May 2010

All Stories

Some doctors may resist the primary care team approach

in Physician | 14 responses

What if some physicians actually like the way primary care is currently practiced?It's hard to believe, considering the majority of studies suggest marked dissatisfaction among primary care doctors, and an increasing prevalence of physician burnout.The ACP's Bob Doherty recently summarized an epic Health Affairs article devoted to fixing primary care. The bottom line was that better paying primary care doctors isn't enough. The whole field needs to ...

Blood tests in hospitals may be unnecessary

by | in Physician | 7 responses

I’ve just finished a month “on-service” as a teaching attending for a general medicine team here at GlassHospital. This means I served as the physician of record for every patient admitted to the team.You might find it interesting to know that patients admitted to the hospital’s general medicine service get assigned to their teams by random assortment. Since there are five teams, one team takes call every fifth day. ...

How to use sex to teach CPR

in Potpourri | 5 responses

Tired of those boring CPR videos?Here's something that may solve that problem. As Chris Rangel says, "this video teaches CPR (kind of) in a way you won’t forget."Warning -- NSFW and viewer discretion advised.Video is below the jump.classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="400" height="225" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0">(via RangelMD)

Doctors may be forced to accept Medicare rates to stay licensed

by | in Policy | 34 responses

Massachusetts has a problem.In April 2007, they became the first state to require residents to have health insurance. Reportedly this has resulted in 300,000 newly insured patients and lowered the uninsured population to 5%. But of course, given the relatively poor reimbursement rates for primary care providers, especially when it comes to government insurance, the state is facing a growing shortage of primary care providers.Without an adequate supply of primary ...

Physician assistant not associate: Reasons against a name change

by | in Policy | 10 responses

In reference to the seemingly “simple” name change being proposed for Physician Assistants to Physician Associates, I take great exception to the commentary offered by Dr. Zilberberg in her recent article entitled, Physician assistant name change rubs doctors the wrong way.She states: “Physicians have been only too successful at becoming the final word in health, at the exclusion of all others.”Physicians are the highest and most extensively trained group ...

Body mass index (BMI) may not measure obesity accurately

in Conditions | 9 responses

by Kristina FioreThe scale of the obesity epidemic may be much worse than currently believed, because the usual measure, body mass index (BMI), is a very insensitive measure of excess body fat, researchers said.In a single-center study, 66% of patients classified as obese on the basis of DEXA scanning had BMI values in the nonobese range, according to Eric Braverman, MD, of New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.Among more ...

Get help if you think you have depression

by | in Conditions | 4 responses

I’m a happy man. I wake up with peace in my heart, and hope for the future. Most days, anyway!It was not always so.For many years – decades – I lived under a dark cloud. Depression was a constant companion, so woven into my experience that I did not even know how bad off I was. I was so used to coping and managing around it, that most others had ...

Patient grief and the safety of doctors and nurses

in Physician | 3 responses

A patient's grief can threaten the safety of health care providers when it crosses into rage.Emergency physician Edwin Leap illustrates some concerning instances:

In one instance, family members became angry because we did not leave the body in the ER for eight hours so that everyone could come and pay their respects. (Which I always thought was the purpose of a funeral home.) In another, a family was ...

Patient wants an apology, not money, after medical malpractice

in Physician | 50 responses

by Tricia Pil, MDThis is the true story of a hospitalization as told from three points of view: first, the recollections of the patient (who happens to be a physician); second, events as recorded in the medical charts by doctors and nurses; and third, the version put forth by the hospital.FRIDAYPatient: It is fall 2005, and I am nine months pregnant. A healthy 33-year-old pediatrician, I am a longtime patient of ...

Pediatricians have a role in reporting domestic violence

in Conditions | 5 responses

by Crystal PhendOne of the most effective ways to prevent child abuse may be for pediatricians to identify domestic violence against a child's caregiver, according to a report from the American Academy of Pediatrics.Intimate partner violence in the home has a profound effect on kids, Jonathan D. Thackeray, MD, of Columbus Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, and colleagues wrote in the May issue of Pediatrics.They pointed to elevated risk of ...

