Commentary and Observations from
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How COVID-19 is Impacting the PA and NP Professions
Posted By: Daniel Thibodeau, MHP, PA-C
June 05, 2020
Have you or one of your colleagues had an impactful change to your career or current job because of COVID-19? Apparently, it is happening to more than we know. According to a recent survey by the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA), almost 60% of PAs have experienced reduced hours. When asked, most are attributing this to the recent economic shutdown. More than one-fifth (22.1%) of the PA workforce has been furloughed, and nearly one-third (30.6%) of the surveyed PAs have noted a... Continue Reading
Filed under: Practice Management/Career
Brain Natriuretic Peptide in Clinical Trials: Why This Matters for Practitioners
Posted By: Daniel Thibodeau, MHP, PA-C
May 26, 2020
As we look to improve the treatment and quality of life of our patients with heart failure, we often use relevant labs to help us determine the extent of the... Continue Reading
Filed under: Cardiometabolic
The Cardiovascular Impact of COVID-19
Posted By: Daniel Thibodeau, MHP, PA-C
April 03, 2020
On Wednesday, March 18th, the American College of Cardiology held a we... Continue Reading
Filed under: Cardiometabolic, Infectious Diseases
COVID-19 and the Curve
Posted By: Daniel Thibodeau, MHP, PA-C
March 31, 2020
As of the writing of this post, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has been confirm... Continue Reading
Filed under: Health Policy and Trends, Infectious Diseases, Public Health
New Cholesterol Drug Soon to Make It to the United States
Posted By: Daniel Thibodeau, MHP, PA-C
January 31, 2020
Normally, when a new drug hits the United States market you will see a small market spike of curiosity. As we continually seek ways to improve the health and... Continue Reading
Filed under: Cardiometabolic, Preventive Medicine
Connecting with our Patients: What Matters Most
Posted By: Daniel Thibodeau, MHP, PA-C
January 28, 2020
We all have busy clinical days, but it is still important to make a personal connection with our patients. I think it is fair to say that one of the main rea... Continue Reading
Filed under: NPs & PAs, Practice Management/Career
The Continued Study of an Old Drug: Aspirin
Posted By: Daniel Thibodeau, MHP, PA-C
December 13, 2019
It started out by taking extract from the willow tree and using it as a medicinal agent well over 150 years ago. Today, this extract, now transformed into ac... Continue Reading
Filed under: Cardiometabolic, Miscellaneous
Do Physician Assistants and Nurse Practitioners Know What They Bill?
Posted By: Daniel Thibodeau, MHP, PA-C
December 10, 2019
As a practicing clinician, do you know what you bill for? Do you know how much is asked for in the bills that are sent to your patients? The truth of the mat... Continue Reading
Filed under: Health Policy and Trends, NPs & PAs, Practice Management/Career
The Real Risks of Vaping: All Clinicians Must Ask the Right Questions and Warn Patients
Posted By: Daniel Thibodeau, MHP, PA-C
October 04, 2019
Most of us have seen the recent news regarding the alarming rise of respiratory-related illnesses and deaths due to e-cigarettes, or vaping. For those not aw... Continue Reading
Filed under: Health Policy and Trends, Substance Abuse
New Statement Related to Hospitalized Heart Failure Patients
Posted By: Daniel Thibodeau, MHP, PA-C
October 01, 2019
The American College of Cardiology has issued a new Expert Consensus Decision Pathway for the management of patients with heart failure. This newly released... Continue Reading
Filed under: Cardiometabolic, Health Policy and Trends, NPs & PAs
Palliative Care for Heart Failure: An Early Discussion Would Benefit Patients
Posted By: Daniel Thibodeau, MHP, PA-C
July 19, 2019
As clinicians, we care for patients over the course of a lifetime and often face the reality of patients who are challenged with end-of-life (EOL) decision m... Continue Reading
Filed under: Cardiometabolic
No Difference in Outcomes and Treatment No Matter the Etiology—Analysis from PARADIGM-HF Trial
Posted By: Daniel Thibodeau, MHP, PA-C
July 16, 2019
Heart failure (HF) is a complicated disease state with multiple, staged therapies. Over the last couple of years, addition of a sacubitril/valsartan combinat... Continue Reading
Filed under: Cardiometabolic
CHAMPS HF - We All Can do Better!
Posted By: Daniel Thibodeau, MHP, PA-C
June 14, 2019
Many of us manage patients with heart failure with a reduced ejection fraction, or HFrEF. The management of this patient population is complex, and most pati... Continue Reading
Filed under: Cardiometabolic, Preventive Medicine
Consider Deprescribing in Our Older Adults
Posted By: Daniel Thibodeau, MHP, PA-C
June 01, 2019
We all have patients in our practices who are older and on numerous medications. They are stabilizing their problems but are faced with the reality of nearin... Continue Reading
Filed under: Health Policy and Trends, Preventive Medicine, Public Health
Measles Outbreak – A Public Health Concern
Posted By: Daniel Thibodeau, MHP, PA-C
April 26, 2019
The modern world was turned upside down in 1997 when researcher Andrew Wakefield suggested there was a direct correlation between the MMR (measles/mumps/rube... Continue Reading
Filed under: Infectious Diseases, Preventive Medicine, Public Health
Cardiovascular Health Promotion—A Must Read for PAs and NPs
Posted By: Daniel Thibodeau, MHP, PA-C
April 23, 2019
PAs and NPs are encouraged to read a recent issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology on cardiovascular health and promotion. This... Continue Reading
Filed under: Cardiometabolic, Preventive Medicine
Caution: Population Is Having More Heart Attacks at a Younger Age
Posted By: Daniel Thibodeau, MHP, PA-C
March 15, 2019
This March, the American College of Cardiology will meet in New Orleans for their annual scientific assembly, and one major discussion will be the growing pe... Continue Reading
Filed under: Cardiometabolic
Patient Autonomy: Keeping Our Patients’ Self-Determination Preserved
Posted By: Daniel Thibodeau, MHP, PA-C
March 12, 2019
If you’ve practiced in medicine for at least 20 years, you may remember the case of Terri Schiavo, a woman in her 20s who was in a coma for more than a dec... Continue Reading
Filed under: Health Policy and Trends, Public Health
Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement: What's In It for Your Patient?
Posted By: Daniel Thibodeau, MHP, PA-C
February 08, 2019
Over the last few years more and more development and technology has been devoted to transcatheter aortic valve replacement, or TAVR. This procedure, develop... Continue Reading
States' Involvement With Medicaid Expansion
Posted By: Daniel Thibodeau, MHP, PA-C
February 05, 2019
For a little over 50 years, Medicaid has provided healthcare as a stopgap to millions of people. With passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), few states ut... Continue Reading
Filed under: Health Policy and Trends, Public Health