October 10th, 2010 by Shantanu Nundy, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion, True Stories
Tags: Basic Health Education, BeyondApples.org, Chronic Disease, Dr. Shantanu Nundy, Failure To Educate Patients, Failure to Individualize Care, Forgetting To Counsel Patients, General Medicine, Internal Medicine, Patient Education, Patient-Centered Care, Personalized Healthcare, Personalized Medicine, Primary Care, Tailored Health Education, The Imperative Of Patient Safety
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The past two weeks I’ve been the “dayfloat” resident on the cardiology inpatient service. With the 30-hour-shift work “restrictions” placed on medical residents, there has been a need for new systems of care to ensure the safety of newly admitted patients and cardiology dayfloat is one of them. My job is to round with the post-call team, help them get out of the hospital on time, and then take care of their patients through the end of the work day. It’s a fairly easy rotation, as they go, though because I “float” from one team to another without patients of my own, it’s also not the most satisfying.
Towards the end of my two week rotation, I was paged by a nurse because a patient’s husband wanted an update on his wife’s condition. Glancing at my “signout” — a one-page synopsis of the patient’s presenting illness and hospital course — I learned that Mrs. FN (as I will call her) was admitted to the hospital for heart failure secondary to “medical noncompliance.” It appeared that she had not had any of her medications for well over a week, which likely precipitated the shortness of breath and fluid overload that led to her admission. On top of this, the patient had a number of “dietary indiscretions” including eating Chinese food, which likely only exacerbated her condition. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at BeyondApples.Org*
October 10th, 2010 by Davis Liu, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Health Tips, News, Opinion, Research
Tags: America's Health Insurance Plans, Dr. Davis Liu, General Medicine, Health Insurance, Health Insurance Companies, Health Insurance Coverage, Health Insurance Policies, Health Plans, National Committee for Quality Assurance, NCQA, Personal Health Insurance, Saving Money and Surviving the Healthcare Crisis
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Unless your doctor is a policy expert, in healthcare administration, a researcher, an author or blogger, I seriously doubt he will be reviewing an important report card that helps you pick the best health insurance plan that keeps you healthy. Published annually by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), this year’s report card ranks 227 health plans across the country on their ability to keep you healthy and well, treat you quickly, and how patients feel about their insurance coverage.
Because unlike banking or airlines where there is not much difference in ATM machines or planes, there is a big difference in whether a health insurance plan helps in keeping its enrollees healthy. Do children get their vaccinations? Do healthy mothers get screened for breast cancer or cervical cancer with mammograms and pap smears respectively? Do kids only get antibiotics appropriately for strep throat and not overtreated and unnecessarily when they have a viral illness or cold? Are adults over 50 screened for colon cancer (something Dr. Oz can relate to). Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Saving Money and Surviving the Healthcare Crisis*
October 10th, 2010 by RyanDuBosar in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Humor, Opinion, Research
Tags: ACP Hospitalist, Continuous Positive Airway Pressure, CPAP, Disturbing Others' Sleep, Dr. John Henning Schumann, Family Medicine, General Medicine, GlassHospital, Good Night's Sleep, Internal Medicine, Lack Of Sleep, Obstructive Sleep Apnea, OSA, Primary Care, Quality of Sleep, Ryan DuBosar, Sleep Deprived, Sleep Disturbance, Sleep Medicine, Sleep Remedy, Sleep Studies, Snoring, University of Chicago
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Guest post by Dr. John Henning Schumann
I’m not a drum banger for the latest “epidemics” to come to media attention, whether it’s H1N1, Vitamin D, or getting your kids CAT-scanned routinely.
But there comes a time in every blogger’s life when he must comment on something that does bubble up into consciousness a tad, shall we say, often.
I’m talking here about an epidemic that we are learning more about each passing day. Something that you or someone you know or sleep with may be diagnosed with, and ultimately treated for (an interesting national problem in its own right): Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).
What is it, you ask? A new national scourge? Stop the presses! Can I catch it? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Hospitalist*
October 9th, 2010 by GarySchwitzer in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, Quackery Exposed
Tags: Breast Cancer Screening, Breast Health, Chicago Tribune, Disease Mongering, Gary Schwitzer, HealthNewsReview.org, Irresponsible Medical Marketing, Luring Patients, Lynne Hildreth, Mammogram Parties, Misleading Patients, Moffitt Cancer Center, Preventive Health, Preventive Medicine, Preventive Screening, Responsible Reporting, Sound Health Journalism, Unnecessary Medical Tests, Women's Health, Women's Oncology
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The Chicago Tribune reports on mammogram marketing tactics being used across the U.S. — some of it apparently to “woo women back to the imaging room” after confusion over conflicting advice about breast cancer screening.
Yes, the tactics include “mammogram parties” offering chocolate fondue, massages, beauty consultations, wine, cheese, roses, and weekend-getaway spa packages. But there’s another side to this, the Tribune reports:
Simply inviting women to “mammogram parties,” could send the wrong message, said Lynne Hildreth, department administrator of women’s oncology at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa. …”Mammograms are a medical test, and to treat it like a haircut overlooks that there are very real risks,” said Hildreth. “It’s not the same risk as getting hit by a car, but there’s a real risk of getting a false positive, which means a biopsy work-up, time off work, sleepless nights waiting for test results and a nagging in the back of the mind that never goes away. If we put a woman through that with no medical basis, it’s irresponsible.
*This blog post was originally published at Gary Schwitzer's HealthNewsReview Blog*
October 9th, 2010 by Edwin Leap, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Opinion, True Stories
Tags: Death Of A Colleague And Friend, Doctor's Death, Doctor's Personal Life, Doctor's Story, Doctors' Partnership, Dr. Edwin Leap, Dr. Howard Leslie, Dr. Jack Warren, Emergency Medicine Doctors, Emergency Medicine News, ER Doctors, General Medicine, Lessons For Doctors, Life's Lessons, Medical Partners, Medical Practice Partnership, Perspective In Medicine, Perspective When Practicing Medicine, Practice Of Medicine, Successful Medical Practice
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Here’s my column in this month’s Emergency Medicine News:
I have practiced with the same group, in the same hospital, for 17 years. Because we have been together so long, our group is a family. So it was with enormous grief that we buried our founder, Dr. Jack Warren, 11 years ago after a tragic car crash. That wound is still open, but we still tell stories about his humor, his compassion, and his grace.
As I write this I am tending another wound, or I should say our group is tending another. A second partner passed away last week. Unlike the sudden horror of the first death, the second was progressive, as our friend and partner, Dr. Howard Leslie, left us by degrees, the victim of metastatic melanoma. Jack and Howard founded our group before any of the rest of us arrived. Both of them are buried in the same wooded, hillside nature preserve. Pieces of our group, pieces of ourselves, interred in the red-clay earth. Just as they practiced before the rest of us, so they went to sleep before the rest of us. I think they’ve gone ahead to show the way. So they can one day help us adapt to peace the way they helped us adapt to practice.
But both deaths remind me of partnership. Medicine today is chaotic and difficult for many reasons. Part of the problem is that government and regulatory bodies overwhelm us and litigation threatens us. Part of the problem is that we, and our patients alike, have untenable hopes and impossible standards for the practice of medicine. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at edwinleap.com*
