Traditionally conservative hospitals are opening up on social media platforms.For those who follow this blog, or are on Twitter, you'll probably notice that more and more medical institutions are having a Web 2.0 presence. Facebook groups, Twitter, blogs, or YouTube webcasts, for instance. Indeed, there's even reports of academic centers using Facebook to recruit for difficult to fill clinical trials.A recent article in The NY Times outlines the phenomenon, ...
May 2009
All Stories
Rahul Parikh: Grading the Gates Foundation
The following is a reader take by Rahul Parikh.A recent study in Lancet becomes the first study to pull back the curtain on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and its impact on global health.Since the money the Gates Foundation spends on global health (61% of its total $2.01 billion budget) is almost as large as the entire budget of the ...
6 top medical comments, May 31st, 2009
Here are some of the more interesting comments readers have left recently.1. Dr. Grumpy on the art of medicine and electronic medical records: I do use an EMR, but patient’s routinely tell me I’m good at listening. I think it’s an individual basis. Some doctors are technophiles, and put that first. That ain’t right. Some doctors are so intent on listening, that they may forget a detail, and then it ...
“I’d rather play a doctor on TV”
Good stuff from Dr. Val over at Better Health with her regularly featured medical cartoon.It's also somewhat sobering, as I'm sure the thought has crossed the mind of more than a few doctors.
Grading medical students, pass-fail or letter grades?
Medical schools have traditionally used letter grades for their students, but to decrease the competitive atmosphere between these prospective doctors, some of gone with a simple pass-fail system.Does it matter?A recent study suggests the answer is no. When comparing two groups, one who was graded "A-F" and the other pass-fail, there was no difference in absolute test scores, as well as no discrepancy in board scores or getting ...
Do female doctors hurt physician productivity?
It's a sensitive subject, previously broached by a Canadian magazine last year.Now, to pour fuel onto the fire, a recent report finds that, in Canada at least, the growth of female physicians will cause a doctor shortage equivalent to 1,600 physicians over the next decade.It's a fact that female doctors work less clinical hours than their male counterparts. According to this article, "women, on average, provided 30 hours ...
Doctors and midwives need to cooperate more
There has always been an underlying tension between obstetricians and midwives.From the doctor's side, the only times they interact with midwives is when trouble arises. Or, as this article in Time puts it, "When hospital-based obstetricians see midwives and their clients it's usually because something has gone wrong . . . OBs don't see the uneventful births that proceed successfully at home [and] doctors in this position find ...
Gratuitous and grisly x-ray images
A bizarrely morbid slide show of radiology images showing various patients impaled by foreign objects.If you need more reasons to be wary of nail guns, fishing spears, keys, or knives, look no further.
A 10-year old girl with breast cancer, how much media coverage should she receive?
Is the media alarming the public by highlighting this exceedingly rare case?As reported by ABC News, a 10-year old girl was diagnosed with invasive secretory carcinoma. She has a good prognosis, but must undergo a mastectomy and chemotherapy.Some are worrying that the media attention will alarm mothers and young girls, perhaps pushing them to obtain screening tests such as self-breast exams and mammograms. But the last thing we need ...
How much time do doctors spend on paperwork?
A common complaint is that doctors these days are spending more time doing clerical tasks.Examples include filling out pre-authorization forms, talking to health plans for pre-certifications on imaging studies, and spending time jumping through bureaucratic hoops. Generally, you do not need a medical degree to do these tasks.Bob Doherty points to a study that gives some numbers to back up the claims. Primary care doctors spend about 3.5 ...
Same-sex partners being denied visiting rights
A hospital that denied a woman from visiting her dying partner at a hospital is now at the center of a federal lawsuit.Tara Parker-Pope details the case, which is sparking outrage. I won't rehash the discussion, which has been quite vigorous over at her blog. Indeed, the results of the pending lawsuit can have far-ranging effects, including "the way hospitals treat all patients with non-marital relationships, including ...
Will smartphones replace the pager?
It seems inevitable.A recent study showed that 64 percent of doctors use smartphones, such as an iPhone or a BlackBerry. Medical schools, such as Georgetown University and Ohio State University, are beginning to give them out to students.And I can certainly see the allure. They're more powerful than PDAs, and there's a wealth of medical applications that are being written for the devices. More importantly, they ...
What can World of Warcraft teach us about pandemic response?
Plenty.
In an interesting blog post over at the Health Disparities Blog, the so-called Corrupted Blood incident at the massively popular online role-playing game was chronicled.The game designers created a virus that would infect virtual players and spread to others in the surrounding area. Eventually, this virus got out from the dungeon which was supposed to confine it, and into ...
15 cancer screening posts you may have missed
With entries dating back to 2004, here are 15 classic blog posts on cancer screening:1. Not all screening tests lead to early, better treatment2. Will the Pap smear soon be replaced by a DNA test to detect cervical cancer?3. Should men still be screened for prostate cancer?4. Should we start screening women for ovarian cancer?5. How much do we really need mammograms?6. How screening ...
Lose your fingerprints from chemotherapy
Interesting case of a man detained at an airport because authorities couldn't fingerprint him.According to MedPage Today, he was taking the chemotherapy drug capecitabine which causes so-called hand-foot syndrome, or palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia. The chronic inflammation causes the skin on the hands to peel and blister, which can eventually eradicate a patient's fingerprints.In a study looking at the drug, this type of inflammation occurs in about 65 percent of ...
Would you want your hands reconstructed if they looked like this?
