This series is brought to you by MedPage Today.1. Study Shows How Bird Flu Could Jump to Humans. A hotly debated study pins down four mutations in a key gene in the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian flu that allow it to adapt to mammals.2. Pulse-Ox Works as Heart Defect Screen. Pulse oximetry is a fairly accurate way to screen newborns for critical ...
Rarely do people think about medical costs when there is a medical emergency or an urgent need for a test. Recently, I was in such a situation.A few days after a 22-hour international flight, the calf muscle in my right leg began to ache. If it were not for the recent flight, or if I were not a doctor, I would have just let it pass.But long periods of sedentary ...
Ours is a provider-oriented system. Doctors like me and (former) hospital executives like me hate to admit it but it is true. Consumerism will slowly but surely drive it toward being a patient-oriented service model. What do patients and their families want from the health care delivery team? First and foremost is respect followed by service given in a high quality, very safe manner. Patients expect that the information gap ...
It’s hard to believe that nearly 1.5 years ago have elapsed since my first-year orientation to medical school. Much of it seemed protocol with session after session on rules and regulations, but I vividly remember the few hours spent outlining standardized patient encounters and how my assessments over the next four years would be based on my interactions with a complete stranger. As alien as that idea sounded to me, ...
A guest column by the American College of Physicians, exclusive to KevinMD.com.In preparation for a panel discussion at Internal Medicine 2012, the annual scientific meeting of the American College of Physicians, I was asked some questions about changes I would make in health care if I were king. That stimulated some serious thinking. For those of us in practice it is more usual to think about what new ...
This series is brought to you by MedPage Today.1. Most ICD Patients Die of Heart Failure. Patients with implantable defibrillators (ICDs) or resynchronization devices with defibrillator (CRT-Ds) were most likely to die of heart failure or noncardiac causes, not sudden death.2. Hospital Debt Collector Draws Scrutiny. Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.) is calling for a full-scale investigation into the reportedly questionable debt collection ...
I wasted time, and now doth time waste me. -William Shakespeare, Richard IIA friend recently asked me a simple question: Why do we have to wait so long for doctors and not for other professionals, like lawyers, accountants, or dentists? And what can we do about it?A study by Press Ganey showed that the average time patients spend waiting to see their health provider is 24 minutes. The research ...
I don't like doctors!It was always the same with Ronald. After years of absence, he would appear at my doorstep with some particular problem that had progressed to alarming proportions. Once, it was the abscess that seemed to swallow up his whole back. The next time, it was a hernia that had grown to the size of a grapefruit hanging out of his undergarments. But today was different. In fact, ...
Participating in a patient’s first heart attack can be an extremely stressful event. Thirty years ago, I was an ER doc. At the end of a typical shift, I would come home to my wife and, often, would remark about how nervous family docs got when dealing with emergencies like heart attacks.Thirty years later, I’m the family doc and heart attacks are unnerving. Yes, I know what to do. We ...
My husband and I have been self-employed for many years, and though our income is quite limited, we have always been careful with our finances, have always managed to live within our means, and have always paid our bills without assistance. We had private health insurance coverage and saw premium increases each year. Then to avoid further increases, coverage of office visits outside of deductible was dropped, and our deductible was raised to $4500. Finally, ...
This series is brought to you by MedPage Today.1. Topamax Not a Growth Deterrent in Epilepsy. Children with newly diagnosed, partial-onset epilepsy who were treated with topiramate showed gains in height.2. U.S. Workers Short on Shuteye. Data from the National Health Interview Survey in 2010 indicate that some 41 million American workers -- 30% of the labor force -- get no more ...
Should we all have the TB Blues? I think you'd agree that we should after listening to this 1931 classic by Jimmie Rodgers who died from TB.Tuberculosis is known to have existed in ancient Egypt and TB may have even been referenced in the Bible - “The Lord will smite you with consumption, and with fever, inflammation, and fiery heat …” Deuteronomy 28:22.Many well known authors, artists, musicians, and ...
Social media in healthcare is all the rage these days. You can’t visit even one physician-oriented website without someone breathlessly advising you to be on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and now Pinterest. Yet the only reason these talking heads can give you is, “because they are really popular and everyone is doing it.”Social media consulting is a bubble economy at the moment.Don’t listen to them.1. There is no return on ...
In the first week of the 5th grade, our class had a special music afternoon. It was our opportunity to try out the different instruments in the school band. We were to make a decision, that very day, about which instrument we would play almost every day for our school music careers.
