September 10th, 2010 by DavedeBronkart in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Health Tips, Opinion
Tags: E-Patients, e-Patients.net, ePatient Dave, General Medicine, Medical Error Reduction, Medical Mistakes, Open Discussion, Open School of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, Paticipatory Medicine, Patient-Caregiver Partnership, Patient-Doctor Relationship, Patients Injured From Medical Errors, Prefection In Medical Practice
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The “Running A Hospital” blog has another discussion of dealing with medical error. This time, the hospital has opened up an error of its own (a “wrong side” surgery) for examination by the Open School of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI).
Sample comments:
— From IHI’s Jim Conway: “Our systems are too complex to expect merely extraordinary people to perform perfectly 100 percent of the time. We as leaders must put in place systems that support great practice by people who suffer from being human and will make mistakes.”
— From a patient who had two surgical errors in ten months: “After years of suffering through our incredibly brutal tort(ure) system I finally had the chance to talk to the surgeon. The most meaningful words he spoke were the descriptions of how badly he suffered also from the event we shared in that OR. Finally I was not alone!”
As we’ve often said, participatory medicine brings a new kind of partnership between patient and caregiver. Neither denial nor a Wall of Silence (famous book) has any place in a healthy relationship. It breaks my heart to think of the good lives that are ruined by our cultural inability to deal with honest errors in complex situations.
Yes, as Linda Kenney of MITSS mentions in a comment, some employees (in any industry) are reckless and must be weeded out. That too can be a denial issue. But first, we need open discussion.
*This blog post was originally published at e-Patients.net*
September 10th, 2010 by DrRich in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Health Tips, Opinion, Research
Tags: American College of Cardiology, Athlete's Health, Athletic Screening Program, Dr. Douglas Zipes, ECG, Echocardiography, Electrocardiogram, Exercise-Induced Sudden Death, Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, Premature Death, Preventable Death, Preventive Medicine, Routine Cardiac Screening, Sports Medicine, Sudden Cardiac Death, The New York Times, Young Athletes
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It’s the dog days of what seems to have been an unusually hot summer (though DrRich does not know whether it has been sufficiently warm to affect the global cooling trend we’ve been in for the past decade), and as is all too common at this time of year, we are seeing extraordinarily heartbreaking stories (like this one) about healthy, robust young athletes dying suddenly on the practice fields.
Most of these tragic sudden deaths are due to a heart condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy often does not produce any symptoms prior to causing sudden death. But it can be easily diagnosed, before exercise-induced sudden death occurs, by screening young athletes with electocardiograms (ECGs) and echocardiography.
A couple of summers ago, the New York Times wrote about such an athletic screening program at the University of Tennessee. Based on the U of T’s results, “cardiologists and other heart experts say that the screenings could help save the lives of the 125 American athletes younger than 35 who die each year of sudden cardiac death.” Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The Covert Rationing Blog*
September 10th, 2010 by DrRob in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Opinion, True Stories
Tags: Death Of A Loved One, Dr. Rob Lamberts, Emotional Health, Grief, Grieving, How To Grieve, Musings of a Distractible Mind, Pain and Loss
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She looked down toward her feet at the end of her visit. “I’ve got one more question, doctor,” she said, hesitating. I turned toward her and waited for her, letting her ask on her own time. Clearly this was something difficult for her to ask.
“When will I get over the death of my husband? It’s been ten years, and I still wake up each morning thinking he’s there. I still come home wanting him to be there. Am I crazy?”
Her face showed the shame that was so clear in her words. I had been along with her during the death of her husband, and she handled that period with much grace and strength. Now the silence at home is deafening. People around her, on the other hand, are far too quick to tell her how to grieve. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Musings of a Distractible Mind*
September 8th, 2010 by GarySchwitzer in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Health Tips, News, Opinion, Research
Tags: Andrew Holtz, AP, Associated Press, BRCA 2, BRCA1, Breast Cancer, Cancer Genetics, Evidence-Based Health Media, Gary Schwitzer, Gene Mutation, Health Journalism, HealthNewsReview.org, Inaccurate Health Reporting, JAMA, Journal of the American Medical Association, Mastectomy, National Public Radio, NPR, Oncology, Ovarian Cancer, Preventive Cancer Surgery, Preventive Health, Reuters Health
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Journalist Andrew Holtz has been a colleague for longer than probably either one of us wants to remember. He is currently one of our story reviewers on HealthNewsReview.org. In fact, he was one of the reviewers on four stories we analyzed last week on the same study. He thought there were some important take-home messages that rose above the walls of our formal systematic review, so he wrote this guest blog post, and we thank him for it:
The Sept. 1 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association included an article that is likely to have a strong influence on the advice given to women who have a very high risk of breast and ovarian cancer linked to mutations of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. Of the four stories we reviewed, only the AP report scored well on our review criteria.
I know what my first journalism professor, Marion Lewenstein, would have done with at least two of the stories: Given them an “F” for factual errors without further consideration of their merits. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Gary Schwitzer's HealthNewsReview Blog*
September 8th, 2010 by Jeffrey Benabio, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Opinion, Quackery Exposed
Tags: Aestheticians, Cosmetic Surgery, Dermatology, Dr. Jeff Benabio, General Medicine, Licensed Healthcare Providers, Medi-Spa, Medical Assistants, Medical License, Medical Procedures in Pursuit of Beauty, Medical Quackery, Medical Qualifications, Medical Spa, Patient Safety, Plastic Surgery, Public Awareness
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True or false:
1. Botox and laser treatments are easy and can be done by an aesthtician or spa staff.
2. A physician must be present at all times in a spa that performs procedures.
3. Chemical or facial peels are safe and can be done in a beauty salon.
(Answer to questions 1-3: False.)
The term “spa” is derived from a town in Belgium where healing waters have been used to promote health since Roman times. “Spa” is now loosely used to describe any relaxing environment or beauty salon where rest, health and beauty are promoted.
At one time it was easy to distinguish among a beauty salon, barber shop and a doctor’s office. Not anymore. As cosmetics has become more medical and medicine has become more cosmetic, the two have met in the ubiquitous Medi-Spa. An establishment labelled a medical spa or medi-spa is generally one where medical procedures are performed or medicines are administered in the pursuit of beauty. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The Dermatology Blog*
