August 16th, 2010 by Bryan Vartabedian, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion
Tags: Andrew Keen, Ed Bennett, Facebook, Hospitals and Social Media, LA Times, Patient Privacy, Paul Levy, Social Health Infosphere, Social Media in Healthcare, Social Media In Medicine, Unease About Social Media
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A recent piece in the LA Times created quite a kerfuffle in the social health infosphere. The article When Facebook goes to the hospital, patients may suffer detailed some of the issues facing hospitals that have chosen to flirt with Facebook. Stories of nurses posting images of dead patients. Lawsuits and employee rights. An interesting read. It offered up a serving of fresh red meat for those health professionals looking to keep their heads squarely in the sand.
A few thoughts:
Blocking Facebook won’t stop stupidity. Read Paul Levy’s most recent post on the issue. He reminds us that administrative legislation will not stop ignorance. It’s the messenger, not the medium. As healthcare administration’s most vocal advocate for social adoption, I’d recommend you check out Paul Levy. His point of view is remarkable.
Good employees may not understand privacy. We need to go to the next step and address the fact that many hospitals have employees who don’t understand the privacy laws. We still have a responsibility to protect patients from the misinformed. While it’s suggested that you “can’t stop the conversation,” it’s important that hospitals take responsibility and educate their employees regarding what’s appropriate and what isn’t. Many health professionals I know innocently believe that by simply excluding an individuals name you’ve protected their privacy. We have work to do. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at 33 Charts*
August 16th, 2010 by DavidHarlow in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion
Tags: Custody of Patient Records, Digitized Patient Records, EHR, Electronic Health Records, Electronic Medical Records, EMR, General Medicine, Georgetown, Healthare Policy, Healthcare Law, Healthcare Politics, Healthcare reform, HIPAA, Meaningful Use, Patient Confidentiality, Patient Data Security Law, Patient Privacy Laws, Patient Record Disposal, Patient Records Dumped, Security of Patient Records
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The Queen of Soul famously wailed about being a link in a “chain of fools.” The lead story in the August 13th Boston Globe tells us about another sort of link in the chain — the weakest link in the chain of custody of patient records.
In brief, a pathology billing service bought out by another service apparently dumped all records more than a year old in a town dump. A Globe photographer taking out his own trash noticed that the paper records (which he was looking at because he thought they ought to be recycled rather than dumped) had identifiable patient data and represented at least four hospitals from across Eastern Massachusetts. Clearly, these records ought to have been shredded or otherwise destroyed before disposal. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at HealthBlawg :: David Harlow's Health Care Law Blog*
August 16th, 2010 by BobDoherty in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Research
Tags: Bloomberg News, Cardiology, Congestive Heart Failure, Doctor Performance, Family Medicine, Foreign Medical Graduates, General Medicine, Health Affairs, Healthcare Delivery Models, IMGs, Inpatient Death Rates, Internal Medicine, International Medical Graduates, John Norcini, Kaiser Health News Daily, Medical Board Certification, Medical Degrees Aboard, Medical School, Medical Training, Non-Citizen Medical Students, Outcome Of Care, Patient Lengths Of Stay, Primary Care Shortage, U.S. Medical Schools, Years of Medical Practice
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Yes, according to a study in today’s Health Affairs. (The full text of the study is available only to subscribers, but Kaiser Health News Daily has a good summary of its findings and links to other news reports.)
The study compares inpatient death rates and lengths of stay for patients with congestive heart failure or acute myocardial infarction when provided by U.S. citizens trained abroad, citizens trained in the United States, and non-citizens trained abroad. Treatment was provided by internists, family physicians, or cardiologists. The differences were striking, according to the authors:
“Our analysis of 244,153 hospitalizations in Pennsylvania found that patients of doctors who graduated from international medical schools and were not U.S. citizens at the time they entered medical school had significantly lower mortality rates than patients cared for by doctors who graduated from U.S. medical schools or who were U.S. citizens and received their degrees abroad.”
Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The ACP Advocate Blog by Bob Doherty*
August 16th, 2010 by KevinMD in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
Tags: Automatons, Doctor-Patient Connection, Dr. Danielle Ofri, Family Medicine, General Medicine, Healing Touch, Human Touch, Humanized By Touch, Humanizing, Internal Medicine, Laying On Of Hands, Listening To Heart And Lungs, Medical Practitioners, More Testing, New York Times, Overtesting, Patient-Doctor Relationship, Patient-Doctor Trust, Physical Exam, Primary Care, Too Many Medical Tests, Too Much Testing, Unnecessary Testing, Warmth Of Connection
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I’ve written previously that many doctors are finding the physical exam obsolete, and are favoring more technologically-advanced, and expensive, tests. In fact, I alluded to traditional physical exam advocates as “arguing for staying with a horse and buggy when cars are rapidly becoming available.”
In a recent piece from the New York Times, internist Danielle Ofri says we need to look past the lack of evidence supporting the physical exam. The benefits of touching the patient, and listening to his heart and lungs, cannot be quantitatively measured:
Does the physical exam serve any other purpose? The doctor-patient relationship is fundamentally different from, say, the accountant-client relationship. The laying on of hands sets medical practitioners apart from their counterparts in the business world. Despite the inroads of evidence-based medicine, M.R.I.s, angiograms and PET scanners, there is clearly something special, perhaps even healing, about touch. There is a warmth of connection that supersedes anything intellectual, and that connection goes both ways in the doctor-patient relationship.
Great point. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at KevinMD.com*
August 15th, 2010 by Steven Roy Daviss, M.D. in Better Health Network, Humor, Opinion, True Stories
Tags: Being Called "Doctor", Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Philosophy, Doctor's Personal Story, General Medicine, M.D., Medical Degrees, Medical Humor, Ph.D.
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By Dr. ClinkShrink
I took my car in to the shop last week to visit his Car Momma. I’ve been going to this garage for years and I know most of the mechanics. I’ve run into Car Momma at the hair salon with her head wrapped in a towel. I’ve heard about her son, his school activities and her home renovation projects. She’s heard about my vacations and seen my climbing pictures. I’ve always been on a first name basis with the people I know there.
This time, I had to leave the car and get a rental. I left a voice message with the rental desk and when the rental guy called me back at work I answered the phone with my usual “Dr. ClinkShrink.” Now, my garage knows what I do for a living, and it’s just never been an issue or really even a topic of conversation once the novelty wore off. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Shrink Rap*
