On my way onto the plane for my recent flight home from France I picked up a copy of Le Figaro thinking I might enjoy the article about actress Sophie Marceau, who was on the cover of everything while we were in France in celebration of her turning 40.I did enjoy catching up on Marceau - I still remembering watching La Boum in my high school French class - but ...
August 2010
All Stories
Empiric antibiotics in the ICU
Last year, I commented on the ironic sameness of ICU infectious diseases — that incredibly sick, complex patients entered the ICU with vastly different problems, then over time, seemed to converge, presenting similar kinds of clinical issues and management challenges for the ID doc.Or, as a visiting medical student said to me, “My ICU attending said that every patient in the ICU should be on vancomycin and Zosyn.”Which brings up ...
What is Glenn Beck’s macular dystrophy?
During a recent speech from his American Revival tour, Glenn Beck, 46, announced that he has an eye condition called macular dystrophy that could cause him to go blind. Speaking in front of a large group at his “Revival America” tour, the Fox News pundit told the crowd:“A couple of weeks ago I went to the doctor because of my eyes, I can’t focus my eyes…he did all kinds of ...
A fundamentally new approach to treating glioblastoma multiforme
Only rarely does an experienced editor get a spine tingle from a new paper. For the first time ever, today, I predict that a Nobel Prize for medicine will be awarded to J. Martin Brown, DPhil, Oxford, a professor at Stanford University School of Medicine.Professor Brown and his colleagues have discovered and reported a fundamentally new approach to the treatment of solid tumors, beginning with the devastating glioblastoma multiforme.Here is ...
How JetBlue can improve your medical practice
I got a chance to fly JetBlue for the first time recently. Since I had heard so many good things about the airline, I was looking forward to experiencing the JetBlue, well, experience.I took four flights in total with them. While outbound, they lost my bag. While inbound to Chicago, my last leg was delayed about 2 hours. I then I had to wait another 80 minutes for my bag ...
Should physicians undergo random drug testing?
Lucian Leape MD, a public health professor at Harvard, wants to subject doctors in America to strict random and periodic drug testing to help identify those physicians who are impaired. All in the name of patient safety, of course:
"I'm very much in favor of random testing," Dr. Leape says. "We have a responsibility to identify problem doctors and bring them into treatment." And to protect patients in the process.Ok, I ...
iPad health care use by doctors, a comprehensive infographic
MobiHealthNews released a comprehensive infographic on physician use of the iPad, a distillation of their report on the issue.The iPad has been covered previously on this site. The form factor holds tremendous potential, as this Dartmouth physician noted, "the iPad offers a 'low profile' that doesn't seem intimidating to patients during exams." That's especially important as it can allow doctors to maintain eye contact with their ...
Watchful waiting pays off for a torn ACL
"Why golf," my friends often ask. They, like too many Americans, assume it is a sport for the country club set, and have a hard time fathoming why someone like me -- liberal, somewhat intellectual, decidedly anti-elitist -- would passionately embrace the game.My answer is always brief and direct. When I was 35, I tore my right knee's anterior cruciate ligament during one of my twice-weekly pick-up basketball games in ...
Whooping cough and pertussis tips you need to know
As a whooping cough epidemic hits California, you may be asking yourself, “hey, weren’t we all vaccinated for that?” Even as the headlines imply a Victorian-level outbreak of hacking and coughing, perhaps you’re looking around and wondering where, exactly, this epidemic is located. And what you should know about whooping cough to protect you and yours.Here are some fun, weird, and sometimes worrying tidbits to know about whooping cough. Pass ...
Southern states may block the government from delivering health care
I have lived on the Gulf Coast for all but 5 of my 50 years. I grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and now live in Mobile Alabama.I was educated in the public schools during the height of the desegregation battles and my experiences were colored by those battles in a number of ways. I ran track in high school and was in the racial minority on that team (as ...
