December 20th, 2010 by Bryan Vartabedian, M.D. in Better Health Network, Opinion
Tags: 33 Charts, Alienated Experience, Clinical Judgment, Disease Control, Doctors Who Blog, Dr. Bryan Vartabedian, Empowered Patients, Health 2.0, Health Journalism, Internet-Based Health Information, Jaron Lanier, Mass Professionalism Of Journalism, Medical Journalism, Medical Literature, Medical Profession, Medical Publishing, Newsman, Newspaper Industry, Patient Empowerment, Personal Technology and Health, Role of the Physician, You Are Not A Gadget
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The Internet has threatened journalism. Clay Shirky has said that everyone is a media outlet. An Internet connection and blogging platform makes everyone a publisher. Can the mass professionalization of journalism be applied to medicine or health? Can access to a broadband connection outfit a citizen to think and act like a physician?
There are pieces of what physicians do that can be replicated, and other pieces that can’t. The technical things that doctors do can’t be replaced. Removing an appendix or replacing a heart valve, for example. Tough to pull off on CureTogether.
But what about the thinking? After all, patients have access to the same information, references, and literature as physicians. Unfettered access to information can create an illusion. It can give us a false sense of control. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at 33 Charts*
December 19th, 2010 by Medgadget in Better Health Network, Medical Art, News, Research
Tags: 3D Anatomy Viewer, Google Body Browser, Healthcare and Internet Technology, Human Anatomy, Human Body, Medgadget, Medical Art, Medicine and the Internet, Online Tools For Medical Professionals, WebGL-Enabled Browser
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Google has released an awesome in-browser anatomy viewer to demo the new 3D graphics capabilities of their Chrome development version. It lets you explore the human body in all its glory in a Google Earth-like fashion. Individual anatomic layers (skin, muscles, bones, etc.) can be selected or deselected for viewing, but can also be made semi-transparent on an individual level. Labels can be displayed, and all anatomy is fully searchable.
The catch is you will need a WebGL enabled browser to try it. WebGL is a technique that enables 3D graphics within the browser without the use of plugins. Chrome 9 Dev Channel, Chrome Canary Build and Firefox 4 beta have this enabled by default. In Chrome 8 (the current stable version), you can enable it by going to about:flags (type it in the address bar), and from there enable WebGL. Below are two videos, one demonstrating the body browser, and one of a presentation by the developers.
Link: Google Body Browser…
(Hat Tip: Google Operating System Blog)
*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*
December 19th, 2010 by GruntDoc in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Humor, Medical Art
Tags: British National Health Service, Dr. Allen Roberts, GruntDoc, Infectious Disease, Medical Animation, Medical Cartoon, Medical Humor, Public Health, Reproductive Health, Safe Sex, Sexual Health, sexually transmitted diseases, Sexually Transmitted Infections, STDs, STIs, The 12 STIs Of Christmas
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My yearly Christmas favorite reposted, courtesy of the British National Health Service (BNHS):
(Click on the title image to watch)
I have seen several searches of this blog for the BNHS and wondered why. The answer: The site no longer carries the wonderful show, for reasons unknown to me. As for the searches, I guess the Christmas season has people thinking about sexually-transmitted infections (STIs) set to a Christmas tune.
Merry Christmas!
*This blog post was originally published at GruntDoc*
December 19th, 2010 by StevenWilkinsMPH in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Opinion, Research, True Stories
Tags: Bad Patient Behavior, Doctor-Patient Communication, Doctor's Recommendations, Family Medicine, General Medicine, Internal Medicine, Mind The Gap, Patient Health Behavior, Preventive Health, Preventive Medicine, Primary Care, Screening Tests, Steven Wilkins MPH
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It seem like everyone these days is focused on changing some aspect of patient health behavior. You know — getting patients to get a mammogram or PSA test, exercise more, take medications as prescribed, or simply becoming more engaged in their healthcare. If only we could change unhealthy patient health behaviors, the world would be a better place.
I agree with the sentiment, but I think that patients and their health behavior often get a “bad rap” from healthcare professionals. I would even go so far as to say that much (not all) of what we attribute to poor patient behavior is more correctly attributable to ineffective doctor communications with patients.
In my last post I talked about the link between strong physician advocacy, e.g., I recommend, and desirable health outcomes, i.e., patients getting more preventive screening.
Here’s what I mean. Mammography studies have consistently shown that screening mammograms rates would be much high if more physicians “strongly recommended” that women get screened, e.g., “I recommend” you get a mammogram. In studies where physicians advocated for screening, mammography screening rates were always higher compared to physicians that did not advocate for them. The same phenomenon can be found in studies dealing with exercise, weight loss, colorectal cancer screening, HVP immunization, and patient participation in clinical trials. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Mind The Gap*
December 18th, 2010 by KerriSparling in Better Health Network
Tags: Clara Barton Camp, DECA, Diabetes Camp, Diabetes Education and Camping Association, Digital Filmmaking, Kerri Morrone Sparling, Living With Diabetes, Making A Difference, Patient Advocacy, Pepsi Refresh Project, Six Until Me, summer camp, Type 1 Diabetes
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I loved diabetes camp. Actually, that should be in present tense because I continue to love diabetes camp, even though I’m not a camper anymore. Attending Clara Barton Camp for those five summers changed the way I looked at life with diabetes, and my health has always been better for it.
But I’ve talked about camp before. I’d love to play a role in sending other kids to diabetes camp. And thankfully, we as a community now have that chance.
The Diabetes Education and Camping Association (DECA) is in the running to win one of the Pepsi Refresh Project grants. If they earn one, they’ll use their winnings to send kids to diabetes camps and will also arm them with digital filmmaking skills so that the campers can chronicle their experiences with type 1 diabetes. As a diabetes camp alum, a patient advocate, and the wife of a filmmaker, I think this is a fantastic idea. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Six Until Me.*
