May 11th, 2010 by StevenWilkinsMPH in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion, Research
Tags: Appointment Reminders, Dentists, Discharged with New Medication, Doctor-Patient Communication, Doctors, Few No Shows, Follow-Up Phone Call, Great Service, Hospital Discharges, Hospital Readmission Rates, Kripalani, Maniaci, Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Medical Errors, Medical Malpractice, Medicare Hospital Discharges, Medication Non-Adherence, More Billings, Patient Follow Up, Patient-Reported Barriers and Solutions, Physicians, Primary Care, Proactive Follow Up, Quality of Discharge Instructions, Routine Follow Ups
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I have to give my dentist credit. He and his staff know when I am due for a cleaning and call me to schedule an appointment without fail. They also call to remind me the day before an appointment. Many dentists, I understand, do similar kinds of things for their patients.
As a patient, I like being reminded — it’s a great service. I also like the fact that someone’s looking out for me. From a business perspective it makes a lot of sense as well. Fewer “no shows,” more cleanings, more billings, and so on.
It’s too bad that more physicians don’t routinely follow up with their patients, particularly when it really counts. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Mind The Gap*
May 10th, 2010 by EvanFalchukJD in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Health Tips, Opinion, Research, True Stories
Tags: Alone, Best Doctors, Confused, Consumer Business, Evan Falchuk, Frustrated, General Medicine, Healthcare Consumerism, Healthcare Consumers, Healthcare Economics, Healthcare in America, Healthcare reform, Healthcare System, Lost, Major Barriers, MBGH, Midwest Business Group on Health, Primary Care
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I [recently] gave a speech at the Midwest Business Group on Health’s (MBGH) 30th Annual Conference. The MBGH is one of the country’s leading organizations on healthcare, and its members include the leading innovators and thought leaders on healthcare in America. It was a privilege to present to them.
I spoke about why healthcare just isn’t a consumer business in spite of all of the effort to turn people into healthcare “consumers.”
At Best Doctors, we have a closeup view of what happens to people when they try to find their way through the healthcare system. It’s not a pleasant picture. Healthcare consumers –- if you can call them that –- are often lost, confused, frustrated, alone. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at See First Blog*
May 10th, 2010 by DrWes in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion, True Stories
Tags: Behind the Scenes, Discontent, Doctor Burnout, Doctor Satisfaction, Doctor's Point of View, Doctors, Documentary Film, Dr. Ryan Flesher, Emergency Medicine, Fear of Malpractice, General Medicine, Hate Medicine, Healthcare reform, Healthcare System, Internal Medicine, Loss of Physician Autonomy, Medical Malpractice, Medical Students, Nancy Pando, New Doctors, Physician Recruitment, Physicians, Primary Care, The Foundation of Medicine is Cracking, The Vanishing Oath, Unhappy Doctors
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Yesterday a much-anticipated package arrived in the mail containing a documentary film directed (and acted) by a young emergency room physician, Ryan Flesher, M.D., and produced by a former clinical social worker, Nancy Pando, L.I.C.S.W. The film is called “The Vanishing Oath.”
As background, the film is a 3-year project born in 2007 just before the great U.S. healthcare reform debate began. Over 200 hours of interviews were conducted to explore a simple question:
Why Dr. Flesher had grown to hate medicine. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes*
May 10th, 2010 by RamonaBatesMD in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Health Tips, News, Opinion, Research
Tags: Chemical Exposure, Child Care Safety, Children's Health, Drug Disposal, Electromagnetic Energy, Environmental Cancer, Environmental Carcinogens, Environmental Contaminants, Environmental Health, Internal Medicine, kids, National Cancer Institute, NCI, Oncology, Overexposure, Pediatrics, Pharmaceutical Disposal, President's Cancel Panel Report, Preventive Health, Preventive Medicine, Secondhand Smoke, Tobacco Exposure, Toxics, toxins, Ultraviolet Light, UV Rays
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While most of the news sources are reporting that cancers from the environment are ‘grossly underestimated’ in response to the recently released 240-page report from the President’s Cancer Panel, I want to focus on the steps individuals can take to lessen their personal exposure to environmental carcinogens. Collectively, these small actions can drastically reduce the number and levels of environmental contaminants. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Suture for a Living*
May 10th, 2010 by Bryan Vartabedian, M.D. in Better Health Network, Book Reviews, Health Policy, Health Tips, Opinion
Tags: DNA, Empowers Doctors, General Medicine, Genes, Genetics, Health Blueprint, Health Infosphere, Healthcare Consumers, Healthcare Decisions, Medical Destiny, Medical Technology, Naysayers, New Era, Patient Empowerment, Patient Liberation, Patient Responsibility, Personal Genomics, Personal Roadmap, Personalized Health, Personalized Medicine, Primary Care, Rodale, Self-Care, Silly Old Doctors, Stewards of Our Own Health, Taking Control of Your Health, The Decision Tree, Thomas Goetz
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What’s amazing is that despite the vocal movement to empower patients, no one has put together a well-referenced, readable book to help patients understand how they should use personalized medicine to influence their health — until now.
Enter The Decision Tree: Taking Control of Your Health in the New Era of Personalized Medicine (Rodale 2010), something of a blueprint of patient liberation written by Thomas Goetz, executive editor of Wired magazine. It offers constructive narrative not only about the importance of the decisions we make but how to apply the concept of an old-fashioned decision tree in making those decisions. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at 33 Charts*
