September 29th, 2010 by Lucy Hornstein, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Health Tips, News, Opinion, Quackery Exposed, Research
Tags: Dr. Lucy Hornstein, Family Medicine, Fifth Vital Sign, General Medicine, Internal Medicine, Not Dead Dinosaur, Pain Control, Pain Management, Pain Perception, Pain Scale, Pain Tolerance, Physical Exam, Primary Care, Signs and Symptoms, Vital Signs
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There’s been a movement afoot for several years now to quantify pain as the so-called “Fifth Vital Sign.” It all started as a well-intentioned effort to raise the level of awareness of inadequate pain control in many patients, but has gotten way out of hand. The problem is that the word “sign” has a specific meaning in medicine that, by definition, cannot be applied to pain.
When you hear us medicos talk about “signs and symptoms” of a disease, it turns out that they are not the same thing. “Symptoms” are things the patient experiences subjectively. “Signs” are things that can be observed objectively by another person.
Headache is a symptom; cough is a sign. Itching is a symptom; scratch marks over a blistery linear rash are a sign. Vertigo, the hallucination of movement, is a symptom; nystagmus, the eye twitching that goes with inner ear abnormalities that can cause vertigo, is a sign. If someone other than the patient can’t see, hear, palpate, percuss, or measure it, it’s a symptom. Anything that can be perceived by someone else is a sign. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Musings of a Dinosaur*
September 28th, 2010 by EvanFalchukJD in Announcements, Better Health Network, Health Policy, Health Tips, Opinion, Research
Tags: 23rd Annual Benefits Forum and Expo, Avoiding Misguided Care, Best Doctors, Charlie Salter, ConAgra, Employee Benefits, Employee Health, Employer-Provided Health Coverage, Empowered Patients, Evan Falchuk, General Medicine, Healthcare Benefits, In Control Of Your Healthcare, Incorrect Diagnosis, Patient Empowerment, See First Blog, Wrong Treatment
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I’m speaking [today] at the 23rd Annual Benefits Forum and Expo. This is one of the premier events in the health care benefits industry, and it’s a thrill for me to be the opening speaker on the “Health Care” track.
I’m presenting along with Charlie Salter, the VP of Benefits of ConAgra, one of our customers at Best Doctors. The talk Charlie and I will give is called “Real Results: When Individuals are in Control of their Health Care.”
As regular readers know, good things happen when people are in control of their care. They have a chance to make sure they’re not one of the 20 percent of people that end up with an incorrect diagnosis, or the more than 60 percent of people that end up with the wrong treatment. It’s the single most powerful thing you can do to make sure your health care experience is as good as it can possibly be. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at See First Blog*
September 28th, 2010 by DavedeBronkart in Better Health Network, Health Tips, News, Opinion
Tags: Boston Globe, Doctor-Patient Communication, Dr. John Grohol, E-Patients, Empowered Patients, ePatient Dave, FIMDM, Gary Schwitzer, HealthNewsReview.org, Liz Cooney, Non-Profit, Participatory Medicine, Patient Empowerment, Patient Knowledge, The Foundation for Informed Medical Decision Making
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You can’t be well-empowered if you hear advice wrong. That’s why in a participatory relationship, an essential skill is accurate handoff of information.
The Foundation for Informed Medical Decision Making (FIMDM), catchily pronounced “fimdim,” has been working for years to improve patients’ knowledge of options and alternatives. In [the September 20th] Boston Globe Liz Cooney talks with people from FIMDM about the issue. An excerpt:
What doctors explain and what patients understand might be two very different things, recent research suggests.
Ideally, patients talk with their doctors about the pros and cons of a particular treatment, weighing the risks and benefits, exploring alternatives — including doing nothing — and then come to a conclusion. That’s the goal of the informed consent process, best known by the paperwork patients sign at the end saying they heard doctors describe what they may be getting into.
If only it were that simple.
[This] article springboards off Cooney’s piece two weeks ago on heart stents, reported here by Dr. John Grohol as Doctors Say One Thing, Patients Hear Another.
A Boston non-profit, FIMDM is the force behind Gary Schwitzer’s excellent Health News Review service, which analyzes health news in the media, teaching e-patients and policy people to sift the gold from the garbage.
*This blog post was originally published at e-Patients.net*
September 28th, 2010 by Davis Liu, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Health Tips, News, Opinion
Tags: American Academy of Pediatrics, CDC Guidelines, Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Davis Liu, Family Medicine, Flu Shot, Flu Vaccine, General Medicine, H1N1 Vaccine, H1N1 Virus, immunizations, Immunology, Influenza Vaccine, Internal Medicine, Primary Care, Public Health, Public Safety, Saving Money and Surviving the Healthcare Crisis, Swine Flu, Vaccination
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It’s that time of year again. Children back at school. Football season is underway and baseball playoffs to start soon. The television networks are rolling out their new shows.
And it’s also time to think about getting flu shots. I just got mine today as I have done annually since going to medical school.
Compared to last year, there isn’t as much news about the flu or the flu vaccine. This year the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) gives clear guidelines that everyone aged 6 months and older should get the influenza vaccine.
This month the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that all healthcare providers should be required to get the influenza vaccine.
And one fact that hasn’t gotten much attention is whether the 2009 H1N1 virus is included in the 2010-2011 vaccine: Is it? Yes, it is. This year’s vaccine will be as safe as vaccines in past years as the production process is unchanged. Inclusion of the 2009 H1N1 virus will not be a problem. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Saving Money and Surviving the Healthcare Crisis*
September 27th, 2010 by BarbaraFicarraRN in Better Health Network, Health Tips, News
Tags: Accurate Health Information, Barbara Ficarra, Friends and the Internet, Health and Socializing, Health In 30, Health Information on the Web, Hunch, Internet-Based Health Information, Jenna Wortham, Online Friendships, Online Health Information, Searching For Health Information On The Internet, The New York Times, Your Friends and Your Health
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Turning to friends for online information is the hot topic within the Web world, and in Monday’s New York Times Technology and Business section, Jenna Wortham writes about how “Search Takes a Social Turn.”
Online sites are taking notice of what people like. Web companies are trying to make searching online for information more useful by tapping into the inner thoughts of what people like:
After a decade when search engines ruled supreme — tapping billions of Web pages to answer every conceivable query — many people now prefer getting their online information the old-fashioned way: by yakking across the fence.
Turning to friends is the new rage in the Web world, extending far beyond established social networking sites and setting off a rush among Web companies looking for ways to help people capitalize on the wisdom of their social circles — and to make some money in the process.
Listening and communicating
Listening and communicating with our friends can prove to be invaluable at times, and often they are our springboards for sharing our latest woes or trumpeting our successes. Whatever the case, friends are ruling the social networking world and frankly their opinion matters. Friends can be invaluable, and the geniuses behind new technology companies are taking notice and creating online sites focused on what friends are sharing with friends. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Health in 30*
