April 21st, 2010 by Medgadget in Better Health Network, Opinion, Research
Tags: At-Home Medical Devices, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, CIO, Clinic Reimbursement, General Medicine, Google Health, Harvard Medical School, John Halamka, Medical Technology, Online Health Monitoring, Preventive Care, Primary Care, Telemonitoring, Upload Health Readings, WiFi, Withings Scale
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Dr. John D. Halamka, Chief Information Officer of both Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, has a review up on his “Life as a Healthcare CIO” blog of the Withings Wi-Fi Scale.
The device can now upload readings into Google Health, and Dr. Halamka thinks similar capabilities in other at-home medical devices can be used to evaluate alternative quality contracts that reimburse clinics based on improvement in preventive care.
*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*
April 21st, 2010 by Happy Hospitalist in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
Tags: Bundled Care, Nurse Practitioner, Nursing Care, Physician Assistant, Primary Care
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More unhealthy people are being herded into our healthcare system and more doctors are exiting. That’s the perfect formula for chaos.
I’d like to welcome the nursing profession here to save the day. Nurses have taken up the call for providing that missing link of access as doctors disappear. The expansion of nursing care to replace medical care in primary care is just the beginning of the next phase of American medicine. It all depends on how you define primary care. What can be cheaper must be done cheaper. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The Happy Hospitalist*
April 21st, 2010 by DrWes in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion, Research
Tags: Cardiology, General Medicine, General Surgery, High-Tech, Internal Medicine, Patient Consent Form, Potential Complications, Preoperative Risk Assessment, Primary Care, Risk of Complications, Surgical Procedure
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What would you rather know when undergoing a surgical procedure: What are your most likely complications during the proposed surgery based on your own personal characteristics, or all of the potential complications that could arise with your upcoming surgical procedure?
Several major medical centers are betting you’d like to know your tailored personal risks. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes*
April 21st, 2010 by Edwin Leap, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
Tags: Abused, Emergency Department, Emergency Medicine, Emergency Room, ER, Expensive, General Medicine, Internal Medicine, Overused, Physician Referral, Primary Care
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I’m always fascinated by the complaints that the emergency department is so overused and expensive. I admit that it is used a lot, and that care can seem expensive. But I want to make it clear that the reasons are myriad.
Whenever we in the specialty say that we feel that patients abuse our services, someone in academia reminds us that only a small number of those patients do not actually have serious illnesses. Whether or not that’s true, one of the reasons we are overused is due to none other than other physicians.
I’ve been paying attention lately to the way physician referral patterns happen. I suspect it’s the same in other facilities. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at edwinleap.com*
April 21st, 2010 by EvanFalchukJD in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Health Tips, Opinion, Research
Tags: Cancer, Carcinoma, Internal Medicine, Lab Tests, Misinterpretation, Pathology Errors, Pathology Reports, Preventive Medicine, Primary Care, Screening Tests
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The Wall Street Journal’s Health Blog says that cancer lab tests “aren’t always right.” They report on reports issued by two professional societies that point out that as many as 20% of a certain kind of test are inaccurate. According to the Health Blog the problem is the tests “aren’t black and white, and rely on a pathologist’s judgment.”
Now, judgment is a critical factor in most everything in medicine, but perhaps nowhere else are the consequences of incorrect judgment so serious as in pathology. As Dr. William Osler famously observed: “As is your pathology, so goes your clinical practice.” But how widespread is this problem? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at See First Blog*
