September 29th, 2010 by CodeBlog in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Humor, News, Opinion, True Stories
Tags: Code Blog, Credential Reminder, Digital Camera, Hospital Equipment, IV Pumps, Medical Apps, Medical Equipment, Medical Monitors, New York Times Blog, Nurse and Lawyer, Nurse Fired, Nurse Loses Job, Nurses and Law Enforcement, Nurses and the Police, Nursing, Photography, Rapid Response Team, RRT
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So who hasn’t heard about The Policeman vs. Nurse? A nurse was pulled over for speeding, told the policeman that she hoped he would never end up as her patient, and was subsequently fired when the policeman complained to the hospital she worked at.
Really? I have the utmost respect for the police of course, but put on some big boy undies and get over it. Should the nurse have made that comment? No. Not in front of him, at least. That was pretty dumb. But being fired for saying it is ridiculous in my opinion. Does that cop go complain to the pimp when the hooker he’s arresting makes a sassy comment? Nurse and Lawyer had a pretty good discussion about the whole situation.
Next up: Rapid Response Teams Sign of Poor Bed Management. Really? I think GruntDoc summed it up best in his tweet about it. The article states that rapid response teams (RRTs) are utilized due to overcrowding because sometimes patients aren’t placed in a unit that is appropriate for their needs. Therefore, their condition worsens and they need help. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at code blog - tales of a nurse*
September 29th, 2010 by Berci in Better Health Network, News, Research
Tags: Forbes Magazine, General Medicine, Medical Projections, Predictions In Medicine, Science Fiction and Medicine, Science Roll, The Next 10 Years In Medicine
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Forbes magazine came up with a few lists describing what will happen in the next 10 years in different areas. Medicine is one of these:
We asked our staff and contributors to forecast some of the noteworthy events of the next 10 years, a vision of the coming decade sketched from real data, projections and facts whenever possible — though we’ve injected a dose of rigorous science fiction to fill the gaps.
- 2012: Super-Tuberculosis
- 2013: DNA Sequencing Pays
- 2014: Big Pharma Implodes
- 2015: First autism drug
- 2016: First fatherless child using synthetic sperm
- 2017: U.S. life expectancy declines for first time in a century. Doctors blame 55% obesity rate.
- 2020: FDA approves autonomous robot surgery to remove tumors.
*This blog post was originally published at ScienceRoll*
September 28th, 2010 by DavidHarlow in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion
Tags: David Harlow, HealthBlawg, Healthcare reform, HHS, Office of Inspector General, OIG, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, PPACA, Self-Referral Disclosure Protocol, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
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The Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services scrapped its old self-referral voluntary disclosure program in 2009 (it dated back to 1998, and was revisited in 2008), and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) mandated that it be replaced. Just like clockwork, on the deadline for its promulgation the OIG obliged, and the new Self-Referral Disclosure Protocol is now posted and effective.
The new protocol could be clearer and offer more comfort, but it doesn’t. Makes one pine for the old policy’s clarity: In the old days, voluntary disclosure bought you a discounted fine for Stark violations — not like the new protocol’s wishy-washy, maybe-we’ll-give-you-a-discount language. The new protocol also fails to help a provider seeking to disclose past wrongs voluntarily in dealing with the Federales on a number of fronts simultaneously (e.g., for false claims violations, anti-kickback violations, etc., all arising from the same set of facts). We can perhaps blame Congress for that failure, rather than the OIG — the OIG is just implementing the statute as written.
Keep your eyes peeled for some tinkering on this front as the OIG gains some experience working under the new regime.
*This blog post was originally published at HealthBlawg :: David Harlow's Health Care Law 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*
