October 30th, 2010 by scanman in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News
Tags: Disaster Relief, Emergency Medicine, Healthcare Facilities, Hospital Safety, Humanitarian Aid, International Health, Public Safety, Scanman, Social Media Initiative, South East Asia, WHO, World Health Organization
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I got an email from Mari (M4ID_Mari on Twitter) on behalf of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Emergencies and Humanitarian Action team in South East Asia, based in New Delhi about WHO’s first social media-driven effort, aiming to engage 1 million people in the issue of making hospitals safe in disasters. From WHO:
“Floods, tsunamis, earthquakes, cyclones – the WHO South-East Asia Region is particularly vulnerable to natural disasters. In 1996-2005, such events led to the deaths of more than half a million people in this region. This makes up 58% of the total number of people killed worldwide due to natural disasters.
Hospitals are lifelines in the aftermath of a disaster, when large numbers of people are critically injured or vulnerable. It is particularly vital that they remain intact and functional to save lives. In addition to treating disaster victims, hospitals must also quickly resume treatment of everyday emergencies and routine care. When hospitals are damaged or destroyed during disasters, it has a social, economic as well as health impact. Hospitals and health facilities are at the core of the structure of every community. They also protect health workers and the most vulnerable people – the sick – all the time. When these are damaged, it can have a psychological impact on the entire community. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at scan man's notes*
October 29th, 2010 by RyanDuBosar in Better Health Network, News, Research
Tags: ACP Internist, American College Of Physicians, CDC, Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, Family Medicine, MSNBC, My Health News Daily, Obstetrics And Gynecology, Pediatrics, Public Health, Reproductive Health, Ryan DuBosar, Sexual Health, Teen Birth Rates, Teen Health, teen pregnancy
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Teen pregnancy rates have declined, but likely bottomed out, according to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Teen births dropped by a third between 1990 to 2005, but rose again in 2006 and 2007. The latest figures for 2008 show a decline of 2.4 percent, to 41.5 pregnancies per 1,000 teenagers. Experts told My Health News Daily/MSNBC the dropping rates have bottomed out, and that new strategies are needed to deglamorize teen pregnancy.
Teen birth rates were consistently highest in states across the South and Southwest, and lowest in the Northeast and upper Midwest. In 2008, state-specific teenage birth rates varied widely, from less than 25.0 per 1,000 15-19 year olds (Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont), to more than 60.0 per 1,000 (Arkansas, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas). Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
October 28th, 2010 by Felasfa Wodajo, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips, News, Opinion, Research
Tags: Bedbugs, Dermatology, Dr. Felasfa Wodajo, Health Tips for Travelers, iMedicalApps, Infectious Disease, Infestation, Insect Bites, International Travel, iPhone App, Logical Images, New York, Organism-Borne Skin Diseases, Parasite Contamination, Parasitic Insects, Public Health, Skin Lesions, Skinsight, UK Guardian
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Bedbugs are back. For many people, this is only slightly curious, since their understanding of bedbugs stops at the second half of the bedtime admonition: “Sleep tight, don’t let the bedbugs bite.” But, for those others who have experienced a home bedbug infestation, it is a modern nightmare.
The tiny critters can hide in any furniture crevice or fabric fold and come out only in the wee hours of the night in search of their favorite food: human blood. Their bites cause intense itching which can last days to weeks and they can remain dormant and hide for months.
The cause of the recent resurgence is unknown. It does not seem to be paying any great regard to socioeconomic status nor to cleanliness. In metropolitan New York, it seems to have caused a minor panic, with families having to temporarily move out of their homes for toxic fumigation and thousands of dollars of clothes and artifacts being disposed of for fear of contamination. For a chilling recounting, check out this article in the UK Guardian: “How bedbugs invaded New York.”
Since so many skin afflictions are related to insect bites, the folks at Logical Images have just released Bedbugs ‘n Things, an iPhone app that describes the most common perpetrators of insect bites, identification by the appearance of the bite marks and recommended treatment. For bedbugs in particular, it goes further and gives a thorough set of guidelines for concerned traveler so they avoid bringing home uninvited travelers inside their luggage or clothes. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at iMedicalApps*
October 27th, 2010 by KevinMD in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, Research
Tags: Archives of Internal Medicine, Dr. Kevin Pho, Family Medicine, Fixing Primary Care, General Medicine, Health Reform, Healthcare reform, J Paul Leigh, KevinMD, Overcompensated Physicians, Overpaid Doctors, Physician Value, Physicians' Salaries, Primary Care, Primary Care Compensation, Primary Care Doctors' Pay, Specialty Doctors' Pay, Why Primary Care Suffers
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Authors of a recent study from the Archives of Internal Medicine are unlikely to endear themselves to specialists. As reported by Reuters, and provocatively titled, Do specialist doctors make too much money?, the study gives a per-hour breakdown of how much doctors make.
I think this is a good approach, since annual salary figures do not account for the number of hours doctors work — and in the case of primary care doctors, this includes uncompensated time doing paperwork and other bureaucratic chores.
Here’s what they found:
… the lowest wages — amounting to $60.48 an hour — [were] paid to primary care physicians.
In other broad categories of practice, surgeons took home the highest average hourly wage of $92. Internal medicine and pediatric docs earned about $85 an hour, the researchers report in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Looking at salaries among 41 specific subspecialties, however, they found neurologic surgery and radiation oncology to be the most lucrative at $132 and $126 per hour, respectively. These were followed by medical oncologists and plastic surgeons, both making around $114 per hour; immunologists, orthopedic surgeons and dermatologists also took in more than $100 an hour. At the low end of specialist pay, child psychiatrists and infectious disease specialists made around $67 an hour.
Of course, regular readers of [this] blog know that healthcare reform will do little to decrease the disparity. The pay raises that will be coming to primary care will be far too little to change the perception that, in the United States, specialists are more valued by far. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at KevinMD.com*
October 27th, 2010 by AnneHansonMD in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, Research
Tags: AAPL, American Academy of Psychiatry and Law, Dr. Anne Hanson, Medical Conference, My Three Shrinks, Practice Models, Shrink Rap
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For new readers, it’s my tradition to put up posts summarizing tidbits I picked up at the annual American Academy of Psychiatry and Law (AAPL) conference. It’s random, it’s not explained in detail, but it’s stuff I thought was interesting.
The conference started out with a keynote speech by AAPL President Stephen Billick. The title of his talk was “Be True To Psychiatry.” His point was that forensic psychiatrists are clinicians first, and that even a forensic evaluation can have therapeutic effects. He cited many examples in his practice in which a criminal or civil evaluation had potential beneficial “side effects” regardless of the forensic opinion. His main point: the forensic psychiatrist’s obligation to be neutral and objective does not preclude kindness. A point well taken, and appreciated.
A session on suicide risk assessment gave a very nice illustration of the basic problem inherent in these assessments: even assuming an “ideal” case situation with a “perfect” psychiatrist, a thorough suicide risk assessment would take four hours. Risk assessment is time consuming and inherently will be incomplete. We make the best decisions we can based on the limited data we have at the time. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Shrink Rap*
