Richard Dean Smith, MD

Trust in a Medical Setting. Hauppauge, NY: Novinka Books, Nova Science Publishers, 2006.
"Gaining a patient's trust, or trust of a patient's family, may seem to be a given, but achieving trust is a fragile, individual, hazardous endeavor. In an era of distrust of institutions and professions, the patient must trust the staff of doctors, nurses, and therapists before a working therapeutic relationship can be established."

"Award-Wining Finalist in the Medical Reference category of the Best Books 2006 Book Awards"

The Circus of Medicine. Lima, OH: Wyndham Hall Press, 2005.
Managed care, based on a hoax out of Department of Health, Education and Welfare in the early 1970s, became an irrational mass movement, a national hysteria that must fail with many tragically hurt. Satire.

Managed Care: Anatomy of a Mass Medical Movement, Lima, OH: Wyndham Hall Press, 2000.
"The author documents that despite promises of managed care zealots, we have a sad healthcare landscape of crippled academic medical centers, dissatisfied patients, uninsured, chronically ill and elderly citizens, and demoralized physicians: with NO cost savings. Managed care produced, however, 'monetarization' of medicine, multi-million dollar consulting firms, and Wall Street riches. Dr. Smith wisely reminds us that the best way to care for patients is 'care for the patient.' It is not too late to rediscover that the most cost effective care is that which is competent and compassionate." James W. Raitt, MD

The Rise and Fall of Managed Care: A Comprehensive History of a Mass Medical Movement. Lima, OH: Wyndham Hall Press, 2001.
"Dr. Smith has given us a very readable but chilling chronicle of the rise and fall of the managed care era in medicine, [and] it's demise in an avalanche of greed and bankruptcy. [The] tragic legacy of this ill-conceived plan: disgruntled patients, uninsured citizens, demoralized physicians, and crippled academic medical centers. All this with the burden of increased costs, as major resource went not to research of patient care, but to administration, regulation, and stockeholders. Fortunately, the public has finally boecome aware of the failure of the mistaken social experiment."

CRS: Computer-Related Syndrome: The Prevention and Treatment of Computer-Related Injuries. Richard Dean Smith, MD and Steven T. Garske, MS, PT. Amherst, NY: Prometheus, 1997.
The computer workstation must be considered a potentially hazardous place. Computer keyboard workers are akin to armchair athletes subject to the same stresses and injuries experienced by athletes. Our purpose is to alert keyboard workers to early warning signs, explain how to best arrange workstations, provide both preventive and therapeutic exercises, and enable workers to 'train' for computer keyboard work. With drastic cutback of workers compensation insurance benefits, prevention and early intervention is especially important.

Melville's Science: "Devilish Tantalization of the Gods!" New York and London: Garland (Taylor & Francis),1993.
"I have given an outline of what awaits readers of the following pages because I wanted to indicate the breadth of knowledge that has gone into this book. There is more, I might add, because this is the type of book that suggests as much as it defines. Melville's relationship with science ranks him with many other literary figures of the nineteenth century, for example, Coleridge, the Shelleys, Bryant, Poe, Hawthorne, and Tennyson. Melville also adumbrates a twentieth-century writer like Frost, whose skeptical stance he probably would have admired. As has been the case when scientific contexts are brought to bear on the writings of these authors (and many more: Chaucer, Shakespeare, Browne), stimulating readings come forth. Dr. Smith furnishes us with plenty of those kinds of readings." Benjamin F. Fisher, Series Editor's Preface.

Melville's Complaint: Doctors and Medicine in the Art of Herman Melville. New York and London: Garland (Taylor & Francis), 1991.
"Dr. Smith's book provides a succinct critical overview of Melville's physician and pseudo-physician characters, as well as his views on medicine—undeniably important elements throughout his writings. We come away from a persual of the following pages with an image of a Herman Melvillee, who, implicitly, at least, much resembles Sir Thomas Browne in his efforts to square science with humanism. Dr. Smith, an M.D., brings to Melvile's Complaint a fine knowledge of the history of medicine and doctors and to that he adds thoughtful observations based on his own careful readings in Melville's works. His command of pertinent secondary materials is also great. He takes us on a fascinating journey of revaluaton, when, after setting forth his aims in an informative introduction, he guides us through the Melville canon." Introduction: Benjamin F. Fisher

Trust: A Shock to the System: A Practical Guide. Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science Publishers, 2003.
Trust concentrates on behavior and its management in a medical setting. 'Street wisdom come to the bedside.'

