Rebecca Bechhold, MD | Authors

October 26, 2017

A recent study examined the influence of social interactions between cancer patients during chemotherapy sessions, finding that patients who spent time with other patients who died within 5 years had an increased risk of dying within 5 years themselves. Pardon me for being underwhelmed.

August 11, 2017

With some analyses warning of an impending oncologist shortage, are we truly approaching a point of critical need? Are practice extenders such as advanced practitioners the best solution to fill that gap or are there other options?

June 30, 2017

Continuing to hold institutions to specific outcomes may never result in spending control. We need to educate individual physicians on cost-effectiveness in treatment planning.

April 14, 2017

You may have missed the report concluding that patients had lower readmission and mortality rates if they were under the care of female hospitalists vs their male counterparts. I know excellent physicians in both camps and some sorry ones as well.

February 03, 2017

Oncologists deliver news-good and bad-on a daily basis. It is, for me, the most challenging and rewarding part of my job.

December 20, 2016

Are we failing to be as efficient as we could be in delivering care to cancer patients, particularly in follow-up after treatment?

October 06, 2016

Likely, most doctors would say they are good listeners. It is an essential skill when studying and practicing medicine. But under stress of limited time or a patient not responding to treatment-maybe our ability suffers a bit. Perhaps we are listening but also talking and not checking for understanding.

July 22, 2016

Patients continue to say they want more information, so they can make informed decisions. But repeatedly, studies tell us that the patient and the family are not hearing us, not understanding us, or both.

June 22, 2016

I hope to see many of the exciting agents presented this year become available and affordable for my patients. But when the miracle isn’t happening we have an obligation to talk it out and be candidly compassionate. We need to know when to put the pedal to the metal and when to hit the brake.

June 10, 2016

Effective communication between doctors and their team is key to giving the best care to patients, and can provide stress relief in a chaotic day.