August 11th, 2010 by AlanDappenMD in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion, Primary Care Wednesdays, True Stories
Tags: American Health Care Church, Anne Rice, Direct Pay, DocTalker Family Medicine, Dr. Alan Dappen, Primary Care, Primary Care Wednesdays, Transparent Pricing
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I confess ignorance. I know nothing about interviews with vampires. However, last week on my drive to a house call to see a sick patient, I experienced a sudden respect for author Anne Rice. I listened to a stranger completely off my radar screen being interviewed on NPR saying and making me feel the meaning of the phrase “Evil needs but one thing to grow. It is for good people to do nothing,” and reminding me that throughout history there have been numerous times where groups, organizations, and governments have acted even in ways that don’t represent our values or feel wrong minded or appear short sighted.
This statement was her simple explanation for a recent blog posting announcing she was resigning from Christianity. She remained a believer in God and in Christ, but no longer would listen to the Church tell her what to think, when and how to believe, or define truth while trying to control belief and the process. Read more »
August 10th, 2010 by DrRob in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
Tags: Devaluation of Doctors' Time, Doctors on the Internet, Doctors' Greed, Dr. Bryan Vartabedian, Dr. Wes Fisher, E-Visits With Patients, EHR, Electronic Health Records, Electronic Medical Records, Emailing With Patients, Emails From Patients, EMR, General Medicine, Giving Care Outside The Office, Greedy Doctors, Internet and Medical Practice, Internet Technology, Internet-Based Healthcare, Internet-Based Medicine, Internet-Based Treatment, IT, Less Time With Family, Less Time With Patients, Making Less Money, Medicine and Healthcare Online, Online Healthcare, Online Medicine, Patient Care, Patient-Centered Care, Patient-Centered Medical Home, Patient-Centered Medicine, Patients On The Internet, Physician Burnout, Social Media In Medicine, Technology and Medical Practice, Unease About Social Media, Work-Life Balance
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Dr. Wes (a cardiology blogger whom all should read) wrote a very compelling post about technology and the bondage it can create for doctors:
The devaluation of doctors’ time continues unabated.
As we move into our new era of health care delivery with millions more needing physician time (and other health care provider’s time, for that matter) –- we’re seeing a powerful force emerge –- a subtle marketing of limitless physician availability facilitated by the advance of the electronic medical record, social media, and smartphones.
Doctors, you see, must be always present, always available, always giving.
These sound like dire words, but the degree to which it has resonated around the Web among doctors is telling. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Musings of a Distractible Mind*
August 10th, 2010 by EvanFalchukJD in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Health Tips, Opinion
Tags: Acquiring Your Medical Records, Best Doctors, Family Medicine, General Medicine, Internal Medicine, Medical Chart, Medical History, Open Notes Study, Personal Medical Information, Primary Care
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You have a right to your medical record. It’s true –- the record of every test and procedure you’ve had done, any films or studies, your doctors notes — it’s all yours if you ask for it. But it’s not that simple.
If you’re sick, your “record” is likely in pieces in lots of different places. Some of it is in paper files and computers in the offices of each of your doctors, or in the clinics where you had a test or procedure. It’s in multiple computer systems in a hospital, or in a folder in a radiology department, a container in a pathology department, or the computer system of a pharmacy. Each of these places has their own policy or procedure if you want your record. There are forms you have to fill out, fees you have to pay, time you have to wait.
So while you have a “right” to your records, for practical purposes, you’re going to have a very difficult time actually getting them. (By the way, this is something our team at Best Doctors does very well.) But let’s say you actually get all of your medical records. Now what? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at See First Blog*
August 10th, 2010 by Steven Roy Daviss, M.D. in Better Health Network, News, Research
Tags: Baltimore Sun, Cat Parasite, Developmental Neurobiology, DNA, Dr. Robert H. Yolken, Frank D. Roylance, Genetics, Johns Hopkins Children's Center, Johns Hopkins University, Mental Health, Mental Illness, Mood Disorders, Psychiatry, Psychology, Psychotic Behavior, Schizophrenia, Suicide, T. Gondii, Toxoplasma Gondii, Toxoplasmosis, University of Maryland
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From the front page of [the August 1st] Baltimore Sun: Researchers Explore Link Between Schizophrenia, Cat Parasite. Frank D. Roylance writes:
Johns Hopkins University scientists trying to determine why people develop serious mental illness are focusing on an unlikely factor: a common parasite spread by cats. The researchers say the microbes, called Toxoplasma gondii, invade the human brain and appear to upset its chemistry — creating, in some people, the psychotic behaviors recognized as schizophrenia. If tackling the parasite can help solve the mystery of schizophrenia, “it’s a pretty good opportunity … to relieve a pretty large burden of disease,” said Dr. Robert H. Yolken, director of developmental neurobiology at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Shrink Rap*
August 10th, 2010 by Harriet Hall, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, Quackery Exposed, Research
Tags: Evidence Based Medicine, GAIT Trial, Glucosamine, Hip Pain, JAMA, Joint Pain, Journal of the American Medical Association, Knee Pain, NEJM, New England Journal of Medicine, Orthopedics, Osteoarthritis, Pharmacology, Placebo Medicine, Research Dollars, Science Based Medicine, Unnecessary Research
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Glucosamine is widely used for osteoarthritis pain. It’s not as impossible as homeopathy, but its rationale is improbable. As I explained in a previous post:
Wallace Sampson, one of the other authors of this blog, has pointed out that the amount of glucosamine in the typical supplement dose is on the order of 1/1000th to 1/10,000th of the available glucosamine in the body, most of which is produced by the body itself. He says, “Glucosamine is not an essential nutrient like a vitamin or an essential amino acid, for which small amounts make a large difference. How much difference could that small additional amount make? If glucosamine or chondroitin worked, this would be a medical first and worthy of a Nobel. It probably cannot work.”
Nevertheless, glucosamine (alone or with chondroitin) is widely used, and there are some supporting studies. But they are trumped by a number of well-designed studies that show it works no better than placebo, as well as a study showing that patients who had allegedly responded to glucosamine couldn’t tell the difference when their pills were replaced with placebos. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Science-Based Medicine*
