The Frontier Psychiatrists is the newsletter written by Owen Muir, M.D. He is a child and adult Psychiatrist, Health Technology nerd, satirist, and advocate for human decency and curiosity. It is worth noting that some of the things I write are intended as satire, and some are very serious, and I don't do an excellent job of letting people know in advance. This is me trying to mark my intentions more explicitly!
I have recently pointed out that this newsletter is a daily publication. I write every day. This has been a popular sentiment. As one person, the process of daily writing is one of constant iteration. I've been at it for about a year. So today's post is a meta-post—a post about posting.
Today, however, is a national holiday. It’s not one you celebrate. It’s mine:
National Insurance Awareness Day. Every year, we turn on the AC as things begin heating up, pop open a newsletter, apply for prior authorization, and, as is tradition, make one open comment on Regulations.gov of our choice related to Insurance, Risk Management, or Policy.
You can also officially observe as follows:
Make the call
Call your insurance agents to ask about current promotions, services or lock-in rates as well changes in your premiums.
Go shopping for insurance.
Some confident insurance companies will offer information about their competitor’s rates while trying to sell you insurance. This bold move on their part can save you time while you search for the best deal.
Take charge to change your rates!
Whether it is taking an online defensive driving course, hitting the gym a few times a week, or putting in a home security system, these doable actions can lead to added savings on your various insurance policies.
Since I work in Healthcare, almost none of that applies. So I am instead observant by updating my readers about what's coming up!
Some things I work on take weeks and months to get right—or at least “right enough” to publish. Here is what is cooking!
1. “The Year in Review”
About one year, on 1 July 2022, I took over this newsletter from
. It again was an attempt to monetize what we were doing a Clubhouse—posting show recaps, etc., and she was good at it. But Clubhouse stopped being worth doing because the leadership team ran it into the ground. We talked about this to the Verge and what we hoped was supporting language, and we were essentially blacklisted. And we have better things to do. I wrote an op Ed about a year ago about Roe v. Wade overturn in Dobbs; nobody wanted to publish it, so I just put it in the newsletter. And here we are.So the article I'm going to post on the first is a reader favorite from the past year of writing. If you're reading this and you want to nominate a piece from the past year with 3 to 4 sentences of a blurb, I'm more than happy to feature it!
2. “Soprano RX.”
This pending article concerns pharmacy benefit managers, payment models, and big Healthcare. I'm comparing Omertà, the Italian American mafia code of silence, to the double-speak in American healthcare economics. It would be easy to make this hostile. And I don't want to do that. I respect my colleagues who work at major players, I understand the intentions can be good, and the outcomes cannot be what we like. It's tough to write that article well.
3. “Nothing was Easy”
This is a challenging piece to write. It’s about a personal experience, young love, confusion, and dealing with the fallout from child abuse. I’m taking my time. But it’s narrative, delicate, and personal. It has been about two weeks of work already.
4. “Dear Psychedelic Exceptionalism”
I already did another article about this, but the beatings will continue until morale improves. Psychedelic exceptionalism needs to stop, or it will get in the way of psychedelic medicine being actual medicine. This article is a little bit more lighthearted. It's not done yet.
5. “Cerebral class action fanfiction”
I am taking apart the argument I've made in different formats about how Dobbs, as a decision, creates turmoil regarding privacy regulations and how I see it playing out as it relates to the standards around privacy federally. I use Cerebral because every time I say Cerebral in a headline, I get more clicks than anything else. It's about a case against Cerebral, but not really. It's Clickbait. I acknowledge that.
6. “How to Never Work in This Town Again”
There are some stories I'm not going to get to tell. I've worked on writing this; I'm not sure I will get to publish it. Not anytime soon. It's a story that dates back to when I was in training, and it's not particularly flattering about the institutions or individuals. So I'm writing it; I don't know if I publish it. I'm willing to write things that are edgy, but preferably they are about me. I can consent on my own behalf, and can’t for others. Not everyone has to make great choices all the time, and I'm not here to cause more trouble than I need to. I get it; you can't just say anything. I'm an adult. But it's a decent piece of writing. So I'm not sure if you're ever going to see it.
And more…also…
7. Authorial Collaborative Articles!
I have been doing some collaborations with other writers. This is a nice feature of the Substack platform and maybe the most revolutionary piece they've built yet. Nice work,
et al.!Here is today’s; fabulous psychodynamic newsletter!
I did another one, mentioned previously, on
and I think did a great job:Thanks for reading!
—Owen Scott Muir, M.D.