October 27th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Medblogger Shout Outs, Opinion
Tags: Boston Globe, Criticism, Dr. Val Jones, Emergency Medicine, Hospital Errors, Internal Medicine, Paul Levy, Running A Hospital, Transparency
2 Comments »
There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known.
– Mat 10:26
The Internet may be fueling the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy – that there will come a day when nothing can be kept hidden or secret. Of course, early adopters of full transparency are regarded as reckless by some (potentially those who have something to hide?) and laudable by others (though they may be afraid to follow suit). In today’s Boston Globe there is an article about my friend and fellow blogger, Paul Levy. Paul is the CEO of Beth Israel/Deaconess, leading the charge to make hospital errors a matter of public record.
Paul writes about the errors made at his hospital (and many other subjects) in his popular medical blog, Running A Hospital. The blog won the “Best Medical Blog of 2007” award, and he is the first (and perhaps only) hospital CEO that has adopted such a high view of transparency. And for that, I commend him.
In my experience, hospital errors are alarmingly common. Read more »
October 12th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Opinion
Tags: Complementary And Alternative Medicine, Finance, Health Insurance, Psychiatry
3 Comments »
I wrote a “reader take” for KevinMD a few weeks ago – basically arguing that disparities in mental health coverage are driving patients to seek help from unqualified (or inappropriate) providers, thus increasing healthcare costs without improving outcomes. Little did I know (at the time of writing my article) that mental health advocates would be successful in introducing a new law to address exactly this issue. The New York Times reported that some were hailing this legislation as:
A milestone in the quest for civil rights, an effort to end insurance discrimination and to reduce the stigma of mental illness.
And guess how this legislation was passed? It was the “pork” in the Wall Street bailout bill.
Now that’s some of the best pork I’ve heard of in recent memory.
To read my explanation of why improved mental health benefits are desperately needed, please check out my reader take at KevinMD. It’s called: How Not To Revolutionize Healthcare.
P.S. The delay in publication of my reader take was not Kevin’s fault. It was due to circumstances beyond our control. 🙂
June 30th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Opinion
Tags: Hospitals, Medical Training, Research
1 Comment »
As newly minted physicians begin their residency training and clinical care responsibilities on July 1, hospitalized patients might expect a bumpy transition. At least, that’s been the urban legend – “don’t get sick in July!” But is that really true? Are patients at higher risk for medical errors at teaching hospitals in July?
Some say, “no” and some say “yes.” I’m in the “yes” category, and some research suggests that medication error rates do in fact increase in the month of July. In the “no” category we have Jerome Groopman, renowned Harvard physician and author of “How Doctors Think.” He simply says, “Today, most hospitals closely watch over interns.”
This is what I wrote in a previous blog post:
There are many ways that an intern can make mistakes, without ordering a single test or procedure, and under the full scrutiny of red tape regulations and documentation practices.
When an intern fails to recognize a life threatening condition and chooses to do nothing, or to let the patient wait for an extended period of time before alerting his or her team to the issue, serious harm can befall that patient. And that harm is not caused by inexperienced procedural technique, or ordering the wrong medicine – it’s caused by doing nothing. This “doing nothing” is the most insidious of intern errors – and it is not remedied by any form of hospital quality improvement initiatives. It is the risk that a hospital takes by having inexperienced physicians in the position of first responders. Interns gather large amounts of information about patients and then create a summary report for their supervisors. The supervisors (more senior residents) don’t have time to fact check every single case, and must rely on the intern’s priority hierarchy for delivering care.
But many hours pass between the time an intern examines a patient and when a supervising physician checks back in with that patient. And within that period of time, many conditions can deteriorate substantially, resulting in the loss of precious intervention time.
Dr. Groopman describes an experience from his own life in which a surgical intern (in July) correctly diagnosed his son with an intussusception
(twisted bowel) but then incorrectly determined that the baby could wait to go to the O.R. Of course, untreated intussusceptions are nearly always fatal, and each minute that passes without intervention can increase the risk of death.
And so, in my opinion, it is in fact more dangerous to be admitted to a teaching hospital in July, but not necessarily for the reasons that people assume (procedures performed by inexperienced physicians or drug errors – though those mistakes can be made as well). Rather, it is because interns don’t have the clinical experience to know how to prioritize their to-do lists or when to notify a superior about a patient’s health issue. Timing is critically important in quality care delivery – and that variable is not controlled by our current intern oversight system.
Now that I’ve completely terrified you – I will offer you a word of advice: designate a patient advocate for your loved one (or yourself) if you have to be in the hospital as an inpatient (especially in July). If you can, find someone who is knowledgeable about medicine – and who knows how to navigate the hospital system. A nurse, social worker, or physician are great choices. That person will help you ensure that concerns are prioritized appropriately when your intern doesn’t yet fully appreciate the dangers behind certain signs symptoms. If you have no advocate, then befriend staff members who are particularly caring and experienced. Be very nice to them – but don’t be afraid to insist on being examined by the intern’s supervisor if you really are concerned. Unfair as it may seem, sometimes the most vocal patients get the best care.
This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
June 29th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Opinion
Tags: Emergency Medicine, Technology
5 Comments »
I realize how incredibly tempting it is to reduce medicine to a series of algorithms. Wouldn’t it be nice if we didn’t need to see a doctor to diagnose our ills? Wouldn’t it be great if our computer could tell us what’s wrong, and prescribe next steps for us? Wouldn’t it save money if we could triage peoples’ medical needs without human intervention?
