KevinMD posts of the week, ending January 23, 2011

Here are the top posts from this past week, based on the number of times they were viewed.

1. Why doctors should profit from dispensing medications. Hold onto your hats. I am about to enter dangerous territory. I am about to suggest maybe doctors should profit from dispensing medications from their office to offset declining reimbursements and rising expenses by using prescriptions as a source of ancillary revenues.

2. Patients Google their symptoms, doctors need to deal with it. Many doctors roll their eyes whenever patients bring in a stack of research they printed out, stemming from a Google search of their symptoms.

3. Are malpractice lawsuits really responsible for the rise in C-sections? About one third of all births in the contemporary United States occur via c-section. Physicians and the public at large often attribute this to a “malpractice crisis,” whereby obstetricians perform c-sections routinely to avoid malpractice litigation.

4. Worsen the nursing shortage with more nurse practitioners? Expanding the scope of practice for nursing without addressing the current shortage of nurses within the current scope of practice will only spread the nursing workforce even thinner – and in my opinion, will only compromise patient care further than it already does.

5. Is red wine really good for your heart and your brain? Although much has been written about how red wine in moderation can be good for your heart and your brain, I would like you to reconsider.