3
JOHN SHUFELDT, MD, JD, MBA, FACEP Lawyer: Now doctor, isn’t it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn’t know about it until the next morning? Lawyer: Doctor, how many autopsies have you performed on dead people? Witness: All my autopsies are performed on dead people. Lawyer: Do you recall the time that you examined the body? Witness: The autopsy started around 8:30 p.m. Lawyer: And Mr. Johnson was dead at the …
Read MoreThe Game Part 2
JOHN SHUFELDT, MD, JD, MBA, FACEP I used to love to watch Raymond Burr in “Perry Mason.” He would get some poor witness on the stand and, in the middle of her testimony, look at the jury while he handed the witness an incriminating document and say very loudly, “What about this?” At which point the witness would dissolve into tears with her head in her hands and confess to basically everything including the crime …
Read MoreThe Game Part 1
JOHN SHUFELDT, MD, JD, MBA, FACEP In the movie The Game, Nicholas Van Orton (played by Michael Douglas) is a very wealthy and successful businessman. Unfortunately, his successes come at the cost of his family life and close, personal relationships. His brother, Conrad (played by Sean Penn), gives him a gift on his 48th birthday. The gift is enrollment into a live-action game where Nicholas is the principal player. This game initially consumes then seemingly …
Read MoreIt Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time
JOHN SHUFELDT, MD, JD, MBA, FACEP Have you seen poster with the phrase, “IT COULD BE THAT THE PURPOSE OF YOUR LIFE IS ONLY TO SERVE AS A WARNING TO OTHERS?” Have you ever had “one of those days” where you believed the poster was a sign from God directed only to you? Over the years I have heard hundreds of patients and numerous friends and acquaintances mutter the phrase, “It seemed like a good …
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Strategies for Avoiding Drug-Drug Interactions in Urgent Care
Urgent message: With the increasing number of drugs on the market, patients are more and more likely to be taking multiple medications. Urgent care providers need to be alert for potential interactions when changing or adding to a patient’s drug therapy. MAYA HECK, MS1, and JOHN SHUFELDT, MD, JD, MBA, FACEP Consider This Patient Scenario:A 28-year-old woman who says she is a traveling nurse currently on an assignment at a nearby hospital presents to an …
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Chronic Exertional Compartment Syndrome
Urgent message: Runners who train too much too soon risk serious injury. Prompt and thorough evaluation is necessary to spot CECS masquerading as “shin splints.” MATTHEW SPEER and JOHN SHUFELDT, MD, JD, MBA, FACEP Overview Running is one of the world’s most popular exercises, with millions across the globe participating and training for events from 5K races to ultramarathons of over 100 miles. Despite the fact that more than 10 million people run over 100 …
Read MoreEt tu, Brute?
JOHN SHUFELDT, MD, JD, MBA, FACEP In the past, when I have broached the topic of employee theft with urgent care owners, their typical, somewhat indignant, response is, “My employees would never do that!” I really like this answer because I really value loyalty – more than anything. In the film Ides of March, campaign manager Paul Zara (Philip Seymour Hoffman) proclaims: “I value loyalty over everything.” Of course, he completely gets screwed (by his …
Read MoreContinue CPR! or How to Save the Patient and Screw the Pooch1
JOHN SHUFELDT, MD, JD, MBA, FACEP So there I was (all good stories start this way), having just participated in saving a 58-year-old guy who collapsed while playing golf with his buddies. It was a classic v-fib arrest—dropped after hitting a great drive right down the middle of the fairway. The man’s friends started CPR, paramedics arrived and shocked him out of VF into a sinus rhythm and intubated him. While in the emergency department …
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