Not literally, of course.In an interesting marketing concept, some would call it a gimmick, a Texas hospital is utilizing speed dating concepts to match patients with obstetricians.I like it.As chronicled by the American Medical News, here's what happens:
It involves setting aside a room for two 30-minute sessions over the lunch hour. About five or six physicians sit at tables while a dozen or so potential patients rotate through. Every ...
The ER is the portal of entry to our hospitals now, for better and for worse.On the plus side, this means that most patients being admitted to general medical and surgical services have a workup at least started and are triaged appropriately to their destination.A good ER evaluation should answer the following questions:1. What’s the nature of the illness?Are we dealing with the heart, the brain, or an abdominal organ? ...
Part two of a series. See also part one.Previously I’d discussed how most of the time diagnoses are relatively straightforward. But what do doctors do when a diagnosis isn’t immediately clear to them?Likely one or more of the following:1. Revert to "novice" thinking. Which, in fact, is completely appropriate. We're taught in medical school that approximately 90% of all diagnoses are made from the history, so if we can't ...
Originally published in MedPage Todayby Crystal Phend"I do not want my life to be prolonged if, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, my situation is hopeless.""I want my life to be prolonged as long as possible within the limits of generally accepted medical standards, even if this means that I might be kept alive on machines for years."
Check ...
There are some medical centers that are investing in the concept of group visits.The concept, as I wrote awhile back, involves shared medical appointments, comprised of patients with similar medical conditions. A medical team, typically including a doctor, nurse, and other support staff, would then counsel patients as a group, and address issues common to everyone in the room.Can the emergence of social media, like Facebook and Twitter, ...
Originally published in MedPage Todayby Emily P. Walker, MedPage Today Washington CorrespondentMore that a year after the Institute of Medicine (IOM) issued a report calling for mandatory naps for medical residents, the organization responsible for implementing -- or rejecting -- the IOM's controversial recommendation has yet to make a decision. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), which has ...
The following op-ed was published on January 29th, 2010 in The New York Times’ Room for Debate blog.With health reform’s future in peril, President Obama noted in his State of the Union address that the process has “left most Americans wondering what’s in it for them.”For reform to succeed, the problems facing most patients today, ranging from their deteriorating relationship with doctors to the consequences of medical malpractice, have ...
Conflicted am I on reading of the strategy of a group of South Miami cardiologists who have written their patients complaining of the cuts to reimbursement, primarily cuts in imaging procedures. A tension emerges from within upon reading the following quote from a "healthcare expert.""I'm not at all sympathetic with the cardiologists,'' said Robert Berenson, a doctor who was once in charge of Medicare payment policy and now is a ...
Originally published in InsidermedicineAs international travel becomes increasingly commonplace, the clinical problem of jet lag is highlighted in the New England Journal of Medicine.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">
by David Allen, MDShould health care be controlled or provided by the government?I believe that years of answering 'yes' to this question has been at the root of most of the problems in the American health care system. Let's explore a few of these 'yes' answers:Health care for the elderly must be provided by the government. By creating Medicare, the US government has massively and deleteriously affected medicine. ...
The organizations that rate hospitals and doctors have proliferated as the internet has become mainstream over the past 5 years. I'm sure you have seen some of these: U.S. World & News Report, Consumer Reports Health, Health Grades, Leapfrog, Hospital Compare, Americas Best Doctors and 100 Best Hospitals.My local magazine lists the "top doctors" along with full page paid ads and promos that are very compelling. The questions is, do ...
Originally published in HCPLive.comIn January, New Jersey became the 14th state in the nation to legalize marijuana use for certain chronic illnesses. Other states where the use of medical marijuana is permitted include Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington; around a dozen more states are weighing pending bills.
The ...
Originally published in MedPage Todayby John Gever, MedPage Today Senior EditorFour out of five surgeons agree: Laparoscopic procedures cause substantial discomfort and pain for the surgeons who perform them.More than 80% of surgeons completing an online questionnaire reported pain or stiffness in the hands, neck, back, or legs after performing minimally invasive surgeries, according to Adrian Park, MD, of the ...
