Recent data suggests that over 60 percent of American patients consult the web first before going to a doctor.That's all good, and even encouraged, but trouble comes when they feel that online health information can replace physician advice.Bryan Vartabedian talks about these so-called "amateur physicians," and how they think they know more than they actually do. There is a danger of knowing too much information, and being unable ...
December 2009
All Stories
iPhone medical apps can be improved by Google Android
by Felasfa Wodajo, MDIn a recent post, entitled, Why doctors should choose Google Android over the iPhone for medical apps, the author seems to have gone out out of his way to make a series of increasingly hyperbolic arguments declaring Motorola Droid superior to the iPhone.
The long trail of negative comments on the site demonstrate that perhaps not all readers were ...
Specialists should staff the patient centered medical homes, not primary care doctors
Originally published in HCPLive.comby Alan Berkenwald, MDThe approaching fire storm over the “patient-centered medical home” model reminds me of the destructive powers seen before in HMOs. Once seemingly destined to revolutionize organized medicine, the HMO model nearly destroyed it.
We can learn from past failures. We need to promote best-practice models and make physicians accountable for their actions, both physiologically ...
Tamiflu kills babies, and other H1N1 flu pandemic misconceptions
Originally published in MedPage Todayby Todd Neale, MedPage Today Staff WriterAs one of the two MedPage Today writers on full-time H1N1 duty since the beginning of the outbreak in April, I feel like I know the issues well enough to help clear up misconceptions when they come up in conversation.
The other day, just such a situation presented itself. An ...
Why electronic medical records won’t improve patient care or cut costs
Have electronic medical records made a difference in patient care?According to a study looking at digital medical record adoption of 3,000 hospitals, electronic records have made little difference in cost or quality of care.That's discouraging, considering that the government is investing billions of dollars into the technology.Very few physicians use electronic record systems effectively. For instance, many are simply scanning paper records into a computer, which provides minimal ...
Pharma, evidence, and trust
by David Rind, MDA number of the other blogs that have noted the existence of this blog seem to have "Pharma" in their titles in one way or another, and the implication is not that the blogger likes much about Big Pharma.In the late 1990s, when I was spending much of my clinical time providing HIV care, I was a defender of Pharma on Usenet, at least as it related ...
Seeing floaters or flashing lights can be caused by posterior vitreous or retinal detachment
Originally posted in InsidermedicineThe eye is very similar to a camera. Both are optical systems that have lenses in the front to focus light rays onto a film. The retina is the eye’s film. It is a tissue that consists of 10 layers and is about 500 microns thick—or, half a millimeter. The main function of the retina is to trap light rays, convert them into electrical impulses, and ...
iPhone radiology app to diagnose appendicitis
Originally published in MedPage Todayby Kristina Fiore, MedPage Today Staff WriterFor years, the pager and cell phone have summoned on-call radiologists to the emergency room. Now this leap in technology: an iPhone App that lets radiologists diagnose a patient remotely, wherever they may be. Using a $20 iPhone application called OsiriX, radiologists made correct diagnoses of appendicitis in 124 of ...
Should patients talk with their doctors using social media?
As both patients and doctors find themselves increasingly on Twitter and Facebook, more are wondering whether they should be talking to one another using social networking outlets.This issue has come up before, most recently when the New England Journal of Medicine asked whether doctors should friend their patients on Facebook.Pediatrician Bryan Vartabedian looks further at the issue, and sees it fraught with potential risk.He points out that sharing ...
ACP: Teasing out science, politics, and emotion about the mammography guidelines
The following is part of a series of original guest columns by the American College of Physicians. by Steven Weinberger, MD, FACP
It is difficult to find a medical guideline that has garnered so much press and controversy as the recent recommendations about breast cancer screening developed by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) and published in Annals ...
How salt is associated with stroke and heart disease risk
Originally published in InsidermedicineSodium intake has a direct and independent impact on the risk of stroke and cardiovascular disease, according to a meta-analysis published online ahead of print in the British Medical Journal.id="play_continuous_flvs" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="385" height="239" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0">
Medical student needlestick injuries
Originally posted in MedPage Todayby Kristina Fiore, MedPage Today Staff WriterMedical students are frequently stuck by needles, and few report their accidents, researchers say. In a survey, about 60% of surgery residents reported being stuck with a needle while they were in medical school, Martin A. Makary, MD, MPH, of Johns Hopkins, and colleagues reported in the December issue of ...
