March 23rd, 2011 by RyanDuBosar in Health Policy, News
Tags: Academia, Compensation, Health Care Reform, Health Insurance, Physician Salaries, Primary Care, Reimbursement
1 Comment »
Academic faculty physicians in primary and specialty care reported slight pay increases, according to the Medical Group Management Association.
The organization’s Academic Practice Compensation and Production Survey for Faculty and Management: 2011 Report Based on 2010 Data, annual compensation for internal medicine primary care faculty physicians increased by 6.84% since 2009, and increased 4.46% between 2008 and 2009.
Median compensation for all primary care faculty physicians was $163,704, an increase of 3.47% since 2009, and median compensation for specialty care faculty was $241,959, an increase of 2.7% since 2009.
Department chairs and chiefs received the greatest compensation, $292,243 for primary care faculty and $482,293 for specialty care faculty. Primary care professors received $190,815 in compensation and specialty care professors received $268,786. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
March 21st, 2011 by Michael Kirsch, M.D. in News, Opinion
Tags: Breast Cancer, Comparative Effectiveness, Lymph Nodes, USPSTF
No Comments »
Recently, every newspaper in the country reported on a landmark development in breast cancer treatment. It is now clear that certain breast cancer women do not need to undergo removal of lymph nodes from the armpit as part of their treatment. This would spare them from the risk and discomfort of an unnecessary procedure. It is welcome news, particularly for those of us who argue that in medicine, less is more. This is an example of the benefit of comparative effectiveness research, a tool that can separate what patients truly need from what the medical profession believes they must have.
Let’s hope that breast cancer breakthrough metastasizes across the medical profession. Here’s what it accomplished.
- It spares women from unnecessary surgery.
- It saves money.
- It demonstrates that physicians and medical professionals can serve the public interest.
- It gives hope that all medical specialties will critically evaluate and justify the tests and treatments that we recommend to our patients.
Ironically, when the U.S Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) published their mammography guidelines last year, also arguing that less is more, they were assailed as medical traitors against women.
When it comes to breasts
There’s a tug of war
Some want less
And some want more.
Every practicing physician, medical educator and researcher should examine their own practices and medical advice. On what basis do we recommend our treatments? Do we do so because we were taught these practices in our training years ago? Is it from habit or adhering to the community standard? Is it because patients have such a high expectation of a medical intervention that we feel obligated to act?
Can anyone argue that patients are subjected to too much/many
- Chemotherapy
- Antibiotics
- Colonoscopies
- Cardiac stents
- CAT scans and their imaging cousins Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at MD Whistleblower*
March 21st, 2011 by RyanDuBosar in Health Policy, News
Tags: Disaster Medicine, Nuclear Disaster, Policy, Radiation Injury, Radiology, Surgery, Trauma
No Comments »
Researchers concluded that surgical triage following a nuclear detonation should treat moderately injured patients first, then severely and mildly injured people, because of the limited medical personnel and material resources that would be available.
The model of time and resource-based triage (MORTT) tests different hospital-based triage approaches in the first 48 hours after a nuclear detonation of an improvised nuclear device. It’s not a tool in and of itself, but it examines the effect of various prioritizations and focuses primarily on the surgical needs of trauma victims.
The report appears in Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness. The entire issue, devoted to nuclear preparedness, is open access. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Hospitalist*
March 20th, 2011 by Iltifat Husain, M.D. in News
Tags: Downloads, iPhone, iPhone Apps, Japan, Japanese, Medical Encyclopedia For Home Use
No Comments »
With the tragic events that have recently unfolded in Japan, there is a large segment of the population who require medical attention, certainly in excess of what Japan’s health care system is used to supplying.
Many of them have turned to the medical app, “Medical Encyclopedia for Home Use” — an application that offers basic first aid advice for treating medical injuries. The developers of the app have made it free of charge due to the recent catastrophic events.
The application is currently the number one downloaded free app in the Japan iTunes store, reflecting the tremendous need for continued healthcare treatment in the aftermath of the earthquake and subsequent events.
The iPhone has done extremely well in Japan, with millions of Japanese users. In the future, as smart phones become more ubiquitous, it will be interesting to see if governments release apps specifically for situations like the current one.
Official government sanctioned apps that help look for lost loved ones, or provide resources for those affected by these types of events could provide significant utility. App Stores allow for quick and streamlined distributions for these types of apps, allowing them to get to millions of users at once.
Donations to the Red Cross
iTunes Link to Medical Encyclopedia for Home use app
*This blog post was originally published at iMedicalApps*
March 19th, 2011 by Jennifer Wider, M.D. in News, Research
Tags: AIDS, HIV, Infectious Disease, Molecular Condom, Women, Women's Health
1 Comment »
National Women and Girls AIDS Awareness Day, a nationwide observance that raises awareness and promotes action in the fight against HIV/AIDS, took place on March 10. As the nation turns its attention to this important cause, women and girls around the world continue to be affected by HIV/AIDS in high numbers. According to reports from the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, HIV is the leading cause of death and disease among women of reproductive age across the globe.
HIV is a virus that can cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or AIDS, a disease that diminishes the body’s ability to fight off infection. Unprotected intercourse is the primary way HIV is spread, but it can also be shared through IV drug use, blood transfusion or from mother to baby during pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding.
Despite the fact that HIV/AIDS-related deaths are significantly lower in the United States when compared with other regions of the world, the disease remains a serious public health issue. According to statistics from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, roughly 280,000 women are affected by AIDS in the United States today. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Society for Women's Health Research (SWHR)*
The organization’s Academic Practice Compensation and Production Survey for Faculty and Management: 2011 Report Based on 2010 Data, annual compensation for internal medicine primary care faculty physicians increased by 6.84% since 2009, and increased 4.46% between 2008 and 2009.