Most medical schools do a reasonably good job clinically preparing medical students to be future physicians.But they can do better, especially in our fragmented health system where millions of Americans have to contend with costs as much as they have to with their medical conditions.In her recent New York Times column, Pauline Chen cites a study showing that students exposed to more non-clinical topics, like medical economics, health policy, ...
The following is part of a series of original guest columns by the American College of Physicians. by Steven Weinberger, MD, FACP
In December 2008 the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released its report entitled “Resident Duty Hours: Enhancing Sleep, Supervision, and Safety,” in which it proposed a number of changes to the current regulations developed and enforced by the ...
The cell-phone is a wonderful device. Even I, somewhat Luddite about certain technologies, find it delightfully useful for things like calling my wife when I lose the grocery list, calling my wife for directions and calling my wife to remind me of what I was supposed to be doing. I’m not really a fan of texting, though my wife and oldest son seem to communicate that way quite effectively. It’s ...
Originally published in MedPage Todayby Kristina Fiore, MedPage Today Staff WriterAdhering to guidelines when treating children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) relieved symptoms but had no effect on kids' performance in school or in their relationships with others, researchers found. Although parents and teachers noted significant improvements in symptoms among ADHD kids (P<0.001) in a special treatment program, there ...
This year, the Better Health team will be offering live coverage of healthcare’s largest tech conference: HIMSS in Atlanta, March 1-4.Three medical bloggers, Dr. Val Jones, Dr. Mike Sevilla, and Dr. Nick Genes will interview over 40 different exhibitors and stream their interviews live via UStream.You can ask questions of the interviewees by submitting questions to
According to a recent editorial from Emergency Medicine News, emergency residency programs are doing a poor job preparing their emergency residents for the real world.The authors note that a typical, large urban academic emergency department comprise less than 5 percent of U.S. ERs, and that "residency programs train physicians in some of the most inefficient EDs in the land. Relative value units of emergency medicine work per hour in ...
Mauricio Arruda performed a live atrial fibrillation ablation at University Hospitals in Cleveland on the Today Show recently.The 6-minute segment was relentlessly upbeat. The TV producers pulled every trick in the book to overcome the inherent difficulty of portraying a hard-to-explain disease like atrial fibrillation and an even harder-to-explain procedure like catheter ablation. Instead of making any effort to truly educate their viewers, the producers took the easy ...
Patient satisfaction is all the rage. Medicare is beginning to tie patient satisfaction scores with hospital reimbursement, and doctors across the country...
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....
From age six through high school, I played baseball. Playing baseball ended, rather abruptly it seemed, when I went to college, but...
Lately, I get the feeling that I’m doing something wrong. I’m supposed to form a partnership with my patients. My patients are...
There was nothing the professor despised more then the syrup that oozed out of his partner's lips when dealing with patients. He...
I have tried to write a letter of thanks but don't know what to say or even how to begin. I don't...
It is said that "turn around is fair play." So if providers (physicians, hospitals and other health care professionals) expect patients to...
Hypertension was the trigger that forced medical cost awareness to the forefront. My doctor decided that with my rise in blood pressure...
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...
As Americans we believe we have the best healthcare system in the world. But think again, it’s really not the truth. We...
Between the Susan G. Komen-Planned Parenthood debate and the study on treatments released by the Journal of the American Medical Association recently,...
Labor and deliveries are slowly closing across the United States: California, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. In regional areas where there have been no...
We have a real paradox in American healthcare. On the one hand we have exceptionally well educated and well trained providers who...
There is a groundswell of discussion concerning patients demanding to have direct access to data derived from their implantable defibrillators and pacemakers....
In the old days, bullying used to consist of name calling or physical aggression from someone in a position of power over...
We are on the front lines of the healthcare revolution along side our patients and our colleagues in technology. We have firsthand...
Speaker after speaker at the recent Care Innovations Summit in Washington, DC concluded that increasing the quality and decreasing the per-capita cost...
Lots of pressure out there for you to be on Facebook and Twitter, right? The ultimate question, though, is how are you...
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...