Rise and Fall of Managed Care: History of the Mass Medical Movement. Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science Publishers, 2002.
Since the early 1970s, rising medical costs resulted in a profusion of healthcare plans and criticism of the profession of medicine: a confusing, chaotic, divisive setting for providing medical care. Little or no communication took place between those who purchased medical insurance plans and those who provided medical services—physicians, dentists, hospitals, and other providers. Promotion of managed care plans took on an excited, carnival atmosphere generating promise that a glorious, new era was approaching.
Since doctors order most medical care, managed care proponents emphasized the importance of controlling practices of doctors. They claimed extensive changes were needed, that almost any criticism against the profession of medicine was warranted. Enterprising economists, entrepreneur consultants and a host of others became self-styled experts and advisers to hospitals and businesses over the issue of "cost containment" and invented the imperative "runaway costs." Accusations leveled against physicians by advocates of managed care were puzzling, disturbing, and frustrating. We were told that "managed care is what's out there," "business likes managed care," and managed care is "here to stay." The new ethic became marketplace competition, cost containment, prevention, and control.
Although most doctors at one time objected to the idea of managed care, rising sentiment against regular fee-for-service practice eventually took its toll to the point many physicians became convinced that it was up to doctors to make managed care work. Corporate benefits managers at first were opposed to the notion of managed care, but gave in to pressure from corporate management.
Managed care advocates created fear, uncertainty, and division by telling physicians that the only possibility of survival in "changing climate of health care" was to "embrace" managed care. Economists and politicians charging outright criminal activity by all physicians became the norm. Doctors and public were told that a new age had dawned, the old order was out, we had better get on board or be left behind. By declaring managed care an "unassailable truth," managed care was propelled into a revolution, a mass movement. Yet, physicians who "embraced" managed care found themselves in an ethical and practical bind.
Enthusiasm that led to the managed care mass movement followed the same course as other mass movements—a restructuring of medical care was called for, the old was suddenly outdated, a "crisis" proclaimed, a social transformation declared!

Smith, R.D., and Worthington, J.W. "Paganini: the Riddle and Connective Tissue." Journal of the American Medical Association. 199 (1967) 820-824.

Smith, R.D., and Polley, H.F. "Rest Therapy for Rheumatoid Arthritis." Mayo Clinic Proceedings 53 (1978) 141-145.

Smith, R.D., "Purple Medicine" Drug Therapy Journal 9 (1979) 204-209.

Smith, R.D., "Renaissance Rheumatism." (Dante's Inferno) Journal of Rheumatology 6 (1979) 240.

Smith, R.D., "Avicenna and the Canon of Medicine: A Millennial Tribute." Western Journal of Medicine 133 (1980) 367-370.

Smith, R.D., "Sickness Come on Horseback." ACCMA Bulletin 37 July (1981) 17.

Smith, R.D., "The Cricket and the Marionette." (Pinocchio) Southern Medical Journal 75 (1982) 59-60.

Smith, R.D., "Adab al Tabib: Practical Medical Ethics of the Ninth Century." ACCMA Bulletin 38 (1982) February 19-20, March 23-26, April 21, May 22.

Smith, R.D., "Gold's a Dollar, the Expert’s Free." ACCMA Bulletin 39 (1983) 19-21.

Smith, R.D., "I and My Sciatica." (Herman Melville) Western Journal of Medicine 143 (1985) 688-691.

Smith, R.D., "The Opera Stress Test." Journal of Irreproducible Results. 32 (1986) 24-25.

Smith, R.D., "Vulgar Errors." (Sir Thomas Browne) Southern Medical Journal 82 (1989) 1405-1407.

Smith, R.D., "The Wonders of Africa." Mayo Alumni 26 (1990) 27-28.

Smith, R.D., "Non-Newtonian Billiards." Journal of Irreproducible Results 35 (1990) 11-12.

Smith, R.D. "The Herb-doctor and Mineral-doctor in The Confidence-Man." Melville Society Extracts No. 85, pp. 9-11, May 1991.

Smith, R.D., "The Chelsea Physic Garden." Drug Therapy Journal. 22 August (1992) 69-73.

Smith, R.D. "Semi-nanoeconomics." ACCMA Bulletin 49 (1993) 12-13.

Smith, R.D., "Dysfunctional Doctour of Physik." Western Journal of Medicine 160 (1994) 70-72.

Smith, R.D., "From Madness to Miracle to Myth." (Managed Care) Mayo Alumni 31 (1995) 24-25.


Smith, R.D., "Billiards and Physics: Classical Physics, the New Physics, the New-New Physics, the Cosmos and Billiards: Free Billiards from Newton!" Pool and Billiard Magazine 7: September (1989) 19-21.

Smith, R.D. "It's Mental: Part II: The Cognitive Advantage." Pool and Billiard Magazine 10: Augst (1992) 42-44.

Smith, R.D. "It's Mental: Part III: Fear and Trembling." Pool and Billiard Magazine 10: November (1992) .

Smith, R.D. "It's Mental! Part VIII: Self-Confidence." Pool and Billiard Magazine 11: November (1993): 30-32.
28-29.

Smith, R.D., "It's Mental! Part XIII: The Heroic Journey of a Pool Player." Pool and Billiard Magazine 13: Sept (1995): 36, 34.

Smith, R.D. “Preferences.” " Pool and Billiard Magazine 21: April (2003): 30.