Mark Vonnegut

Boston pediatrician Mark Vonnegut on the problems plaguing the healthcare industry His latest book, “The Heart of Caring: A Life in Pediatrics,” is out now.

Dr. Mark Vonnegut laments the problems of today’s medical system in ‘The Heart of Caring’ - The Boston Globe “The job of the doctor is to take care of patients. We did a better job of it 40 years ago.”

Music soothes the soul.

Our job is to explain and make available what science knows and what it doesn’t know. Science was developed by and for all of us to produce the most good for the most people. That was a scientific reality, not some liberal pie-in-the-sky pipe dream. The current conflict between the money of medical care and the mission of medical care is a major public-health issue.

In pediatrics, and most medical care, if the doctor can just shut up and listen long enough, the patient will reveal the diagnosis. Unfortunately, there’s not a procedure code or template for how to shut up.

- Page 80, "The Heart of Caring"

There are more similarities than dissimilarities between taking good care of patients with Ebola and taking good care of patients with diabetes. The job of science is exactly the same: figure out what’s true and what’s not true and what can be done to help.

- Page 66, "The Heart of Caring"

Dear Insurer,
Malcom still needs a wheelchair and Maggie still has no left leg.

Page 156, The Heart of Caring

Doctors and hospitals don’t really have any say in how health-care is paid for. If an insurer says there’s a five-hundred-dollar co-payment for emergency room visits, that’s the way it is. Doctors and hospitals go along to get along or they go out of business.

HMO executives and health insurance CEOs are now compensated in the $20–50 million per year range. There has long been a strong conviction among for-profit healthcare entities that if they’re making money, they must be making healthcare better.

In 1983 an insurer introduced the idea of co-payments. In the beginning they were three dollars per visit and a minor annoyance.

“Why bother to care about three dollars?” So we didn’t.

It's always important to have a good writing partner.

Had a great conversation with Matt Crawford on the Thecuriousmanspodcast.

‎Thecuriousmanspodcast: Dr. Mark Vonnegut Interview on Apple Podcasts ‎Show Thecuriousmanspodcast, Ep Dr. Mark Vonnegut Interview - Feb 4, 2022

There's a lot of harm being done to patients and medical care. We can't make private for profit insurance or other entities go away but we can stop hurting patients the same way we would get rid of dangerous medications or quackery. Do no harm.

The Heart of Caring: A Life in Pediatrics is available on Amazon today.

The Heart of Caring: A Life in Pediatrics The Heart of Caring: A Life in Pediatrics

The Heart of Caring: A Life in Pediatrics, is a love letter to my patients, patients everywhere and a hope we can get back to the mission of patient care. Like it or not, we are our brother’s keeper.