Daily Meditations on Healthcare
One year ago this week, Doctors for America launched Progress Notes, the blog devoted to doctors discussing problems and solutions in access, affordability, and quality of health car…
About the Blogger
- Zaneb Beams is a Community Pediatrician in Maryland. She is also a happily married mother of 4 young children, grassroots leader, yoga teacher, and public leader. Dr. Beams realized very quickly after completing residency that direct service in patient care would not be enough to make the world a better place. In her work as a Pediatric Hospitalist and in Primary Care, Dr. Beams saw that some problems were too big to fix through clinical work alone. This is why Dr. Beams works to fix health care and other community problems at the systems level. For Dr. Beams, advocacy and direct service go hand in hand.
Editor's Note: Any views or opinions presented on this blog are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the hospitals, clinics, and institutions where they work, teach, and study.
Recent Posts
On 9/11 and remembering our dead fellow Americans
I will warn you. You may be angry after you read this essay. On September 11, 2001, I was in a wide, dark, linoleum tiled hallway lined with curtained stalls. In each of these…
Health Care in America: Mating for MRI's
I was sitting in Starbucks with a graduate student, planning out some back to school activities for my kids, when she brought up the topic of health care. She told me a story about h…
My 15 Year Old Patient Died Because His Dad Was Unemployed
It’s different when you lose a patient in private practice. In the ICU, you expect to lose patients. They arrive close to death. In the ICU, you usually haven’t known the…
Who’s Afraid of Primary Care?
I’ve never been particularly canny or shrewd when it comes to planning my so-called career. Still, I couldn’t help but notice, as I was finishing residency training…
Insurance Companies Should Be Held To The Same Standards
“A minimum Medical Loss Ratio (MLR) is a requirement that insurers spend, at least, a specified percentage of premium dollars on medical care rather than on administratio…
Repeal Is Not An Option
As the one year anniversary of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) approaches, opponents of progress are committed to repealing or fatally wounding the law. The PP…
We Who Believe in Freedom Cannot Rest
“Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in healthcare is the most shocking and inhumane.” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. On the day after the MLK JR holiday, I want to te…
On Being a Good Sport
When my son Sam was 6 years old, we found it hard to play games. There was a lot of pouting, “bending” of rules, and sometimes even throwing of sports equipment (like, th…
The Biggest Loser in the Nation’s Capital
Consider the conversation I had last week: Parent: My son is getting bigger and bigger. We do everything right. I just don’t understand. Me: What does he eat? Parent: He eat…
