October 12th, 2010 by Felasfa Wodajo, M.D. in Better Health Network, Interviews, News, Opinion
Tags: Apple, Doctors and Smartphones, Doximity, Dr. Felasfa Wodajo, ePocrates, iMedicalApps, iPad, iPhone, iTouch, Medical Apps, Medicine and Smartphones, Physicians' Use of Smartphones, Private Facebook For Doctors, Social Networking For Doctors
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Doximity is an app that launched on the App Store just over a week ago and has the potential to significantly change the way physicians use their smartphones.
The main focus of the app is physician communication, and for this it incorporates an innovative, secure SMS-like text service. But its real power lies in its deep incorporation of multiple databases of physician and related information.
In particular, the makers of the app carefully integrated data from the physician NPI and Medicare databases as well as lists of medical schools, hospitals, imaging centers and pharmacies. What they’ve produced is a surprisingly refined version 1 product that can quickly answer the myriad of small, practice-related questions that pop up all day long during a busy schedule. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at iMedicalApps*
October 12th, 2010 by KevinMD in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, Research
Tags: Alarm Fatigue, Diagnosis and treatment, Dr. Kevin Pho, EHR, Electronic Health Record, Electronic Medical Record, Electronic Test Reporting, EMR, General Medicine, Harm Patients, Health IT, KevinMD, Medical Charting, Overwhelm Doctors, Patient, Too Much Data, Tracking of Test Data, VA Doctors, Veterans Administration, Wall Street Journal Health Blog, WSJ
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One of the supposed strengths of electronic medical records is better tracking of test data. In theory, when using more sophisticated digital systems, doctors can better follow the mountains of test results that they encounter daily.
But a recent study, as written in the WSJ Health Blog, says otherwise. Apparently, a study performed in 2007 found:
VA doctors failed to acknowledge receipt of 368 electronically transmitted alerts about abnormal imaging tests, or one third of the total, during the study period. In 4% of the cases, imaging-test results hadn’t been followed up on four weeks after the test was done. Another study, published in March in the American Journal of Medicine, showed only 10.2% of abnormal lab test results were unacknowledged, but timely follow-up was lacking in 6.8% of cases.
Consider that the VA has what is considered the pinnacle of electronic systems — their unified, VistA program that permeates all their hospitals and clinics. Apparently the problem is one of alert overload:
Hardeep Singh, chief of the health policy and quality program at the Houston VA’s health and policy research center, led both studies. He tells the Health Blog that doctors now receive so many electronic alerts and reminders — as many as 50 each day — that the important ones can get lost in the shuffle.
This is not unlike the alarm fatigue issue that I recently wrote about. Too much data — whether it is written or on the screen — can overwhelm physicians and potentially place patients at harm. Curating test results by prioritizing abnormals will really be the true power of electronic test reporting.
*This blog post was originally published at KevinMD.com*
October 12th, 2010 by Jennifer Shine Dyer, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion, True Stories
Tags: Dr. Jennifer Shine Dyer, Healthcare Costs, Healthcare Payment Responsibility, Healthcare reform, Hyperglycemia, Insulin Regimen, medicaid, Overtreatment, Pediatric Endocrinology, Socioeconomics, Type 1 Diabetes, Unnecessary Hospitalization, Unnecessary Medical Care
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A common question that I get as a practicing physician with a public health background is: “Why is healthcare reform so complicated?” I feel that the question of who’s responsible for healthcare payment is not always an easy one to answer. An example from my most recent weekend on call covering an academic pediatric endocrinology practice demonstrates this point:
“Bill” is a 16-year-old African American male on state Medicaid insurance with type 1 diabetes since the age of 10. He is followed regularly every three months by another colleague in the endocrinology clinic. Review of his last several clinic notes on the electronic medical record reveal that he has been in moderate control of his diabetes on NPH/Novolog twice-daily insulin regimen. Approximately one year prior he was changed to this insulin regimen due to concerns with missed insulin shots on another insulin regimen that provided superior control but which required four shots of insulin daily rather than the two shots daily on his current regimen. Read more »
October 12th, 2010 by Medgadget in Better Health Network, News, Research
Tags: Breath Acetone Detection, breath test, Diagnostic Tool, Disease Biomarker Detector, Disease Detection, Exhaled Breath, General Medicine, Medgadget, Nanomedicine, Nanoprobe, Personalized Medicine, Sensor Nanotechnology, Stony Brook University
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A new sensor developed at Stony Brook University may become a clinically useful tool for detecting disease biomarkers in breath. The nanoprobe-based technology is currently able to detect acetone, but should be modifiable to spot other compounds.
From the study abstract:
This paper describes a sensor nanotechnology suitable for non-invasive monitoring of a signaling gas, such as acetone, in exhaled breath. This is a nanomedicine tool comprised of a selective acetone nanoprobe working on the principle of ferroelectric poling sensing, and a microelectronics circuit for comparing the actual sensor signal to a predetermined threshold value, displaying the result using LED signals. This on/off type non-invasive diagnostics platform technology is based on nanotechnology, gives a fast response, it is simple to operate and inexpensive to manufacture, and may truly revolutionize personalized medicine.
Full story: New Sensor Nanotechnology Developed by Stony Brook University Researchers Simplifies Disease Detection…
Abstract in Sensor Letters: Nanosensor Device for Breath Acetone Detection
*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*
October 11th, 2010 by RyanDuBosar in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Research
Tags: ACP Internist, American College Of Physicians, Animal Feed, Animas, Antibiotic Resistance, Biomedical Ethics, Biomedical Research, Doctors In Politics, Doctors Running For Political Office, Dr. Margaret Hamburg, Dr. Val Jones, embryonic stem cells, FDA, Food and Drug Administration, Healthcare Policy, Healthcare Politics, Healthcare reform, Immunology, In Vitro Fertilization, Political Doctors, Ryan DuBosar
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Medical organizations are donating heavily to doctors running for the U.S. House. Dentists, ophthalmologists, radiologists, surgeons, neurologists and ENTs have contributed heavily. The goal is to get doctors onto committees where they can have the most impact. So far, the candidates have trended heavily Republican and have, in at least one campaign, vowed to overturn healthcare reform. The stakes are high if opposing legislators succeed, because they could underfund or block portions of reform to the point that it works poorly or not at all. (Politico, New England Journal of Medicine)
Spurred by antibiotic resistance seen in almost every drug class, FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, FACP, is turning the agency’s attention toward animal feed. With little to no development of new antibiotics in the pipeline, the agency is discussing regulations for animal feed and guidelines for human use. (Wall Street Journal)
Scientists should be able to use stem cells for biomedical research, according to a recent Harris Interactive/HealthDay poll. Almost three quarters of adults surveyed are in favor of using embryonic stem cells left over from in-vitro fertilization. These poll results remain consistent with a similar survey released in 2005. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
