According to a recent study, providing physicians with the cost of lab tests cut costs.As reported by the WSJ's Health Blog,
A new study finds that simply making physicians aware of the cost of regular blood tests cut the daily bill for the tests by as much as 27% ... At the beginning of the program, the daily cost ...
Recently I wrote a blog about how the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) thinks that otherwise healthy children with ear infections should wait a couple of days before starting antibiotics, because many will get better without them.Now there are two articles in the New England Journal of Medicine (here and here) saying that children with ear infections who are given antibiotics are more likely ...
The Theresa Brown furor has got me thinking. To be honest, I don’t think the doctor’s apparent offense was really that bad. I remember giving and taking worse.When I was at medical school and in specialist training, there were senior doctors and nurses of legendary temper and bad disposition. Tiptoeing around them, and working to their satisfaction, however unreasonable, was an accepted part of the job. But the ...
Arnold Schwarzenegger's revelation about his long-term affair with his household employee that involved a child being born is the latest in a string of powerful men with career ending flaws. Add to that the shocking arrest this week of powerful Dominique Strauss-Kahn for allegedly raping a hotel maid and we must ask, "What the heck is going on with these guys?"I can't count the number of heartfelt apologies that ...
I hear it all the time: "All these illegals are coming over here and they don't pay taxes, but they get all these government handouts and they're clogging up our health care system ..."I often point out that many undocumented immigrants actually do obtain a taxpayer identification number for the express purpose of paying taxes in hopes that if a path to ...
As 30-year-old New Yorker Carrie Donnelly began her bachelorette party in her new black open-toe five-inch heels, she fell, her foot going one way and her ankle the other."When I woke up the next day, my ankle was throbbing and had become extremely swollen," she said. It was a month before her wedding—the last thing she wanted to do was to walk down the aisle in a cast.Super-high heels like ...
by Paul Rousseau, MDCommunication between physicians and patients is critical to quality care and improved outcomes, however, such discussions often seem labored and fraught with anxiety and stress.Physicians commonly speak too much and listen too little, while patients feel swept up in an unfamiliar and frightening situation with loss of control and little-to-no input into care.As I have ...
by Ashwin PatelAs a MD/PhD candidate, I enjoy learning how medicine interfaces with other fields. I found that MDs that have ventured into these fields have the best stories and insights to share.I recently had the privilege of interviewing Dr. David E. Albert, MD. He's a physician, a successful inventor with 30+ patents, and a serial entrepreneur. He has sold two of his companies, one to ...
Little has been written about the impact a malpractice lawsuit has on physicians.But physicians who've been sued have a higher rate of suicide, and emergency physician Edwin Leap wrote about how doctors are emotionally scarred from the grueling ordeal of a trial.A recent piece from American Medical News puts faces on the toll:
The key to surviving ...
Recently, an editorial from a plastic surgeon Lloyd Kreiger, MD, appeared in the Wall Street Journal entitled "ObamaCare Is Already Damaging Health Care."While I'm not sure I'm ready to concede that Obamacare has already damaged health care in America, I will agree the law is certainly is changing health care, aligning health care corporate interests with political interests, with ...
May is National Osteoporosis Awareness Month.Osteoporosis is a poorly understood concept amongst the general public, and perhaps the best way to explain it is the presence of an insufficient quantity of bone – the bone that is present, however, is normal (or properly mineralized). This can be contrasted with osteomalacia (or rickets, in children), ...
by Andrew Schutzbank, MD“He wants to go to Atlantic City for his research time?” must have been the question bouncing around my residency’s Area of Concentration (AOC) Committee.Not that there is anything wrong with Atlantic City per se, but historically, our residency program generously grants three to six weeks of AOC time to allow residents to explore interests and ...
At the heart of medicine is the relationship between a doctor and a patient.The more a doctor knows about his patients, the better. While visual changes and numbness might represent migraine symptoms for one patient, for another they could forebode a stroke. Having followed patients through the stages of life, participating in their medical experiences firsthand rather than solely reviewing those as written case-files -- I can vouch that knowing ...