Unfortunately, we’re not there yet. A friend of mine posted a link (on Twitter) to an online triage tool called “FreeMD.” The tool describes itself this way:
FreeMD® is an electronic doctor that conducts an interview, analyzes symptoms, and provides expert advice — for free.
So I decided to try it out. I imagined that I was a hypothetical patient – a woman in her mid thirties who had had abdominal surgery in the past and was now experiencing mild to moderate abdominal pain. My imaginary patient has abdominal adhesions from the surgery, which is causing her to have bowel pain – which could become an obstruction and surgical emergency.
I answered all the questions posed by the free MD and he responded that he had determined the most likely cause of my pain: tubal pregnancy or threatened abortion.
This response was offered even after I indicated that I was not pregnant. What would the average consumer think of seeing “threatened abortion” as a potential diagnosis for their abdominal pain? Would they know that this was the medical term for miscarriage or would their mind race to abortion clinics and ominous threats?
The problem with this tool is that it cannot take into account all the subtle co-morbidities and nuanced historical information necessary to return an accurate result. In fact, no online tool can replace a healthcare provider’s evaluation of a patient. Attempting to do so is like playing Russian Roulette with your health. Maybe you’ll get lucky and happen upon the correct diagnosis and treatment, but maybe you’ll be horribly misled and suffer irreperable harm.
Of course, companies like freeMD contain disclaimers about the service not being a substitute for a physician’s oversight. But the reality is that people are using the service to make decisions about when and if to see a professional for further evaluation. As a concerned physician, I worry about patients being misled about their health. I want patients to be empowered and to learn all they can about their disease or condition – but self-diagnosis, even with the aid of an algorithm, is fraught with danger.
My bottom line: computers will replace physicians when robots replace spouses. Similar satisfaction rates will come from either replacement option. People know instinctively that a good doctor is critical in managing their health – why else would there be so many physician rating tools, including the one here at Revolution Health? Why would Castle Connolly bother to publish their yearly “America’s Top Doctors” reports? This is not about paternalism – it’s an acknowledgement of the incredible complexity of human beings. And in this case my friends, it takes one (doctor) to know one (patient).This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
June 12th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Opinion
Tags: FDA, Food and Nutrition, Infectious Disease, Milk, News, Parenting
2 Comments »
I’ve written about raw milk before, but here again we find it making front page news. There has been a recent FDA raw milk crack down in California, and I believe that’s a good thing for public health reasons. Although raw milk enthusiasts ascribe mystical powers to the product (some say its natural microbial flora can cure everything from asthma to autism), I don’t see anything mystical about the pathogens that can grow in room temperature milk: e. coli, salmonella, listeria and even tuberculosis. If you like the taste of raw milk and don’t mind the risks associated with imbibing warm body fluids of manure-encrusted bovines… then go right ahead. But please, don’t put your children at risk.
The New York Times exposed the raw milk counter-culture phenomenon last year. Grocery store milk has been heated and packaged in a nearly sterile fashion so that no harmful bacteria are in it. Farmers collect raw milk from cows, then send it to a processing plant where it’s pasteurized (a heat treatment) and homogenized (blending the creamy part with the skim part) it before packaging the milk for human consumption. This process has virtually eliminated milk borne illness in this country, but now certain farmers are threatening to reverse that progress.
So why are people fascinated with raw milk and seeking out farmers who will sell them milk prior to heat treatment? Raw milk does taste very good, and there’s no doubt that the creamy layer that floats on the top is delicious. In New York City raw milk has a black market, cult following. Should you jump on the bandwagon?
As my regular readers know, I grew up on an organic dairy farm, and had the pleasure of handling cows up close and personal for at least a decade. In fact, their sweet-smelling grass breath, and not so sweet-smelling cow patties are etched permanently in my mind. Cows are curious, somewhat dim witted, and generally oblivious to the terrain upon which they tread.
Cows will stand in manure for hours without a moment’s regret, should you present them with fresh hay to eat or some nice shortfeed. They drop patties on the ground, in their troughs, and occasionally on one other. Their flicking tails often get caked with manure as they swish flies away and they scratch their udders with dirty hooves as well.
This is why when it comes time to milk them, farmers need to wipe their udders carefully with a disinfectant scrub before applying the milk machine. Mastitis (or infection of the udder teets) is not uncommon, and is a reason for ceasing to milk a cow until the infection has cleared.
And so, the cleanliness of raw milk depends upon whether or not the farmer removes all the excrement carefully, scrubs the teets well, and remembers not to milk the cows with mastitits. It also matters whether or not the cows are harboring certain strains of bacteria – which often don’t harm the cow, but cause very serious problems for humans.
Did I drink raw milk as a kid? Occasionally, yes. Were my parents super-careful about the cleanliness of the milk? Yes. Did I ever get sick from raw milk? No. Would I give raw milk to my kids? No.
I appreciate that epicures want to experience the flavor of raw foods, but for me, the risks are simply not worth it when it comes to milk. There is no appreciable nutritional benefit to drinking raw milk (in fact, store bought milk is fortified with Vitamin D, which is critical for healthy bones), and it caries a small risk of serious infection. I agree with the FDA’s ban on interstate sales of unpasteurized milk, and would not want to see raw milk available widely for general consumption. Of course, to get around this ban, some companies are selling raw milk and cheese under the label “pet food.”
It’s a crazy country we live in – anti-bacterial hand wipes, soaps, gels, plastics and an insatiable appetite for raw milk. As a doctor, I throw up my hands. Is raw milk getting a raw deal? Some farmers may feel that way – but this former farmer is pleased to have access to safe, clean milk. What do you think?This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
