August 2nd, 2010 by DrWes in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion, Research
Tags: General Medicine, Healthcare reform, HHS, Human Subjects for Research, Office of Human Research Protections, OHRP, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
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Every time an experiment on human subjects in proposed in our hospital (or any hospital in the United States for that matter), there is an exquisitely sensitive tuning fork that exists to protect human subjects: the investigational review board or “IRB.” Any researcher who has ever brought a research proposal before an IRB knows that any hint of potential harm to a human subject that exists in a research project will kill the proposal faster than you can say “boo.”
An IRB submission is required for all research projects using human subjects in accordance with the Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Rights 45 CFR 46, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations 21 CFR 50, 56 , and with the Federalwide Assurance granted by the H.H.S. Office of Human Research Protections (OHRP). Every doctor, nurse, hospital administrator, drug or device company involved in human research knows this. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes*
August 2nd, 2010 by RyanDuBosar in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Health Tips, News, Research
Tags: ACP Internist, AHA, American College Of Physicians, American Hospital Association, Case Managers, Center For Connected Health, Electronic Medical Record, EMR, General Medicine, Human Touch, Medical Technology, Most Wired Hospitals, Preventive Health, remote monitoring, Telemedicine, Vital Signs, Wall Street Journal, Wireless Connections
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Monitoring vital signs remotely saves time and money for everyone: patients, physicians, facilities and insurers. Heart failure is a particular target because its increasingly common, its easily triggered (by as little as too much salt on food, for example), it costs so much to manage in the hospital, and it’s so easily avoided.
Remote monitoring equipment made even easier with wireless connections can take vital signs, and even ask standard questions every morning. The equipment puts patients in contact with nurses once they detect warning signs. That human touch is key. Case managers can screen out false alarms (avoiding alert fatigue) and can direct patients to the physician when needed. ACP Internist covered remote monitoring technology in its March issue. (Wall Street Journal, ACP Internist) Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
August 2nd, 2010 by Davis Liu, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, Research
Tags: Avoiding Preventive Screenings, Becoming Sicker, Center for Studying Health System Change, Consumer-Driven Healthcare, Cut Back on Doctor Visits, Cutting Corners on Healthcare, CVS, Decreasing Reimbursement for Doctors, Die Sooner, Family Medicine, Fewer Doctor Office Visits, Fixing American Healthcare, General Medicine, Health of Americans, Healthcare Costs, Healthcare Economics, Healthcare reform, Higher Copays, Higher Deductibles, Internal Medicine, Lab Testing, Leaving Primary Care, Less-Aggressive Consumer of Healthcare, Less-Healthy Workforce, Maintenance Medications, More Preventable Health Complications, Not Becoming Healthier, Patient Behavior, Patients Saving Money, Paul Ginsburg, Physician Burnout, Primary Care Crisis, Single-Payer Government-Run System, Skimping On Care, The Perfect Storm of a Worsening Healthcare System, US Healthcare, Wall Street Journal, Work-Life Balance, Worse Quality of Life
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The Wall Street Journal reported that overall medical use fell as patients had fewer doctor office visits, lab testing, and maintenance medications possibly due to the recession or as a result of consumer-driven healthcare in the way of higher deductibles and copays. This is very worrisome.
Certainly patients should have some financial responsibility for their care, but skimping on care will only result in Americans not becoming healthier, but sicker. Though the article cited some examples of patients saving money by not seeing their allergist for a refill of medication and simply calling for one and getting an athletic physical at a local urgent care clinic for $40 rather than $90 at the doctor’s office, these tiny behavior changes aren’t going to bend the cost curve in medical care. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Saving Money and Surviving the Healthcare Crisis*
August 2nd, 2010 by EvanFalchukJD in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, Research
Tags: Accuracy of Medical Decision Making, Actors as Patients, Annals Of Internal Medicine, Change in the Plan of Care, Conversations with Doctors, Doctor-Patient Encounter, Doctors Under Time Pressure, Error-Free Care, Failure to Individualize Care, General Medicine, Hundreds of Patient Encounters, LA Times, Medical Errors, Medical Red Flags, Mystery Patients, Scripted Medical Situations, Wrong Medical Decisions By Doctors
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According to the Annals of Internal Medicine, doctors make the wrong medical decisions surprisingly often.
Using a “mystery patient” technique –- in which actors pretended to be patients –- researchers found that doctors made errors in complicated cases in 60 percent to 90 percent of cases. Sixty to ninety percent. In uncomplicated cases, they made errors in nearly 30 percent of cases.
As one study participant put it, “I was shocked.”
The study took place over three years, and included more than 100 doctors in six Chicago-area hospitals. The doctors had agreed to participate in a study on medical decision making, but had no idea that they might see a patient who was actually an actor. The actors recorded their conversations with the doctors. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at See First Blog*
August 1st, 2010 by Berci in Better Health Network, News, Research
Tags: Internet Content Reviewer, Internet Moderitis, Legal Content, Mental Health, Online Communication, Online Health, Psychology, Social Disease, Social Networking Sites, The New York Times, Web-Based Illness
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There’s a new profession in the Internet era, the so-called “Internet Content Reviewer.” These people check all of the submissions and uploads on huge social networking sites, review tens of thousands of pictures, and make sure only legal content is being uploaded to these communities.
It seems a new mental health, “social” disease is starting to spread: Internet Moderitis. An excerpt from a New York Times piece on the topic:
Ricky Bess spends eight hours a day in front of a computer near Orlando, Fla., viewing some of the worst depravities harbored on the Internet. He has seen photographs of graphic gang killings, animal abuse and twisted forms of pornography. One recent sighting was a photo of two teenage boys gleefully pointing guns at another boy, who is crying.
YouTube, a division of Google, is an exception. If a user indicates a video is inappropriate, software scans the image looking for warning signs of clips that are breaking the site’s rules or the law. Flagged videos are then sent for manual review by YouTube-employed content moderators who, because of the nature of the work, are given only yearlong contracts and access to counseling services, according to Victoria Grand, a YouTube spokeswoman.
Photo credit: Stephen Mally for The New York Times
*This blog post was originally published at ScienceRoll*
