November 23rd, 2009 by Edwin Leap, M.D. in Better Health Network, Humor, True Stories
Tags: Accent, Dictation, Emergency Medicine, EMR, Recognition, Southern Accent, Technology, Transcription Service, Voice Transcription
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The patient has fluferculosis, buperculosis, conbumption, arg!
I’ve dictated charts since I started private practice 16 years ago. Although I like to think that I’m pretty good with the English language, it turns out that when I speak it, I mumble, slur and frequently dictate things that make no sense to the transcriptionist.
A standard chart for me might look like this:
‘This 44-year-old_____ complains of several days of ______ severe in the_______right______explosive and sudden in quanset. (Unable to understand physician)….and stated that she(he) {please clarify} would not be short of ______ usually has no pain in _____ when she (he) falls onto the crown?’
Now, this is difficult enough, as you might expect. And often worse when I’m finishing a night shift, and the chart says ‘the patient is awake, alert and sleeping quietly at discharge,zzzzz.’
But voice transcription takes it to a new level. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at edwinleap.com*
November 22nd, 2009 by Happy Hospitalist in Humor, True Stories
Tags: Discharge, Discharge Planning, Hospital, Internal Medicine, Liability, Pregnancy, Safety, Send Home, sex
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When I initiate final hospital discharge planning, I am making a clinical judgment that the patient is safe to leave the monitored confines of the hospital system. Hospital discharge planning begins on the day of admission.
Good hospitalists are always thinking in their minds how to get the patient safely discharged in the quickest, safest and most efficient way possible.
Sometimes the patient wishes to leave against the medical advice of the physician. Sometimes they refuse to leave at the advice of the physician. And sometimes the physician and patient agree it’s time for the next level of care. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The Happy Hospitalist*
November 20th, 2009 by Happy Hospitalist in Better Health Network, True Stories
Tags: Asthma, Flu, H1N1, ICU, Oxygen, Parenting, Pediatrics, Second Opinion
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Your child seems half dead to you, but you’re frozen with uncertainty. Are they just being whiny? Is that fever going to pass quickly? When do I know if my child needs an emergency assessment? When do I know if they need emergency medical care?
I recently got involved in just a situation with one of Mrs. Happy’s friends. She has a young child, about four years old who came down with a fever a week ago. The child has a history of asthma and a history of supraventricular tachycardia. The child was meandering along doing fine when one day his condition changed. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The Happy Hospitalist*
November 20th, 2009 by Dr. Val Jones in Health Tips, True Stories, Video
Tags: ABC, ABC News, BIDMC, DC, Dr. Val Jones, Hospital Errors, How To Avoid, Infections, Infectious Disease, Let's Talk Live, Medical Errors, Paul Levy
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httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtC_8KJZrkI
I kick off this segment with a surprising twist: I describe a hospital error that I experienced as a patient in the ER of a famous academic medical center. And yes, I give a shout out to Paul Levy at minute 5 for his courageous efforts to reduce infection rates at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.
November 19th, 2009 by Bryan Vartabedian, M.D. in Better Health Network, Opinion, True Stories
Tags: ePatients, Gastroenterology, Online Health, open-source, Pediatrics, Physicians, Social Media, Tooth Pick, What To Do
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Last week someone posted on Twitter that they had swallowed a plastic toothpick. What to do? So they turned to the hive for help. “What should I do?” I thought as I read my Twitter feed. I was paralyzed in a way. I wanted to share my experience with hundreds of patients had swallowed pins, toothpicks and other pointy things. I specialize in just this sort of thing. But short of a random comment about gastric emptying, I kept to myself. Why? Because once I lend a hand I’m all in.
The simple offer of patient-specific advice constitutes a relationship in the eyes of the law. Once involved, I potentially share responsibility in whatever happens to someone. Crazy but true. It’s just a matter of time before slip-and-fall lawyers hold physicians accountable for helping out in the social sphere.
Doctors aren’t the only ones wearing targets. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at 33 Charts*