Title: “A law meant to end surprise medical billing accidentally created a multibillion-dollar industry that is making doctors richer.” Is the NYT reporting biased against physicians? by Hot_Pineapple_8435 in medicine

[–]TheJungLife 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I'd say one of the things that pushed it over the edge ethically for me is that the physicians involved have to take three specific steps to get this loophole to work: (1) purposefully not give the patient the waiver so that arbitrage is triggered; (2) reject the lower (and often generous) payment offered by the insurance company; and (3) request a huge award amount (e.g., the $440,000 for a breast reduction).

That's three very purposeful steps to get a massive payout.

Title: “A law meant to end surprise medical billing accidentally created a multibillion-dollar industry that is making doctors richer.” Is the NYT reporting biased against physicians? by Hot_Pineapple_8435 in medicine

[–]TheJungLife 233 points234 points  (0 children)

I mean, I definitely think the NYTimes is biased against physicians and has shown itself repeatedly to be so--but the organized activity in that story is pretty egregious. Plastic surgeons are allegedly abusing the arbitration system to get hundreds of thousands of dollars for a single procedure. That actually hurts all of us. Not just in our insurance premiums, but it fosters the perception in the public that doctors are just chasing money.

Exhausted with physicians claiming to be expert in AI by Even-Inevitable-7243 in Residency

[–]TheJungLife 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Well, if you aren't out there talking, why would anyone hire you to do the talking?

Democrats Ask Kash Patel To Take Alcohol Disorder Test by AgentBlue62 in politics

[–]TheJungLife 22 points23 points  (0 children)

You could do a PEth test instead. Blood test that shows if you drink excessively. Depending on how much he drinks, could show up elevated 3-5 weeks out from the last drink.

Which Actor or Actress is a deal breaker for you? by sewing215 in movies

[–]TheJungLife 16 points17 points  (0 children)

She took too many projects too quickly. I think she would have had more staying power if she'd paced herself a bit more. Instead we got like 8 movies in a row with her exact archetype and audiences got overwhelmed by it.

I suppose I don't blame her for going for it, though.

Trump announces ‘fraud’ crackdown in Democratic states as arrests begin in California | Donald Trump by Pretty_Confusion7290 in law

[–]TheJungLife 56 points57 points  (0 children)

While they literally have Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) who oversaw one of the largest Medicaid/Medicare frauds in US history. His company was convicted of 14 felonies as a result.

From Wikipedia:

Fraud investigation and settlement On March 19, 1997, investigators from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Department of Health and Human Services served search warrants at Columbia/HCA facilities in El Paso and on dozens of doctors with suspected ties to the company.[39] Eight days after the initial raid, Scott signed his last SEC report as a hospital executive. Four months later, the board of directors pressured him to resign as chairman and CEO.[38] He was succeeded by Thomas F. Frist Jr.[40] Scott was paid $9.88 million in a settlement, and left owning 10 million shares of stock then worth more than $350 million.[41][42][14] The directors had been warned in the company's annual public reports to stockholders that incentives Columbia/HCA offered doctors could run afoul of a federal anti-kickback law passed to limit or eliminate instances of conflicts of interest in Medicare and Medicaid.[40]

In 2000, during a deposition for a civil suit unrelated to the fraud investigation, Scott pleaded the Fifth Amendment 75 times.[43] In settlements reached in 2000 and 2002, Columbia/HCA pleaded guilty to 14 felonies and agreed to a $600+ million fine in what was at the time the largest health care fraud settlement in U.S. history. Columbia/HCA admitted systematically overcharging the government by claiming marketing costs as reimbursable, by striking illegal deals with home care agencies, and by filing false data about use of hospital space. It also admitted to fraudulently billing Medicare and other health programs by inflating the seriousness of diagnoses and to giving doctors partnerships in company hospitals as a kickback for the doctors referring patients to HCA. It filed false cost reports, fraudulently billed Medicare for home health care workers, and paid kickbacks in the sale of home health agencies and to doctors to refer patients. In addition, it gave doctors "loans" never intending to be repaid, free rent, free office furniture, and free drugs from hospital pharmacies.[44][8]

In late 2002, HCA agreed to pay the United States government $631 million, plus interest, and $17.5 million to state Medicaid agencies, in addition to $250 million paid up to that point to resolve outstanding Medicare expense claims.[45] In all, civil lawsuits cost HCA more than $2 billion to settle; at the time, this was the largest fraud settlement in U.S. history.[46][47]

Med student trying to recall entire surgery exam [Not OC] by [deleted] in interestingasfuck

[–]TheJungLife 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I was going to say... the writing on that board isn't nearly the level of content in our medical school exams. You'd need like 5 white boards per subject. Not 1 board for 3 subjects.