At what point does aesthetics trump function?Over at Better Health, Val Jones talks about cases where land mines blow off hands, necessitating the so-called Krukenberg operation, which recreates a pincer grasp in the hands.The result looks like this:
It's a remarkable procedure. But, as Val notes, not everyone may want this operation, as some may opt for aesthetics over ...
Should patients be paid to promote drugs?
The story of Andy Behrman made the news a few weeks ago, most notably in The Wall Street Journal.Apparently, he was a bipolar "celebrity patient," and was paid $400,000 by Bristol-Myers Squibb for promoting their drug, Abilify.Things quickly went sour, as Mr. Behrman was afflicted with the drug's side effects, which included "dazed spells and agitation in his legs."Merrill Goozner comments on the case, casting the light on patient advocates, ...
Doesn’t the FDA have better things to do than to target Cheerios?
The FDA versus Cheeros furor is getting some blogosphere play.Internist Matthew Mintz analyzes the claim that Cheerios lowers cholesterol by 4 percent. Big deal, he says. "The problem is that even though Cheerios may lower your cholesterol by 4 percent, this probably has no impact on your risk for heart attack or stroke . . . it is clear that to derive benefit you need at ...
How doctors should deal with physician rating sites
Stuff the ballot box.The value of these sites, previously exposed as pretty useless in this Slate piece, is mainly due to the anonymous nature of the comments.Indeed, even if a doctor wanted to genuinely improve from this form of patient feedback, "posting anonymously on the Web (on sites a doctor does not regularly monitor) is probably the least effective way to accomplish that goal."So, physicians are fighting back by ...
Should primary care doctors embrace retail clinics?
Yes, they should.Whether retail clinics will be a viable venue for the majority of minor medical conditions is in question, but in many cases, doctors seem to be taking an antagonistic front.As this piece in the NY Times writes, "Many primary-care doctors still denigrate the retail clinics as cheap, unworthy competitors." That's precisely the wrong strategy to take.Witness hospitals who do more to partner, rather than oppose, retail ...
Kevin Pho, MD
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Why more primary care doctors are referring patients to specialists
According to a recent study from the Archives of Internal Medicine, primary care physicians are referring more patients to specialists than ever...
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Should Google censor anti-vaccine claims?
One of the reasons there is such a movement against vaccines is the democratization of information, perpetuated by search engines like Google....
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Radiologists who cheat on their board exams: Who’s to blame?
In a widely circulated CNN article, many radiologists have been found to cheat on their board exams: "Doctors around the country taking an...
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Doctors: Don’t be ashamed about going bankrupt
Are doctors really going broke? According to this piece from CNN Money, some are: "Doctors list shrinking insurance reimbursements, changing regulations, rising...
Physician
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Patients will understand an honest mistake if the doctor tells the truth
It was 1976 and I was a junior resident in urology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. I was assigned...
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Diagnosing an illness is an art
Diagnosis is the foundation on which all care and treatments rest. If the diagnosis is wrong, most probably so is the treatment. ...
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Physicians have a natural role as advocates
As physicians, we are often called upon to be advocates for our patients. Sometimes they have no other person to turn to....
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Our society expends huge sums on futile care
Mike was a runner, outdoors-man, and fitness nut. This was not so much as for health reasons as for "feeling good", but...
Patient
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How will the Baby Boomers age and die?
I love listening to life stories. As a hospice chaplain, I loved sitting with our patients and their loved ones engaging in...
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Patient engagement is the holy grail of health care
For health care professionals, patient engagement is the holy grail of health care. It is the key to patient adherence – a...
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Why do doctors delay hospice referrals?
This is a response to Deb Discenza's article requesting a one page informational sheet informing a patient about hospice or palliative care. This would...
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How touch can calm patients
So, Megen at Not Nurse Ratched wrote post recently about therapeutic presence. The following passage really caught my attention: "Question is: are...
Policy
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Improve patient safety to improve healthcare quality
It has taken 13 years for us to revisit the issues in To Err Is Human, the 1999 landmark government report that...
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A lack of incentive for medical schools to train primary care doctors
A social media movement is happening before our eyes with action starting to take shape. The #occupyhealthcare movement has begun within to...
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What should be the stated aim of health care in America?
The triple aim of health care, as defined by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is: improving the experience of care, bettering...
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How Moneyball applies to healthcare
The storyline is familiar. An organization is challenged to achieve better results without spending more money. An executive is committed to obtaining...
Tech
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New classes of devices to diet and exercise
For many celebrities, their livelihoods depend on their physical appearance and they rely on armies of personal assistants, schedulers, stylists, trainers and...
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Repetition is the curse of the doctor-patient engagement
How many times as a doctor do you ask the same questions over and over again as part of the routine process...
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Why the prognosis of patients is difficult
Many clinical decisions in older persons are dependent on life expectancy. For example, as life expectancy declines, cancer screening is likely to...
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Innovative technologies can markedly enhance safety
“To Err Is Human” is the title of the now famous book from the Institute of Medicine on patient safety published about...
Social Media
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The Internet is where patients go for pre-visit consultations
As a physician, technology cannot replace you, but it can make you more efficient and effective. This was the message from Richard...
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5 ways doctors can benefit from professional connections
Looking ahead to the next several months, I’ve found myself frequently wondering how many physicians will make this their year to take...
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Twitter Is my third office location
The physician’s decision to first dive into social media can be stress-inducing. Issues of time management, maintaining professionalism, and determining a return...
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The impact of social media on a physician assistant
The impact of social media on medicine could arguably be compared to the impact of the industrial revolution on the human condition....
