September 8th, 2011 by StevenWilkinsMPH in Medical Art, Opinion
Tags: Clinical Skills, Communication, Competency, Doctor Patient Relationship, Empathy, Engagement, High Quality Outcomes, Infographic, Low Malpractice Risk, Medication Adherence, Patient Compliance, Patient Satisfaction, Patient Trust, Self-disclosure, Trust
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Often the simplest solutions to problems are the best. So it would seem when it comes to the impact that increasing patient trust in physicians could have on many of the intractable challenges that face the health care industry everyday like non-adherence, lack of involvement, poor health status, dissatisfaction and so on.
I explore the link between patient trust and outcomes in the following infographic I curated and designed. What surprised me is how a patient’s level of trust in their doctor, like so much of what I talk about in this blog, boils downs to the patient’s perception of the physician’s ability to communicate: Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Mind The Gap*
September 7th, 2011 by RamonaBatesMD in News, Opinion
Tags: Advisory Panel, Allergan, Breast Augmentation, Breast Implants, Breast Surgery, FDA, Gel-Filled, Insurance Companies, Mentor, MRI, Scans, Side Effects, Silent Ruptures, Silicone
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It’s amazing what you will find sorting through more than 20 years of stuff. This picture of 3 implants includes: top — an old McGhan double lumen (silicone gel implant surrounded by a saline implant); bottom left – Dow Corning textured silicone implant; and bottom right – Dow Corning smooth silicone implant. Dow Corning has not made breast implants since approximately 1992.
Last week the FDA met to discuss and make recommendations on postmarketing issues related to silicone gel-filled breast implants. As a condition of placing silicone implants back on the market in 2006, both Mentor and Allergan (McGhan) were supposed to enroll patients in 10-year-long follow up studies on side effects related to implants. The aim was for 80,000 women.
I agree these studies are needed, but it is difficult to get women to return year after year. This is evident in the data presented at the meeting: Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Suture for a Living*
September 7th, 2011 by Linda Burke-Galloway, M.D. in News, Opinion
Tags: arrested, Auto pilot, Family, healthcare, Healthcare System, Hospitals, Human Resources, Jobs, Kid, Matthew Scheidt, medicaid, ORMC, Osceola Regional Medical Center, Patient Care, Patient Safety, Physician's Assistant
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Did you hear about the 17 year old teen that posed as a physician assistant at a Florida hospital for five days and got away with it? Are you surprised? I’m not.
It seems that Matthew Scheidt, had a summer job working part-time for a surgical supply company. He allegedly went to the Human Resources Department of the Osceola Regional Medical Center (ORMC) and convinced them that he was a Physician Assistant student at Nova Southeastern University and lost his identification badge. This is the hospital where many of my former patients were forced to go for medical care because they were either uninsured or received Medicaid. My former employer had a fiscal relationship with them. The use of the word “forced” is quite appropriate because my uninsured patients had no options. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Linda Burke-Galloway*
September 7th, 2011 by Peggy Polaneczky, M.D. in News, Opinion
Tags: Benefits, Birth Control Pill, Condoms, Contraception, Diaphragms, Essure, Heart Attack, IUDs, OCP, Pregnancy Prevention, Side Effects, Sponge, STDs, Sterilization, Stroke Risk, Television Show, The Doctors, the Patch, the Ring, TV, Unintended Pregnancy, USA Today
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That’s the opinion of television’s The Doctors, a syndicated TV Show that appears to be giving Dr Oz a run for his money, in USA Today. In fact, that’s the headline – IUDs: The Best Contraceptive Option.
What you know about birth control: Nearly half of all U.S. pregnancies are unintended; abstinence is the only sure-fire way to prevent pregnancy (and protect you from STDs); smoking while on the Pill may increase your risk of heart attack or stroke; as long as you are still getting a period, you can get pregnant during menopause. But here’s something you may not know:
We think IUDs work best.
This is contraceptive education at its worst. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The Blog That Ate Manhattan*
September 6th, 2011 by DrRich in Health Policy, Opinion
Tags: America, Cost, Eliminating Waste, Excess, Expenditures, GDP, Healthcare Providers, Healthcare System, Inefficiency, Inflation, Insurance Companies, Medicare, Proportionately, Reducing Waste, Regulations, Solutions, Spending
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A recurring theme of the CRB is that the rising cost of healthcare is the main internal threat to the continued viability of the US. Indeed, the very title of this blog reflects the chief mechanism which is being employed, fruitlessly and disastrously, in the attempt to reduce those costs.
Recently, DrRich pointed out that there are four ways – and only four ways – to reduce the cost of healthcare. He did this as a service to his readers, so that when politicians describe in their weaselly language how they will get the cost of healthcare under control, you will be able to figure out which of the four methods they are actually talking about.
While DrRich’s synthesis has been generally well-received, a few readers did offer one particular objection. DrRich, they assert, left out a fifth way to reduce the cost of healthcare, and the very best way at that. Namely, just get rid of the waste and inefficiency.
DrRich has talked about this before, but obviously it is time to revisit the issue.
It is, in fact, a central assumption of any healthcare reform plan ever proposed that we can get our spending under control simply by eliminating – or at least substantially reducing – the vast amount of waste and inefficiency in the healthcare system. Conservatives propose to do this by Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The Covert Rationing Blog*