Root beer bonds a chemotherapy patient with his oncologist
by Krupali Tejura, MDI am treating a patient for head and neck cancer -- which can be one of the most harrowing therapies.To receive chemotherapy and radiation concurrently can be pretty debilitating. Swallowing foods can be next to impossible, and the taste changes and saliva changes are brutal. It's one of the harshest areas to treat ... and I warn the patients beforehand: ...
Why the sustainable growth rate formula (SGR) is here to stay
According to the Washington Post, it is highly unlikely that Congress will undo the planned "sustainable growth rate formula" (SGR) mandated Medicare fee schedule cuts. While there's an outside chance of a fix, the American Medical Association, as well as other organized physician groups, can't be happy about the constant threat of the 20% payment reductions.Recall that the SGR was signed into law back in 1998. It was designed to ...
Effect of the Massachusetts Gift Ban law on area restaurants
I recently debated Steve DiFillippo, owner of Davio's and Avila's restaurants, on the WGBH program Greater Boston, hosted by Emily Rooney. The topic? The effect of the Massachusetts Gift Ban law on area restaurants.On one level, it was a friendly debate on the economic impact of the law on those restaurants that depend on drug company sponsored dinners for a chunk of their income.But on another level, this is a ...
Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) affects patient safety
Recently, yet another alarming Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) study made headlines.According to Healthcare IT News, The Leapfrog Group, a staunch advocate of CPOE, is now sounding the alarm on untested CPOE as their new study "points to jeopardy to patients when using health IT." Up until now we had inconclusive studies pointing to increased and also decreased mortality in one hospital or another following CPOE implementation, but ...
Health blog posts of the week, ending August 29, 2010
Here are the top posts from this past week, based on the number of times they were viewed.1. Balancing a surgeon’s beliefs with the needs of the practice2. Why family medicine and internal medicine should not merge3. How patients can stop doctors from blaming them for their health4. Americans will need doctors but physicians are leaving primary care5. Why primary care is like air traffic ...
Hollywood, take notice of this primary care doctor
Doug Farrago is a family physician in Maine, and the editor of the entertaining Placebo Journal.He uses his Placebo Journal media platform to show his audience what primary care is all about. In this video, Doug Unplugged, he gives us a little taste of that journey.Hollywood, take notice.classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="425" height="344" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0">
What’s new on KevinMD.com
I want to thank you all for reading KevinMD.com. The conversation sparked by the posts has been sometimes controversial, but always insightful.A special thanks to the regular contributors, now numbering over 125 health care professionals and patients who add their own distinct voice to the health care discussion.Here's what's new on the site.1. KevinMD.com on LinkedIn. In addition to the 23,000 who follow on Twitter, and 3,800
KevinMD at BlogWorld Expo 2010 Social Health track
I'm honored to be invited back to BlogWorld Expo's Social Health track on Thursday, October 14, 2010.
I'll be joined on a panel with my esteemed blogging colleagues, Kim McAllister of Emergiblog, Bryan Vartabedian of 33 Charts, and Kerri Morrone Sparling of six until me.We will discuss whether social networks are compatible or competitive with the medical blogosphere.Dave deBronkart, ...
Too many young children are medicated with powerful drugs
Recently while cleaning out my office in anticipation of my new job, I discovered that I had unknowingly been witness to to an historic moment in child psychiatry. I found a binder from a course I had taken in June of 2001 sponsored by Harvard Medical School on Major Psychiatric Illnesses in Children and Adolescents.Though I did not remember until I looked at my scrawled notes in the margins, on ...
Does a stereotypical surgical personality exist?
by Shawn VuongRecently, our class learned and practiced how to correctly 'scrub' for surgery. During this little lab activity, we were all gowned up and washing our hands when a couple of classmates asked if I was going to be a surgeon.I said I didn't really know yet, although I did find surgery pretty fascinating. With that, they told me that they thought I would make a good surgeon. due ...
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...