When you ask young medical students why they want to be doctors, you will probably get all sorts of answers. Some may say they like people and want to interact with them and offer them help. Some students will believe this is their calling. Others still may state they are intrigued by the scientific mysteries the human body is filled with. From my experience, not many medical students just starting ...
This series is brought to you by MedPage Today.1. TV Ads Linked to Unhealthy Diets in Young Adults. Fast food and alcohol advertising on television have a negative influence on young people's weight and underage drinking.2. Combo Tx Tops for Glycemic Control in Diabetic Kids. Metformin and rosiglitazone together are best at controlling blood sugar in children and adolescents with type 2 ...
I recently watched Dr. Atul Gawande on video describe how what American healthcare needs is pit crews and not cowboys. This sentiment is also memorialized in his thought-provoking writings for the New Yorker.Interestingly, Dr. Gawande is not the first person I have heard to suggest such a thing. A colleague named Dr. Ken Catchpole actually studied Formula 1 pit crews and used the information to guide ...
Something difficult has unfolded around here lately and when news got out a dear friend came by with a gift of a story. She told us about a day years ago when one neighbor heard the other had breast cancer. The well neighbor was shocked and saddened. She was at a loss and wanted to help; wanted to do something but, what? In a daze but motivated none the less, ...
Consider this scenario.Joan, age 75, living in Ft. Lauderdale, was diagnosed with Stage IV Ovarian Cancer. Joan’s daughter, Beth, who lives in Kansas, contacts Maxine, a private patient advocate and RN who works in Ft. Lauderdale, to help her mother. Joan, Beth and Maxine have extensive conversations about the care Joan will need. The decision is made that Joan will need surgery and chemo. Maxine is hired to oversee the ...
The biggest problem with health care delivery in the US is cost, which seems to have taken a back seat to other issues meant to be addressed by health care reform. We spend about $2.5 trillion dollars a year on health care—that’s over eight thousand dollars a year for every man, woman, and child. What’s that getting you?According to the government, about 30% goes to hospitals; 20% ...
Who has the potential to be the most influential physician of our generation? It's Priscilla Chan, who not only recently graduated from...
In a widely anticipated move, the USPSTF officially recommended against prostate cancer screening in healthy men. Case closed, right? Hardly. The prostate...
When it comes to medicine and social media, much of the attention is negative. Doctors losing their hospital privileges because of Facebook....
A version of this column was published on April 24, 2012 in USA Today. There has been a recent uptick of elderly men...
I was appalled recently by the coverage of radiology “test recalls” by CNN, amplified by Dr. Gary Becker of the American Board...
I was invited to a medical staff leadership conference sponsored by our hospital. A company specializing in training physician leaders ran the...
As a cardiac electrophysiologist, I have had to discuss bad news with patients and families more times than I would like during...
He looked dead. The paramedics brought him down the hall toward one of my critical care beds, and for a moment I...
I was honored to be part of a beautiful experience in late January of 2011. It was the death of my mother-in-law...
Theirs is a lonely journey; to be moving towards the separation and end of all things known and loved. Being with a...
As a patient who was asked to speak at the Association of Health Care Journalists 2012 conference, I felt a bit covert....
Nothing will force you to live life on your own terms faster than almost losing it. In 2008, I was on fire....
America has this paradox of excellent biomedical science, innovative drug manufacturers and entrepreneurial device developers along with outstanding providers but at the...
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times ..." So begins a story called A Tale of Two...
The nation’s “safety net” hospitals are designed to ensure that uninsured, lower income and indigent populations receive adequate medical care – a...
Technology to lower costs rather than accelerate them. Smart phones to increase physician and other providers’ productivity. Fewer primary care physicians but...
Propaganda and non-truths abound all around the Internet saying that mobile health apps are everything from a threat to Big Pharma to...
The policeman was two cars in front of me. I meandered down the road cautiously adjusting my speed a few ticks above...
Every month, hundreds of thousands of people look for a doctor on Google. As an amazing practitioner, your site deserves to be...
The first thing I noticed when I walked into the physician’s office were the tall cabinets filled with manila folders, tabbed with...
Prior to 1794, farms across the world could only pick cotton as fast as humanly possible. In the late 18th century, Eli Whitney...
Social media in healthcare is all the rage these days. You can’t visit even one physician-oriented website without someone breathlessly advising you...
Want to understand social media? Physicians wanting to learn about social media must learn transparency. We must learn transparency on a personal...
It was my first ER shift in charge of the resuscitation area. Needless to say, my adrenaline and nerves were firing like...