Failing to address poverty and homelessness may undermine health reform
Will the billions we're thinking of spending on health care reform matter if we don't address poverty and homelessness?Surgeon Amina Merchant has her doubts in a Washington Post opinion piece. She observes something that's rarely mentioned, namely, that some patients abuse the health system to their benefit:
"I am suicidal with a plan," they say. People know that that phrase is a key to the psychiatric ward. After it ...
Kevin Pho, MD
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Why Priscilla Chan may become the country’s most influential doctor
Who has the potential to be the most influential physician of our generation? It's Priscilla Chan, who not only recently graduated from...
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Confused about prostate cancer screening? Make a shared decision
In a widely anticipated move, the USPSTF officially recommended against prostate cancer screening in healthy men. Case closed, right? Hardly. The prostate...
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When it comes to doctors and social media, hospitals fail miserably
When it comes to medicine and social media, much of the attention is negative. Doctors losing their hospital privileges because of Facebook....
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Warren Buffett’s prostate cancer choices aren’t right for every man
A version of this column was published on April 24, 2012 in USA Today. There has been a recent uptick of elderly men...
Physician
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Why test recalls should not be considered cheating
I was appalled recently by the coverage of radiology “test recalls” by CNN, amplified by Dr. Gary Becker of the American Board...
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Why physicians are susceptible to hardball tactics
I was invited to a medical staff leadership conference sponsored by our hospital. A company specializing in training physician leaders ran the...
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How we deliver bad news is critical to how families deal with grief
As a cardiac electrophysiologist, I have had to discuss bad news with patients and families more times than I would like during...
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His father’s suffering had already been too great
He looked dead. The paramedics brought him down the hall toward one of my critical care beds, and for a moment I...
Patient
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How death can be a beautiful experience
I was honored to be part of a beautiful experience in late January of 2011. It was the death of my mother-in-law...
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What meaningful encouragement can be given to someone who is dying?
Theirs is a lonely journey; to be moving towards the separation and end of all things known and loved. Being with a...
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Health care journalists have tendencies similar to those of doctors
As a patient who was asked to speak at the Association of Health Care Journalists 2012 conference, I felt a bit covert....
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Adaptation can be painful, but it can also be a gift
Nothing will force you to live life on your own terms faster than almost losing it. In 2008, I was on fire....
Policy
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What should America’s health care vision be?
America has this paradox of excellent biomedical science, innovative drug manufacturers and entrepreneurial device developers along with outstanding providers but at the...
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Hospitals around the world aim to remain relevant to patients
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times ..." So begins a story called A Tale of Two...
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Repairing the tear in health care’s safety net with social media
The nation’s “safety net” hospitals are designed to ensure that uninsured, lower income and indigent populations receive adequate medical care – a...
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Look to technology to reduce health costs
Technology to lower costs rather than accelerate them. Smart phones to increase physician and other providers’ productivity. Fewer primary care physicians but...
Tech
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When patient care becomes secondary to filling out the medical record
The policeman was two cars in front of me. I meandered down the road cautiously adjusting my speed a few ticks above...
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Doctors, use Google to get more patients in less than 7 minutes
Every month, hundreds of thousands of people look for a doctor on Google. As an amazing practitioner, your site deserves to be...
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The user interface for EHRs should be uniform
The first thing I noticed when I walked into the physician’s office were the tall cabinets filled with manila folders, tabbed with...
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EMR liability needs to go further than just the physician
This example of a disaster waiting to happen, in the form of an error-promoting CPOE, is a poster example of why the...
Social Media
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We need to see the potential harm of social media
Prior to 1794, farms across the world could only pick cotton as fast as humanly possible. In the late 18th century, Eli Whitney...
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Why social media may not be worth it for doctors
Social media in healthcare is all the rage these days. You can’t visit even one physician-oriented website without someone breathlessly advising you...
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Transparency defines social media success for doctors
Want to understand social media? Physicians wanting to learn about social media must learn transparency. We must learn transparency on a personal...
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How Twitter was used in a potential mass casualty scenario
It was my first ER shift in charge of the resuscitation area. Needless to say, my adrenaline and nerves were firing like...
