May 12th, 2010 by BobDoherty in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
Tags: 15-Minute Office Visit, ACP, American College Of Physicians, Barriers to Independent Practice, Better Outcomes, Christine Sinsky, David Margolius, Family Medicine, Health Affairs, Healthcare reform, Internal Medicine, Joel Howell, Lack of Primary Care, Lawrence Casalino, National Health Reform, Patient-Centered Medical Home, PCMH, Physician Income, Primary Care Crisis, Primary Care Doctors, Primary Care Medicine, Primary Care Physicians, Primary Care Shortage, Reinvent Primary Care, Rugged Individualists, Susan Dentzer, Team-Based Primary Care, Thomas Bodenheimer, Transformed
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“Bold changes are needed in how the United States delivers and pays for primary care if the key goals of national health reform are to be achieved,” according to the health policy journal Health Affairs, which has released a thematic issue devoted entirely to the crisis in primary care.
(The complete articles are available only to subscribers, but Health Affairs’ blog has a good summary.)
I have spent much of the day reading the journal — 47 articles, and a combined 300 pages of text. Here are my “take-home” messages from the articles. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The ACP Advocate Blog by Bob Doherty*
May 12th, 2010 by AlanDappenMD in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion, Primary Care Wednesdays, True Stories
Tags: Adjustments In Care, Co-Pay, Cutting Healthcare Costs, Diagnosis, DocTalker, Doctor Office Delays, Dr. Alan Dappen, Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate, ESR, Face-To-Face, Family Medicine, General Medicine, Good Medical Decision Making, Healthcare Economics, Healthcare System, Internal Medicine, Medicare, Office Visits, Phone Call, Physical Exam, Prednisone, Primary Care, TA, Telemedicine, Temporal Arteritis
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A common problem in healthcare is the number of times that small adjustments are needed in a person’s care. Often for these little changes, a physical exam and face-to-face time have nothing to do with good medical decision making.
Yet the patient and doctor are locked in a legacy-industrialized business model that requires the patient to pay a co-pay and waste at least half of their day driving to and from the office, logging time in a waiting room, and then visiting five minutes with their practitioner for the needed medical information or advice.
Today I’d like to visit the case of a patient I’ll call “DD,” who I easily diagnosed with temporal arteritis (TA) through a 15-minute phone call after she’d spent four weeks as the healthcare system fumbled her time with delays and misdirection via several doctors without establishing a firm diagnosis. Read more »
May 11th, 2010 by JessicaBerthold in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Opinion
Tags: Caregivers, Checklist, Discharge Planning, Family Medicine, General Medicine, Health Care Setting, Hospitalist Medicine, Hospitals, Inpatient, Internal Medicine, Medicare, Nursing Home, Patient Guide, Primary Care
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Medicare has a handy guide to help patients and their caregivers take control of the discharge planning process. It might be good for hospitals to have a stack of these at the ready and a plan to make sure every patient gets one:
Planning for your discharge: A checklist for patients and caregivers preparing to leave a hospital, nursing home, or other health care setting
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Hospitalist*
May 11th, 2010 by Toni Brayer, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, Research
Tags: Artificial Reproductive Technology, bad baby, Columbia Medical Center, Delivering Too Early, Doctors, Early Deliveries, Family Medicine, Gestation, Infants, Medical Indication, Medical Intervention, Multiple Births, Obstetrics And Gynecology, Older Moms, Patient Safety, Physicians, Premature Baby, Preterm Births, Preventive Healthcare, Preventive Medicine, Primary Care, SMFM, Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine
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Babies born between the 34th and 36th week have more complications and cost the U.S. $26 billion annually. These children have more risk of death, cerebral palsy, cognitive impairment, or respiratory problems.
In the United States, nearly 13% of infants are born before they reach 37 weeks gestation. According to the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM), that rate is much higher than other developed nations, and physicians may be partially to blame for the early deliveries.
Some of the reasons may be older moms or the increased use of artificial reproductive technology and multiple births, but some physicians are choosing to deliver between 34 and 37 weeks even when there is no clear medical indication. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*
May 11th, 2010 by David Kroll, Ph.D. in Better Health Network, News, Opinion, Research, True Stories
Tags: Academia, Administrators, Associate Professor, Biomedical Degrees, Cancer Biology, Dean of the Medical School, Dr. Nancy Andrews, Dr. Sally Kornbluth, Duke School of Medicine, Engineering, Faculty, Gender, Leadership Roles, Medical Schools, Medicine, News & Observer, Oncology, Pharmacology, Professional Positions, Ranks, Sarah Avery, Science, Woman of the Moment, Women
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I didn’t turn on the computer yesterday (yes, it was glorious), so I missed Mother’s Day coverage in our local newspaper. When we returned home, I was happy to see that on the front page of the print copy the dean of Duke School of Medicine, Nancy Andrews, M.D., Ph.D., was featured with her daughter in the lab on their “fun Saturdays” together.
Also cited and pictured in the article was Duke vice dean for research and professor of pharmacology and cancer biology, Sally Kornbluth, Ph.D., and her daughter.
Written by News & Observer science editor Sarah Avery, the article describes how women are increasing in ranks in biomedical degrees earned while still lagging at the associate professor level and up. This trend was cited specifically for faculty and administrators in basic science departments of medical schools, but is widespread in academic science and engineering. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Terra Sigillata*
