Doctors trying to help patients understand a course of treatment must teach them new terms such as “medical evidence,” “quality guidelines” and “quality standards.” Patients might not be willing to accept that language lesson.
A study in Health Affairs concluded that 41 percent of patients didn’t ask questions or tell doctors about problems. The main barriers were that patients didn’t know how to talk to doctors, or their physicians seemed rushed. Only 34 percent of patients recalled physicians discussing medical research in relation to care management.
But, physicians say, that’s only half the problem. Sometimes, patients demand to see specialists when they don’t really need to. Or, they don’t accept it when evidence shows that highly-desired treatments aren’t the best ones for care. One reason may be that one in three patients believe that more expensive treatments work better than less expensive ones, according to the study in Health Affairs. Once the evidence is laid out, it can be a delicate negotiation to get patients to accept that. (American Medical News, Health Affairs, RangelMD, KevinMD)
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
Road and construction projects have stopped all over town, thanks to concerns about future healthcare benefits. From ChicagoBreakingNews.com:
Construction companies and labor unions are divided over healthcare packages. The unions seek a 15 percent annual benefits increase over three years, while contractors have countered with a 1 percent annual increase.
-WesMusings of a cardiologist and cardiac electrophysiologist.
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes*
A Long Island woman’s big toe will adapt to function as a thumb after doctors performed a rare transplant operation to replace the vital missing digit.
Shannon Elliott, 25, lost the thumb and two fingers from her left hand in November when a firework exploded in her palm…
Have a safe and happy July 4th — and stay out of the ER. Please follow these fireworks safety tips:
Never allow children to play with or ignite fireworks.
Read and follow all warnings and instructions.
Fireworks should be unpacked from any paper packing out-of-doors and away from any open flames.
Be sure other people are out-of-range before lighting fireworks. Small children should be kept a safe distance from the fireworks; older children that use fireworks need to be carefully supervised.
Do not smoke when handling any type of “live” firecracker, rocket, or aerial display.
Keep all fireworks away from any flammable liquids, dry grassy areas, or open bonfires.
Keep a bucket of water or working garden hose nearby in case of a malfunction or fire.
Take note of any sudden wind change that could cause sparks or debris to fall on a car, house, or person.
Never attempt to pick up and relight a “fizzled” firework device that has failed to light or “go off”
Do not use any aluminum or metal soda/beer can or glass bottle to stage or hold fireworks before lighting.
Do not use any tightly closed container for these lighted devices to add to the exploding effect or to increase noise.
Never attempt to make your own exploding device from raw gunpowder or similar flammable substance. The results are too unpredictable.
Never use mail-order fireworks kits. These do-it-yourself kits are simply unsafe.
For more information on injuries that can occur from unsafe use of fireworks, see:
Better Health’s Dr. Val Jones recently expert-moderated TogoRun’s Digital Capital Week event entitled “Public Health: What’s Digital Got to Do With It?” featuring panelists Susannah Fox of the Pew Internet & American Life Project, Maya Linson of the National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems, and Erin Enke of TogoRun. A capacity crowd in attendance at the Pew Research Center and another group following on Twitter sparked a vibrant online discussion of how health institutions are using social media and how digital innovation is improving public health:
My good friends, Tom H Van De Belt and Lucien JLPG Engelen from the Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, just published a great systematic review in the Journal of Medical Internet Research about the definitions of medicine 2.0 and health 2.0 It was time to collect all the available data about these terms. An excerpt from the abstract:
Objective: The objective was to identify unique definitions of Health 2.0/Medicine 2.0 and recurrent topics within the definitions.
Methods: A systematic literature review of electronic databases (PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL) and gray literature on the Internet using the search engines Google, Bing, and Yahoo was performed to find unique definitions of Health 2.0/Medicine 2.0.
Results: We found a total of 1937 articles, 533 in scientific databases and 1404 in the gray literature. We selected 46 unique definitions for further analysis and identified 7 main topics.
Conclusions: Health 2.0/Medicine 2.0 are still developing areas. Many articles concerning this subject were found, primarily on the Internet. However, there is still no general consensus regarding the definition of Health 2.0/Medicine 2.0.
*This blog post was originally published at ScienceRoll*
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Time for a reminder about safe fireworks use. This Daily News article by Lauren Johnston — 
