Brian Fernandes

Palliative Medicine Physician.

[Brian Fernandes @BrianFern_]

Australia is at a crossroads - unable to halt the spread of the latest Delta variant and pursue a summer of Covid zero. Australians must get vaccinated and prepare for the Covid normal of tomorrow. With @Eddie_Cliff @nytimes https://t.co/7K8GntFKGg

[Brian Fernandes @BrianFern_]

Pleased to share our paper, now published in Heart, Lung and Circulation 🫀📄 An Australian study describing the symptom burden of patients with end-stage heart failure referred to a cardiac supportive care service, using patient-reported outcome measures.
https://t.co/kQDP6Ql33k

[Mark Speakman @MarkSpeakman]

The NSW mental health system is in crisis under the Minns Labor Government.
But for Queensland, “never let a crisis go to waste” as they now start to poach our state’s staff psychiatrists - with ads in today’s @smh and @dailytelegraph

[Jackie Rakov @psychwrite]

150 NSW public sector psychiatrists have tendered their resignations to take effect on Jan 21. With one third of public sector jobs already vacant, this going to be an absolute decimation of an already desperate sector.
@angelo_virgona #psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychtwitter

[Brian Fernandes @BrianFern_]

@sofiaremason @cogno_trials Well done Sofia 🎉🎉

[Brian Fernandes @BrianFern_]

"But I can’t help thinking that at least some of the problems our patients face don’t need more money, technology or beds – they simply require us to use our moral compass."

Another poetically poignant piece by the talented @docranjana. Thank you.

[Guardian Opinion @guardianopinion]

When my doctor couldn’t save my pregnancy, he did the next best thing | Ranjana Srivastava https://t.co/v0K2znmpIW

[Brian Fernandes @BrianFern_]

Huge potential to cross pollinate these ideas around overuse of Dexamethasone in palliative medicine @Eddie_Cliff

[Vincent Rajkumar @VincentRK]

I would like to share the story of how a patient with cancer came up with the idea for a randomized trial, & how listening to him saved a lot of lives.

1/ In 2002, I had just completed a randomized trial with the notorious drug thalidomide for the cancer, multiple myeloma.

[The Hon. Matt Kean @honmattkean]

Quality end of life care should be available to everyone when they need it. It’s not too late for Chris Minns to reverse his cuts to palliative care in NSW.

https://t.co/ocUufW2qrX

[Brian Fernandes @BrianFern_]

Interesting article on Medicare reform discussions.

But at the heart of this is an inescapable fact; that in order to arrest the decline in bulk billing the current MBS fee schedule requires:
1. Increased funding
2. A mechanism to depoliticise future increases.

[Shaun Gath @ShaunCGath]

Nice summary of a fairly complex argument. S51xxiiiA has not been extensively litigated, and even the most recent High Ct pronouncements are fairly vague and out of date given the current bench. Is the Fed Govt prepared to grab this tiger by the tail? Perhaps. We’ll see. #auspol

[Brian Fernandes @BrianFern_]

A simple effective measure to improve the efficiency of our health system.

The argument about compliance and monitoring can be obviated by doctors reducing the quantity/repeats provided if necessary.

[Stephen Parnis @SParnis]

There's a lot of lip service paid to the term "patient-centred care". This proposal reduces unnecessary patient visits to GPs & pharmacists - with no impact on safety - would save a small fortune & allow better health resource allocation. #auspol

https://t.co/Y2Yx69fbKo

[Brian Fernandes @BrianFern_]

“Medicare reimbursements will continue to be the bedrock of our health system for years to come.”

@Eddie_Cliff @toriberquist & Dr Holt provide the most incisive analysis of Australia’s health system ahead of Medicare reform tomorrow.

https://t.co/qR7DlwKSgp

[Brian Fernandes @BrianFern_]

@sofiaremason @SABCSSanAntonio Amazing! Well done @sofiaremason 🙌

[Brian Fernandes @BrianFern_]

"GPs with more time to invest in patients’ care, and more support from specialists to look after complex cases"

General Practitioners are specialists. Through the whole report, there's a clear preference to refer to non-GPs as specialists. @RACGP

[Brian Fernandes @BrianFern_]

Just getting my head around the @GrattanInst's new proposal to move Medicare to a blended fee for service + capitation model. #auspol https://t.co/pGs8qKJBgY

[Brian Fernandes @BrianFern_]

@GrattanInst Page 78: "When their patients go to other practices, or emergency departments or primary care-type services, their usual general practice should have to pay part of the costs, up to a cap"

Controversial. Who will define primary care-type services? Why penalise General Practice?

[Bethan Richards @BethanRichards3]

So proud of all the amazing work presented by members of the @MdokSlhd team at the #adhc2022 conference. Well done team! #wellbeing #burnout

[Brian Fernandes @BrianFern_]

@DrJoeWei @DKarikios What an iconic duo!

[Brian Fernandes @BrianFern_]

Is there anything @SamuelXStevens can’t do? Medical oncology whiz kid, musically talented, dad of the year.

The man has it all. @MdokSlhd

[Sam Stevens @SamuelXStevens]

Great to be part of #ConcordsGotTalent tonight. Luke, you can be my wingman anytime. #TopGunMaverick #TopGun

[Brian Fernandes @BrianFern_]

cc @martin_sen @Eddie_Cliff @zachztan

[Brian Fernandes @BrianFern_]

Super interesting! Would love to know about this. Is NSW hospitals ready for a complete overhaul of Powerchart EMR to Epic?

[Enrico Coiera @EnricoCoiera]

Big news. Epic is going to replace Cerner in NSW hospitals

https://t.co/BWmHj4fWpj

[Brian Fernandes @BrianFern_]

“So where did the $8 billion come from? We can only guess.

If you take the Medicare budget ($31.4 billion) and multiply it by 25%, you get $7.85 billion.”

FINALLY. The maths every doctor in Australia has been dying to see.

[Eddie Cliff @Eddie_Cliff]

Over 20 @smh articles say $8 billion is "rorted" from Medicare each year - but what is the evidence behind this figure? @toriberquist & I tried to find it but it was nowhere to be seen. Our piece @theMJA: https://t.co/8bA63dTPIJ @brookmanknight @MJA_Editor @coopesdetat