Crucial public health issues facing legalizing marijuana

by | in Meds | 10 responses

So what do I know about this issue? As the physician and City public health administrator tasked with the initial implementation of Proposition 215 (legalizing medical marijuana) – I learned a lot.On the data side, I compiled every bit of published research about marijuana (positive and negative) from the previous thirty years, researching every conceivable symptom and/or adverse event. The results were published and widely cited. I also ...

EHR notes and the cut and paste documentation problem

by | in Tech | 10 responses

"Detritus."Not only was that a chance for the Disease Management Care Blog to refamiliarize itself with an underused noun (and, er, its spelling), that was the telling term used today by a DMCB colleague to describe the output from a local health system's electronic health record (EHR).He had received a copy of a lengthy consultant-physician's documentation involving one of his patients and was astonished by the blob of past ...

Brainstorming other income opportunities for doctors

in Physician | one response

by Michael Woo-Ming, MDOnce you’ve decided that you want to explore other income opportunities, then it’s time to do some preliminary brainstorming.The goal here is to create a list of business ideas that you would find success in and be happy with. As a physician, you have a distinct advantage if your business plan involves the medical field. However, you do not need to limit yourself to this field as ...

Endocrinologists may improve surgical care in diabetic patients

in Physician | 4 responses

by Kristina FioreShorter hospital stays and lower costs were the result when surgical patients with diabetes and dysglycemia received endocrinology consults, researchers said.Adding endocrinologists to surgical care teams for patients with abnormal blood glucose readings cut total length of stay among patients in a single center by 1,342 days and saved the hospital $1.15 million, according to Arthur Chernoff, MD, of Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia.Chernoff presented his findings ...

Pediatricians need to wonder when dealing with behavior problems

by | in Conditions | 10 responses

Last week, I again had the privilege of teaching pediatricians in training. These students were very bright, challenging and asked excellent questions. They all agreed about the limit of the pediatric model of "giving advice." One resident, who had young children of her own, spoke of new mothers using blogs for emotional support. Many of these mothers speak less than kindly about their pediatricians, who they perceive as "not getting ...

How doctors can reduce unnecessary tests and treatments

by | in Policy | 17 responses

Several years ago, when my wife directed the third-year Family Medicine clinical clerkship at a highly ranked medical school, she developed a popular workshop on the cost of health care that presented students with scenarios of patients who were either uninsured or underinsured and challenged them to provide cost-conscious health care by selecting medications and tests that were clinically appropriate and financially affordable.Many students remarked that it was the only ...

Doctors are focusing on lifestyle when practicing medicine

by | in Policy | 2 responses

An interview with Elizabeth Chase, MD, obstetrician-gynecologist in Dover, New HampshireElizabeth Chase, better known as Betsy, is a close and enduring college friend of my son, Spencer. She is a solid, pragmatic, hard working obstetrician-gynecologist, with two sons, and an architect husband, who spends his time caring for their children and their house in Dover, New Hampshire. She represents many of changes that occur when women become full-time physicians. The ...

Fight against salt needs consumer help

in Meds | 13 responses

by Cole PetrochkoAs a person who has handled salt in cooking, is prone to headaches from sodium, and has written an article on legislating salt content in prepared and packaged foods, let me tell you about salt, because I know a thing or two.Well, it would be hard to not know much about salt after the recent string of attention paid to the "white shaken one" -- eat too ...

What can patients really expect from their physicians today?

by | in Patient | 7 responses

It may seem odd during these turbulent, cynical times, but a lot of people still trust their personal physician. People that have high trust in their physician tend to believe that their physician;* Is up-to-date with the latest medical treatments * Keeps track of all important aspects of their health during and between visits * Can be depended upon to act in the patient’s best interestThis broad-brushed view of patient trust ...

Page 4 of 812345678

Kevin Pho, MD

See all in: Pho

Physician

See all in: Physician

Patient

See all in: Patient

Policy

See all in: Policy

Tech

See all in: Tech

Social Media

See all in: Social media

Meds

See all in: Meds

Conditions

See all in: Conditions

Education

See all in: Education