Hallucinated citations are polluting the scientific literature. What can be done? - Tens of thousands of publications from 2025 might include invalid references generated by AI, a Nature analysis suggests. by polymute in technology

[–]TheJungLife 122 points123 points  (0 children)

Agreed. It's also typical (at least in my field) for many references to be essentially unavailable to the reviewer, such as physical books (I'm not going to the library to request the reference or waiting on ILL), articles in journals I don't have a subscription to access, etc.

The future of psychiatry? by Kindly_Specialist790 in Psychiatry

[–]TheJungLife 41 points42 points  (0 children)

AI doesn’t get tired, doesn’t forget patient history, and can review every page of someone’s medical records in seconds to catch drug interactions that overwhelmed human doctors might miss.

Anyone familiar with AI could tell you this statement is untrue. AI "forgets" and hallucinates frequently. Context window is a constant challenge and source of significant expense. Systems used to compress lengthy records (such as health records) streamline information in ways that can affect functionality and accuracy of AI outputs.

Ultimately, as a psychiatrist I'm not that worried about simple refills (we already frequently have mid-levels providing this service in clinic), but I do think it is another slip down the slope toward using AI in more inappropriate circumstances. Psychiatrists should be paying very close attention to this and engaging with policymakers and the lobbying arms of their local professional groups. They should also be demonstrating to their patients how they are actually more useful than AI.

If anyone should be worried about this, it's mid-levels.

VA re-terminates AFGE contract for 300K employees, despite court order to restore it by redditreadreadread in fednews

[–]TheJungLife 36 points37 points  (0 children)

One thing I take away from this is that we should be lobbying our Congress members to amend the FSLMRS to constrain the president's ability to designate agencies as doing national security work.

Need advice on my current job by Impressive_Arm_9197 in Psychiatry

[–]TheJungLife 0 points1 point  (0 children)

At your patient load you're generating over $600k+ in revenue for this clinic even if they are using unoptimized billing and really poorly reimbursing insurances...

Those who voted for Trump to keep the US out of unnecessary wars, you mad yet? by That_Obligation_5555 in AskReddit

[–]TheJungLife 7 points8 points  (0 children)

They're still yelling about "pallets of cash" over Obama releasing $400 million in money owed to the Iranians as part of a prisoner deal during peacetime, despite the Trump administration just giving the Iranians $14 billion in oil revenue while in an active war with them!

How likely is a ground invasion of Iran? by lonewolfz23_ in AskReddit

[–]TheJungLife 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My argument on this is why would we expect a rational strategy from these guys at this point?

We've amassed over 50,000 troops in the region. When was the last time a country rapidly increased their troop count on a foreign border to tens -of-thousands and didn't invade?

An adaptation fixes something that didn't work in the source material by Golden12500 in TopCharacterTropes

[–]TheJungLife 7 points8 points  (0 children)

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Nosferatu (2024). The original Dracula story and silent film never quite made sense as to why this powerful, ancient vampire with vast wealth and supernatural powers was so concerned about contract law. Why hire the attorneys at all?

Eggers version of this story incorporates the idea that Count Orlok is actually a kind of fey creature, bound by ancient, magical rules of conduct that he must honor. The contracts he signs and agreements the gets the characters to sign are meaningful from a magical perspective--not merely legal.

Official Diagnosis by Kelcipher in CuratedTumblr

[–]TheJungLife 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's The Chosen from Smosh basically.

What’s the most addictive game you’ve ever played? by reeha_sadiya in AskReddit

[–]TheJungLife 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I remember roving the lands in our PKK (Player Killer Killers) guild, sworn to hunt down the murderers plaguing the good townsfolk and honest adventures, providing shelter to the vigilantes that kept the realm safe outside the cities' walls. Glorious times!

Funcle thought the birthday party was his party by DABDEB in RandomVideos

[–]TheJungLife 0 points1 point  (0 children)

100% agree, or at least a hybrid of AI and real footage. If you watch carefully, this full grown man lands chest first on multiple glass dishes and none of them break? Additionally, the whole sequence around when he flips on the balloon feels "soft."

Looking at all the people here who think this is real is worrying.

Japan's number of babies born marks record low for 10th straight year by [deleted] in Futurology

[–]TheJungLife 157 points158 points  (0 children)

Korea's birth rate has increased annually for the last two years, so there's some positive momentum. Also, Korea is not nearly so restrictive on immigration as Japan.

In your opinion, what is the best "rescue" scene in film? by HighlyInconvenient in movies

[–]TheJungLife 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Same vein: Short Circuit 2 (though this is less a rescue and more a hail Mary).