June 15th, 2010 by Bryan Vartabedian, M.D. in Better Health Network, News, Opinion
Tags: General Medicine, Healthcare Social Media, iMedExchange, Internet-Based Treatment, Medical Technology, Online Health Communities, Online Medical Communities, Online Use, Physician Social Network, Social Media In Medicine, Social Media Platform, Social Networking For Doctors
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If you’ve come to believe that physicians and social networks aren’t a good combination, check out this teaser from the up-and-coming physician network, iMedExchange.
While facilitated physician networks have been a difficult sell, iMedExchange appears to be delivering a fresh, expandable, next-generation platform that will offer real value for discerning doctors.
iMedExchange went into expanded beta beginning yesterday. If you were an iMed user before, watch your inbox and give it a test drive. Keep an eye on this one. I’ve had a look. It’s very nice and I understand the best is yet to come.
*This blog post was originally published at 33 Charts*
June 15th, 2010 by DrWes in Better Health Network, News, Opinion
Tags: British Healthcare System, Hospital Parking, Hospital Revenue Stream, Hospital-Owned Parking Spaces, Medical Facilities, Patient Parking, U.S. Hospitals
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When it comes to hospital parking, the British healthcare system is making a go at it:
Using data from 126 Freedom Of Information requests, Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust came top for clamping. Over a year, the hospital clamped 1,671 cars and made nearly £2m profit. Leeds General Infirmary issued the most parking tickets — over 10,000, generating £142,000 profit. The Royal Derby was the target of the most criticism — it received 82 complaints in 2008-09.
I wonder what U.S. hospitals are bringing in? When a hospital owns 4,734 parking spaces, I bet they’re doing pretty well.
-WesMusings of a cardiologist and cardiac electrophysiologist.
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes*
June 14th, 2010 by StevenWilkinsMPH in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, Research
Tags: Archives of Internal Medicine, Better Health, Clinical Guidelines, Doctor-Patient Encounter, Evidence Based Medicine, Family Medicine, General Medicine, Healthcare Policy, Healthcare reform, Informed Healthcare Consumer, Less Care, Less Is More In Medicine, Patient Expectations, Patient-Doctor Relationship, Primary Care, Rationing Of Care, U.S. Healthcare System, Unnecessary Testing, Unnecessary Treatments, Unneeded Medical Care
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In a recent article, the editors of the Archives of Internal Medicine make the case that too much unneeded care is being delivered in physician’s offices these days. According to the authors, “patient expectations” are a leading cause of this costly problem.
Their solution? Get physicians to share with patients the “evidence” for why their requests are crazy, wrong, ill-informed or just plain stupid. But getting patients to buy into the “less is more” argument is a daunting task as most physicians already know. The problem is complicated by the fact that patients have a lot good reasons for not buying it. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Mind The Gap*
June 14th, 2010 by KevinMD in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Health Tips, News, Opinion
Tags: Annals Of Internal Medicine, AP, Archives of Internal Medicine, Associated Press, Clinical Guidelines, Cost-Conscious Care, Critical Thinking, Doctor's Recommendations, Evidence Based Medicine, Family Medicine, General Medicine, Health News, High-Value Care, Informed Decisions, Informed Healthcare Consumer, mainstream media, Medical Journals, Medical News, Primary Care, Responsible Reporting, Unnecessary Medical Tests, Unnecessary Medical Treatment
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Just when I’ve lost hope that mainstream media will stop perpetuating the myth the more medicine equals better care, the Associated Press came up with this excellent piece. The article states, rightly, that “anywhere from one-fifth to nearly one-third of the tests and treatments we get are estimated to be unnecessary,” and that, “it may lead to dangerous side effects.”
Regular readers of this blog should be familiar with those concepts. I wrote recently that patients often reject evidence-based medicine. One reason is that there aren’t enough clinical guidelines available for patients to make an informed decision. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at KevinMD.com*
June 14th, 2010 by GarySchwitzer in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion
Tags: American Society of Clinical Oncology, Bad Health News Stories, Gary Schwitzer, HealthNewsReview.org, Manipulation of the Media, Medical Conferences, Medical Conventions, Medical News, Ron Winslow, Wall Street Journal
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In recent days, news readers/viewers/listeners have been bombarded with news from the big American Society of Clinical Oncology conference in Chicago. But how does some of this stuff become news? Read an excellent post by an excellent reporter, Ron Winslow of the Wall Street Journal, to see some of the crazy, ugly sausage-making that goes on in the manipulation of the media. In the example Winslow raises, what may be packaged as news really isn’t “new” — which is often the case.
*This blog post was originally published at Gary Schwitzer's HealthNewsReview Blog*