Cold season.All over town, boogery kids are wiping snot on their sleeves, their hands, and us. One of the most important things you can teach your child is how to properly blow his/her nose. It's one of the "skills" I check for whenever a young child comes to my office with symptoms of an upper respiratory infection. I'm always amused by the number of kids blowing air out of their ...
by Sajeet Sohi, MDI have had the pleasure as a medical student to complete my clinical clerkships in the Baltimore area community hospitals, the Johns Hopkins Hospital, and the National Institutes of Health.I will forever cherish these experiences and lessons as I progress through my career. With an educated and wealthy suburban population and a large disadvantaged urban population; Baltimore is symbolic of the ...
Actually I’ll take a Ford Shelby GT500 Convertible, thank you very much ...Today’s stream of socially conscious thinking comes to you after having feasted on a tasty lunch paid for by a drug company (and no, it wasn’t Pfizer).It has spurred me to contemplate the ever increasing scrutiny paid to the relationship between the pharmaceutical industry (a.k.a. Big ...
Another great one from ZDoggMD. Enjoy.width="430" height="274" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0">I really wanna immunize so frickin’ bad Protect you from those germs you’ve never had Don’t want you to catch the mumps–meningitis too Pertussis, hepatitis or the flu.But everywhere I turn my eyes, The internet is spreading lies. So many ...
One aspect of religious dogma that has entered the medical world is that fee-for-service pricing of medical services is bad and should be replaced by a capitated, or global, arrangement that establishes an annual budget for care for different risk groups of patients.Like other religious beliefs, this is often offered without rigorous analytic support. Some insurance companies are particularly pleased ...
I don't know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve. - Albert Schweitzer
The middle-aged Tanzanian woman lived many hours away and had traveled to the academic medical center in Moshi. She had now waited all day to see ...
Here are the top posts from this past week, based on the number of times they were viewed.1. Theresa Brown unfairly blames doctors for hospital bullying. Attacking physicians so personally only serves to drive a bigger wedge between doctors and nurses, when in fact, we need to be working together to solve this issue common to both professions.2. Doctor bashing and confronting physicians in the media. While using ...
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....
In a widely circulated CNN article, many radiologists have been found to cheat on their board exams: "Doctors around the country taking an...
Are doctors really going broke? According to this piece from CNN Money, some are: "Doctors list shrinking insurance reimbursements, changing regulations, rising...
As physicians, we are often called upon to be advocates for our patients. Sometimes they have no other person to turn to....
Mike was a runner, outdoors-man, and fitness nut. This was not so much as for health reasons as for "feeling good", but...
William Osler famously said (among other things): “Listen to the patient. He is telling you the diagnosis.” I was doing my obstetrical...
The little boy, who looked to be about two, darted away in a fit of giggles. His young mother, who seemed thoroughly...
For health care professionals, patient engagement is the holy grail of health care. It is the key to patient adherence – a...
This is a response to Deb Discenza's article requesting a one page informational sheet informing a patient about hospice or palliative care. This would...
So, Megen at Not Nurse Ratched wrote post recently about therapeutic presence. The following passage really caught my attention: "Question is: are...
People often ask me how I became a hospice volunteer. For the record, nobody is more surprised than I am. You know...
A social media movement is happening before our eyes with action starting to take shape. The #occupyhealthcare movement has begun within to...
The triple aim of health care, as defined by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is: improving the experience of care, bettering...
The storyline is familiar. An organization is challenged to achieve better results without spending more money. An executive is committed to obtaining...
Why are cancer organizations waiting until it starts to rain before they suggest buying an umbrella? “Join my Medicare Advantage plan and...
Many clinical decisions in older persons are dependent on life expectancy. For example, as life expectancy declines, cancer screening is likely to...
“To Err Is Human” is the title of the now famous book from the Institute of Medicine on patient safety published about...
Professor Gunter Dueck, is a calm and eloquent german mathematician who’s also the CTO of IBM Germany. He studied mathematics and philosophy...
Robotics has the potential to revolutionize the delivery of healthcare. It can help extend the delivery of information, expertise and clinical care...
As a physician, technology cannot replace you, but it can make you more efficient and effective. This was the message from Richard...
Looking ahead to the next several months, I’ve found myself frequently wondering how many physicians will make this their year to take...
The physician’s decision to first dive into social media can be stress-inducing. Issues of time management, maintaining professionalism, and determining a return...
The impact of social media on medicine could arguably be compared to the impact of the industrial revolution on the human condition....
