First, a cholecystectomy via the vagina, now surgeons are looking at the other end:
Transgastric surgery, or natural orifice translumenal endosurgery (NOTES), as it is officially known, involves passing flexible surgical tools and a camera in through the patient's mouth to reach the abdominal cavity via an incision made in the stomach lining. Once the operation is over, the surgeon draws any removed tissue back out through the ...
Flea Googles the plaintiff's lawyer in his upcoming trial and this is what he found.
Atul Gawande on aging and the fate of the elderly:
Despite a rapidly growing elderly population, the number of certified geriatricians fell by a third between 1998 and 2004. Applications to training programs in adult primary-care medicine are plummeting, while fields like plastic surgery and radiology receive applications in record numbers. Partly, this has to do with money"”incomes in geriatrics and adult primary care are among the lowest in ...
Not mandating people to buy insurance was their mortal downfall:
And while some people have benefited from the subsidized insurance, which provides unusually comprehensive coverage, others have found it too expensive. And premiums have increased, not become more affordable, because some of those who signed up needed significant medical care, and there are not enough enrollees, especially healthy people unlikely to use many benefits.
More ways for lawyers to make money?
The flashpoint is a proposal that would allow family members of someone who has died to seek damages specifically for "grief, sorrow and mental anguish" "” in addition to other economic and noneconomic damages "” in any wrongful death lawsuit. The bill goes to the state Senate this week; it passed the House on Friday with nearly all Democrats in support and all ...
How inappropriate reimbursement is affecting Vermont:
For years, Medicaid's rates haven't covered the cost of the care (not the prices, but the actual cost of providing care) provided to Vermont's Medicaid beneficiaries. Recently, Medicaid rates to most providers have been cut dramatically or have not included even inflationary increases.
The consequences of these chronic underpayments are being seen today -- higher premium prices, not enough doctors and dentists, and ...
Healthcare workers are not returning at the same pace as the residents:
Residents are returning to New Orleans faster than healthcare workers. The shortage of doctors "” on top of fewer and overcrowded hospitals, lost or destroyed medical records, and delays in everything from getting an appointment to lab test results "” has contributed to a sense that medical care here is still not recovering.
This sounds promising:
. . . some very good efforts (honestly) have been made by ratemds.com and vimo and even Yelp. The problem is that these ratings are typically based upon a single instance of a person who purposely decides to go find their doc info and then rate THAT physician"¦ once. They rarely, if ever, go back and update their rating or follow-up experience.
Well, we're going ...
AMNews with an article today:
As more medical wikis launch, experts say the creators will need to break away from the traditional wiki model to ensure that the information accessed is accurate. That is what many medical wikis are doing, which makes adding content slower but allows time for fact-checking.Isn't that defeating the purpose?
Written from an ER perspective, some of these tips come in handy when you're also calling specialists from the medicine floor.
Pain management suffers a setback when physician William Hurwitz was convicted. John Tierney looks at the verdict:
I can't blame the jurors for being confused, because that's the norm in trials of pain-management doctors. The standard prosecution strategy is to charge the doctor on so many counts and introduce so much evidence that the jurors assume something criminal must have happened. Their natural impulse, after listening to ...
Only shown in Canada, I saw this TV spot a few times last week when I was in Toronto. It was a gibberish ad that didn't make sense at the time. Now, the NY Times with an explanation:
Pfizer, the world's largest drug company, offers an answer in a new campaign for Viagra, so far shown only in Canada. The ads feature middle-aged men and women talking ...
Yes, according to a survey, to the tune of $19,000 annually.
I think I may have this newly discovered neurological disorder:
We present a new benign eating disorder associated with lesions involving parts of the right anterior cerebral hemisphere. This "gourmand" syndrome describes a preoccupation with food and a preference for fine eating.There is a blog dedicated to this as well. (via Medpundit)
GruntDoc on why the Virginia Tech shootings can happen again:
Here in Texas, there's a great emphasis on personal liberty ("It's not against the law to be crazy"), and that's good the vast majority of the time. There is indeed an emergency mental health code for the psychotic, deranged and suicidal, and it's not easy to utilize. There is no simple form, but a multipage affidavit that ...
Aggravated DocSurg talks about how his hospitalist program is too disorganized, leaving many peri-operative complications to the surgeon.
In theory, hospitalist programs should be well-staffed, and internists available for consults. The reality is that many of these programs are in their infancy, and recruitment to smaller community hospitals are a problem. Combined with the high turnover rate inherent in this specialty, many programs are in ...
A busy practice and successful TV show. How responsible is he for the plastic surgery boom? ABC News does a profile.
Recent stories have highlighted the importance of your Google reputation. There is no doubt that patients and potential employers will Google you as an initial screen. It is to your benefit to ensure that favorable stories come up when your name is entered as a search term.
Here are some basic tips to ...
A recent study comparing American and Canadian health care systems is tainted by the bias of its authors.
Ovarian cancer screening clearly touches a nerve. No one doubts that ovarian cancer is a devastating diagnosis, often found when the disease...
According to a recent study from the Archives of Internal Medicine, primary care physicians are referring more patients to specialists than ever...
One of the reasons there is such a movement against vaccines is the democratization of information, perpetuated by search engines like Google....
In a widely circulated CNN article, many radiologists have been found to cheat on their board exams: "Doctors around the country taking an...
I've only had to declare death a couple of times. Once in a three-year-old and once in an adult. In each case...
Billionaire Teddy Forstmann had been diagnosed with a serious form of brain cancer. There’s a tragic twist to the story: according to...
One of the things I love about family medicine is that I get to care for people of all ages. I almost...
I just finished reading George’s recent post on Evelyn Lauder, who recently passed away from ovarian cancer, and am still stirred by...
Here is a toast to the miracle of love. Not to the romantic, chocolate, dance club nightlife type of love. Not warm...
No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet...
One morning this May, I woke up with a stiff neck. I applied hot and cold therapy all day and took an...
Visiting someone who is dying or critically ill is an experience many of us will have in the course of our lives....
A guest column by the American Medical Association, exclusive to KevinMD.com. This week, I’m joining hundreds of physicians and medical students in Washington, DC...
Everyone in the world is talking about “value-driven health care.” Or so it might seem if you pick up a medical journal...
CNN recently posted an article titled "Doctors Going Broke." It described several cases of independent physicians who are near bankruptcy although they once...
One of the things that I like most about my job is engaging with ACP’s physician leadership—the internal medicine doctors who dedicate...
As a follow-up to my post on why patients with implantable defibrillators should have access to their device’s data, I am going...
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal reviewed the emerging role of email in healthcare, arguing that doctors should more aggressively...
Paul Conslato, MD, director of clinical affairs for Lancaster General Medical Group, recently was quoted in the PAMED Better Health Network eZine...
Don’t get me wrong, EMRs (electronic medical records) are inevitable. Over the long-run they are almost certainly good for physicians, patients and...
I have decided to spam for public health. Phone calls, text messaging, and even apps have been shown to help improve health...
Does your medical practice allow anybody to post links and comments on your Facebook page? The short answer is yes. We do....
As a physician, technology cannot replace you, but it can make you more efficient and effective. This was the message from Richard...
Looking ahead to the next several months, I’ve found myself frequently wondering how many physicians will make this their year to take...
