Proof that cutting costs might affect quality of care — when a new, cheaper answering service at a doctor’s office answers the phone after hours:
“Cardiac electro-psychology. How may I help you?”
Sad, but true. (At least it was worth a chuckle.)
-WesMusings of a cardiologist and cardiac electrophysiologist.
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes*
The woman in bed six informed me immediately on my arrival and introduction that she was a lesbian. I don’t know why it mattered because she was there for a scald injury on her arm, and I hadn’t inquired about it. In fact, I hadn’t even begun my history before she made her announcement in a somewhat belligerent tone.
So…ooookaaay. I tried not to let this non sequitur throw me too much off my stride, and I went through the brief history necessary for a minor injury such as she had.
As an aside, this self-proclaimed lesbian was quite feminine. She was well-dressed for the hour of the evening and quite pretty in her own sort of way. She even had a choker of pearls on, along with earrings, lipstick, and well-coiffed hair.
I asked a few questions, though, and was surprised at the frankly-aggressive tone of her responses. Nothing too blatant, nothing that I could call her on, but quite definite. And her story seemed to not quite add up. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Movin' Meat*
Here’s the first of many posts from Internal Medicine 2010 in lovely Toronto, Canada.
As you’d expect during a cardiology lecture, Steve Kopecky, FACP, reviewed lots of studies known by cool acronyms. He also explained why picking an inspiring name like “COURAGE” is important for your trial, based on his attempt to recruit a patient for the “BARI” trial:
“Oh no, doc, you ain’t gonna bury me,” the patient replied.
Because that joke was funny, I’ll forgive Dr. Kopecky the implied insult with which he began his lecture:
“The Wall Street Journal’s become one of the best medical journals you can read.” (Harumph.)
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
I’m not very good at the sort of play that grownups enjoy. I almost killed a goose once when I sliced and very nearly combined bird hunting with a golf tournament. I can serve a tennis ball — across the fence and into traffic. I once swung at a baseball no less than 20 times as teammates kept encouraging me.
However, I have a great imagination. Imaginary play was my delight as a child, and I rediscovered it when my own children became my born-again playmates.
Unfortunately, I felt inadequate when it came to dolls. Since my poor daughter, Elysa, is blessed with three older brothers, she’s always looking for someone to play dolls with her. Often, that someone is ‘papa.’ Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at edwinleap.com*
Magician Eric Mead shows us a magic trick and talks about the placebo effect at TEDMED 2009:
*This blog post was originally published at KevinMD.com*
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