June 21st, 2010 by KevinMD in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Health Tips, News, Opinion
Tags: Dr. Katherine Chretian, Dual Relationship, Facebook, Family Medicine, Friending, General Medicine, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, HIPAA Violation, Interacting With Patients Online, Internal Medicine, NEJM, New England Journal of Medicine, Online Health Conversations, Online Healthcare, Patient Privacy, Patient-Doctor Relationship, Personal Networking, Physician Social Network, Primary Care, Professional Boundaries, Professional Judgment, Professional Networking, Public Platform, Social Networking, Socialized Medicine, Unethical, USA Today
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Should you friend your doctor on Facebook? It’s a question that’s gaining increasing relevance as Facebook increases its social networking dominance. I’ve touched upon the issue in the past. So has the New England Journal of Medicine.
Washington, DC, physician Katherine Chretian gives her take on the issue in a recent USA Today op-ed. She is an expert of the Facebook-medicine intersection, having authored a JAMA study on the issue.
She says, no, doctors should not be friending their patients:
Having a so-called dual relationship with a patient — that is, a financial, social or professional relationship in addition to the therapeutic relationship — can lead to serious ethical issues and potentially impair professional judgment. We need professional boundaries to do our job well.
Furthermore, there’s the little matter of patient privacy and HIPAA. I wasn’t aware of this, but simply becoming Facebook friends with patients can infringe upon uncertain ground. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at KevinMD.com*
June 21st, 2010 by EvanFalchukJD in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion
Tags: Doc Fix, General Medicine, Healthcare Costs, Healthcare Economics, Healthcare Legislation, Healthcare Politics, Healthcare reform, Medicare Cut, U.S. Senate
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The Senate has rejected the so-called “doc fix.” This means that doctors taking Medicare patients will now get 21 percent less pay for their work.
How’s that getting involved in politics working out for you guys? Not so good.
But there’s a larger issue here. Why do we keep trying to control healthcare costs by just mandating that less money be spent?
It’s failed for decades. But like a losing gambler convinced that if he just keeps doubling down he’ll finally come out ahead, people keep trying. For example, the New York Times reported on a study of the impact of pay cuts to doctors for Medicare patients with lung cancer. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at See First Blog*
June 21st, 2010 by BobDoherty in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion
Tags: ACP, American College Of Physicians, Bipartisanship, Bob Doherty, Digging Out, Doctor Fix, Family Medicine, General Medicine, Healthcare Legislation, Healthcare reform, Internal Medicine, Medicare SGR Cut, Primary Care, SGR Fix, SGR Mess, The SGR Hole, U.S. Senate
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Friday, the Senate — in a rare stroke of bipartisanship — voted by unanimous consent to reverse the 21 percent SGR cut and provide positive updates of 2.2 percent through November 2010. The legislation is fully paid for by offsets in other spending programs.
Unfortunately, though, the cut remains in effect and claims are being processed at reduced rates, because the House of Representatives has recessed for the weekend and won’t be back until Tuesday. At that time, I expect that the House will pass the Senate’s six-month reprieve and Medicare will make doctors “whole” for the period of time that the cut was in effect.
Not that any of this is a cause for celebration. In the meantime, claims still are being paid at reduced rates, creating havoc for physicians and patients. Kicking the can down the road for another six months doesn’t get us any closer to a permanent solution. It doesn’t lower the overall cost, now estimated at over $200 billion, to dig out of the SGR hole. It doesn’t provide the stability and reliability that physicians and patients need to view Medicare as a trusted partner. It does mean that we will be back again, this summer and fall, fighting to forestall another double-digit cut. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The ACP Advocate Blog by Bob Doherty*
June 20th, 2010 by DrCharles in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Opinion, Research, True Stories
Tags: Dr. Martin Seligman, Family Medicine, General Medicine, Happiness, Happy People, Healthy Character Traits, Internal Medicine, Meaning in Life, Mental Health, Optimism, Pleasure in Life, Positive Emotions, Positive Psychology, Primary Care, Sisyphean, Time Magazine, Tips For Being Happy
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The bilious oil hemorrhaging from the bowels of the Earth, coupled with the usual stressors of life, makes me feel sad and pessimistic of late. And while I’m still pretty sure that ignorance, intolerance, and our polluting routines will be our ruin, I also search for ways to retain optimism and hope. Amid the constant erosion there are basic roots that hold life together. If you share the belief that life is fundamentally absurd, then life is truly what you make it. Are there small steps proven to make us happier?
Psychology often concerns itself with helping ailing people get back to a neutral ground, but the field of positive psychology aims to do more. University of Pennsylvania psychologist Dr. Martin Seligman, positive psychology’s most renowned proponent, once said: “I realized that my profession was half-baked. It wasn’t enough for us to nullify disabling conditions and get to zero. We needed to ask, ‘What are the enabling conditions that make human beings flourish?’”
To that end, research on happiness, optimism, positive emotions and healthy character traits has been increasing in psychology. Some surprising results challenge our assumptions, such as the fact that once basic needs are met, money does not increase happiness. Neither do high education or high IQ. Older people tend to be happier than young. The sunny weather in California and Florida does not make people happier than those living in colder and cloudier climes. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The Examining Room of Dr. Charles*
June 20th, 2010 by Medgadget in Better Health Network, Humor, News, Opinion, Research
Tags: Anti-Static, Balanced Ions, Better Sleep, Good Night's Sleep, Goodnighties, Ionization, Ionx Fabric, Lack of Evidence, Negative Charge, Negative Ions, Quality of Sleep, Recovery Sleepwear, Sleep Aid, Sleep Medicine, Sleep Remedy, Static Cling
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Few medical products tickle our imagination as much as this one. We present for your consideration “Goodnighties” made from patented Ionx fabric.
THE CLAIM (from goodnighties.com):
All About Ionx®
Some have called it a ‘miracle,’ but the benefits of Goodnighties® is really the result of nature meeting science in a process called ionization. Ionization under the patented brand name ‘Ionx’ is the process that saturates the fabric with negative ions –- more than 20 times found in nature.
Wearing Goodnighties with Ionx close to the body has been proven to increase blood flow thus reducing inflammation, improving muscle function, speeding recovery and reducing muscle aches and pains.
For years ionized fabric has been used by the medical community, professional athletes, Olympic teams, the military and astronauts because of these amazing benefits. Even race horses have enjoyed the restorative properties of negative ions in fabric used for blankets and leg wraps.
Goodnighties is the first and only sleepwear with Ionx. While wearing Goodnighties you will experience the benefits of balanced ions while you sleep so you’ll wake up rested, restored and rejuvenated. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*
