August 16th, 2010 by Bryan Vartabedian, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion
Tags: Andrew Keen, Ed Bennett, Facebook, Hospitals and Social Media, LA Times, Patient Privacy, Paul Levy, Social Health Infosphere, Social Media in Healthcare, Social Media In Medicine, Unease About Social Media
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A recent piece in the LA Times created quite a kerfuffle in the social health infosphere. The article When Facebook goes to the hospital, patients may suffer detailed some of the issues facing hospitals that have chosen to flirt with Facebook. Stories of nurses posting images of dead patients. Lawsuits and employee rights. An interesting read. It offered up a serving of fresh red meat for those health professionals looking to keep their heads squarely in the sand.
A few thoughts:
Blocking Facebook won’t stop stupidity. Read Paul Levy’s most recent post on the issue. He reminds us that administrative legislation will not stop ignorance. It’s the messenger, not the medium. As healthcare administration’s most vocal advocate for social adoption, I’d recommend you check out Paul Levy. His point of view is remarkable.
Good employees may not understand privacy. We need to go to the next step and address the fact that many hospitals have employees who don’t understand the privacy laws. We still have a responsibility to protect patients from the misinformed. While it’s suggested that you “can’t stop the conversation,” it’s important that hospitals take responsibility and educate their employees regarding what’s appropriate and what isn’t. Many health professionals I know innocently believe that by simply excluding an individuals name you’ve protected their privacy. We have work to do. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at 33 Charts*
August 16th, 2010 by DavidHarlow in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion
Tags: Custody of Patient Records, Digitized Patient Records, EHR, Electronic Health Records, Electronic Medical Records, EMR, General Medicine, Georgetown, Healthare Policy, Healthcare Law, Healthcare Politics, Healthcare reform, HIPAA, Meaningful Use, Patient Confidentiality, Patient Data Security Law, Patient Privacy Laws, Patient Record Disposal, Patient Records Dumped, Security of Patient Records
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The Queen of Soul famously wailed about being a link in a “chain of fools.” The lead story in the August 13th Boston Globe tells us about another sort of link in the chain — the weakest link in the chain of custody of patient records.
In brief, a pathology billing service bought out by another service apparently dumped all records more than a year old in a town dump. A Globe photographer taking out his own trash noticed that the paper records (which he was looking at because he thought they ought to be recycled rather than dumped) had identifiable patient data and represented at least four hospitals from across Eastern Massachusetts. Clearly, these records ought to have been shredded or otherwise destroyed before disposal. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at HealthBlawg :: David Harlow's Health Care Law Blog*
August 16th, 2010 by BobDoherty in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Research
Tags: Bloomberg News, Cardiology, Congestive Heart Failure, Doctor Performance, Family Medicine, Foreign Medical Graduates, General Medicine, Health Affairs, Healthcare Delivery Models, IMGs, Inpatient Death Rates, Internal Medicine, International Medical Graduates, John Norcini, Kaiser Health News Daily, Medical Board Certification, Medical Degrees Aboard, Medical School, Medical Training, Non-Citizen Medical Students, Outcome Of Care, Patient Lengths Of Stay, Primary Care Shortage, U.S. Medical Schools, Years of Medical Practice
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Yes, according to a study in today’s Health Affairs. (The full text of the study is available only to subscribers, but Kaiser Health News Daily has a good summary of its findings and links to other news reports.)
The study compares inpatient death rates and lengths of stay for patients with congestive heart failure or acute myocardial infarction when provided by U.S. citizens trained abroad, citizens trained in the United States, and non-citizens trained abroad. Treatment was provided by internists, family physicians, or cardiologists. The differences were striking, according to the authors:
“Our analysis of 244,153 hospitalizations in Pennsylvania found that patients of doctors who graduated from international medical schools and were not U.S. citizens at the time they entered medical school had significantly lower mortality rates than patients cared for by doctors who graduated from U.S. medical schools or who were U.S. citizens and received their degrees abroad.”
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*This blog post was originally published at The ACP Advocate Blog by Bob Doherty*
August 15th, 2010 by Berci in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Research
Tags: Children's Health, Diagnostics, Distant Learning, DIY Checkup, Family Medicine, Future Of Health Report, Games For Health, Gaming For Health, General Medicine, Health-Related Video Games, iMedicalApps, Pediatrics, PSFK, UNICEF
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A report on the future of health was presented to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) by PSFK, a trends research and innovation company. It features a wide range to topics including distant learning, diagnostics, gaming for health, offline web, DIY checkup, and many others:
(Hat Tip: iMedicalApps)
*This blog post was originally published at ScienceRoll*
August 13th, 2010 by Peggy Polaneczky, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, True Stories
Tags: Caregiving, Cognitive Decline, Cognitive Function, Dementia, Elderly, Feeding Tubes, Healthcare Economics, New York Times, Nurses Aide
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An article in [last] week’s New York Times entitled Feeding Demented Patients with Dignity suggests that hand feeding dementia patients may be a better option than tube feeding them.
My God, are we really putting feeding tubes in the elderly demented? When did this happen?
During college, I worked as a nurses aide in a nursing home outside Philadelphia. For 20 hours a week (40 hours in the summer) for two years, I cared for patients in all stages of dementia, from the walking confused through to the end stage, stiffened victims confined to wheelchairs or beds. But in all that time, I never, ever saw anyone with a feeding tube. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The Blog that Ate Manhattan*
