December 20th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Announcements
Tags: Community Group, Healthcare reform, Tom Daschle, Transition Team
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Tom Daschle and Barack Obama’s transition team have asked that Americans – interested in the subject of healthcare reform – lead community meetings to create a list of ideas for the new administration. So my husband took the invitation to heart and has decided to lead a group in our home right here in DC. Please respond if you’d like to join us. Here’s a copy of the email he’s been sending to friends:
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Has our health care system failed you personally? Is it broken? I don’t want to hear about it….
….come join me for a Health Care Community Discussion (http://video.yahoo.com/watch/4122939/11107417) about what’s right with the U.S. Health Care System.
Be prepared to discuss one experience in which your interaction with the health care system was positive.
The goal will be to gather those observations and submit them to the Obama-Biden Transition Health Policy Team to be applied as best practices across the entire industry. Why do we always have to approach reform by looking at what’s wrong? Let’s discuss what’s right.
If you would like to attend this event, please RSVP to szlotkus at yahoo.com
Date: December 30th
Time: 7-9pm
Location: Dupont Circle, Washington DC (I will provide the exact address to attendee’s via e-mail)
Total attendance will be limited to 15 people.
Bring a friend, or pass on this web page to someone you think might be interested in coming.
Steve Z
December 7th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Announcements, Medblogger Shout Outs
Tags: Brain Cancer, Dr. Ramona Bates, Dr. Rob Lamberts, Dr. Smak, Dr. Val Jones, Lobster Quilt, Where's Zippy, Zippy, Zippy The Lobster
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Dr. Ramona Bates is a plastic surgeon who quilts. Dr. Rob Lamberts is a primary care physician who loves animals that begin with the letter “l” (such as lobsters and llamas). The two have put their creative minds together to benefit brain cancer – in honor of a fellow blogger whose young son is losing his battle with the disease.
This holiday season, you might consider bidding on Dr. Bates’ “lobster quilt” to support brain cancer research. There is a silent auction in progress here. Owning the quilt would make a good story, and the return on investment could be priceless. You can search for updates on the auction on Twitter: #lobsterquilt
P.S. Note that Dr. Rob has also started a traveling lobster initiative – where Zippy the plastic lobster is photographed by medical bloggers around the world to enhance awareness of brain cancer. I had the honor of hosting this little crustacean last summer, and took him to the White House. To learn more about Zippy’s travels, check out this website: http://funwithzippy.com/
December 2nd, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Announcements, Primary Care Wednesdays
Tags: AAFP, Doctokr Family Medicine, Dr. Alan Dappen, Dr. Steve Simmons, Healthcare reform, Primary Care Wednesdays, Valerie Tinley
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I’m really proud to announce the addition of my very first, regular guest blogger team: the healthcare professionals of Doctokr Family Medicine. Each Wednesday they will bring us new insights from the frontier of primary care – their cash-based, high tech, low cost service meets the needs of thousands of local patients at an average yearly cost of only $300. These primary care providers are happy, unhurried, and unfettered by insurance paperwork. They provide 24/7 care by phone, email, office visits and house calls. They’ve negotiated affordable rates with local labs and radiology services and pass on those savings to their patients. Their prices are transparent, affordable, and membership fees are very low.
Sound too good to be true? Well, check back every Wednesday to see what the doctors and nurses of an American primary care revolution have to say.
Their first post will be featured live at 8am, Wednesday, December 3rd.
Left to right: Alan Dappen, M.D.; Steve Simmons, M.D.; Valerie Tinley, N.P.
December 1st, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Announcements, Medblogger Shout Outs
Tags: Dr. Anonymous, Emergiblog, Infectious Disease, Internal Medicine, Kim McCallister, Starbucks, World AIDS Day
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This is one awareness day where your coffee habit can make a difference. Starbucks is donating 5¢ to the Global Fund for every Starbucks beverage sold on December 1, 2008 at participating US and Canada locations.
h/t Emergiblog
And Dr. Anonymous has a nice post about World AIDS Day, citing this letter from a survivor:
(This is an excerpt from a letter to the editor from the Cleveland Plain Dealer from November 30, 2008):
I am a 20-year survivor living with AIDS, and another World AIDS Day (Monday) is fast approaching. Food trays once left at hospital room doors of those dying from AIDS are now being served. The preventative measure of “gown ing-up” has come and gone. However, the stigma of AIDS has stayed unchanged. Sadly, there are conflicting AIDS transmission fears and infection rates spiraling out of control.
I am blessed in that I am still here, with thinning hair, bifocals and my AARP card in hand. I am living proof of the incredible medical strides made in managing HIV/AIDS. I am blessed in living to see nieces and nephews come into my world and bring forth great-nieces and great-nephews. I am blessed in that I continue to continue. I still grieve for the many friends I’ve lost to AIDS.
This year, another 56,000-plus Americans will become needlessly infected with HIV/AIDS. We know how to prevent HIV infection. We need to wage a War on AIDS in America. We know how to win it.
Robert W. Toth — Cleveland, OH
November 29th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Announcements
Tags: Food and Nutrition, Medgadget.com, Science Fiction Writing Contest, Weight Loss, Winners
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I had the honor and privilege of being a judge for the annual MedGadget science fiction writing contest. Please check out the winning entries here. We judges were blinded to the author names when reading the selections – though it came as little surprise to me that a professional writer (Charles Pappas) won the contest.
Charles’ story hit close to home – it was the diary of a food-lover slowly gaining weight and watching their health insurance premiums increase as a chip implanted under their skin reported increasing cholesterol and insulin resistance directly to their employer. His struggle with weight gain and its financial implications was both humorous and poignant. Please head on over to Medgadget to enjoy the winning entry. Great timing for those of us recovering from Thanksgiving…
