November 10th, 2010 by Dr. Val Jones in Expert Interviews, Opinion, True Stories
Tags: Blogging, Doctors, Doctors and Social Media, Ethics, Facebook, Healthcare Professionals, Healthcare Social Media, Medblogging, Pediatrics, Physicians, Seattle Children's Hospital, SeattleMamaDoc, Social Media, Twitter, Why blog?
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Wendy Sue Swanson, MD
Most physicians still don’t see the need to blog, Tweet, or spend time on Facebook. They groan when you ask if they participate on social media platforms. “I’m too busy seeing patients,” they say, “and why would I expose myself to legal risk? Someone might think that I’m giving medical advice, or disclosing personal information about patients online.”
While these fears are pervasive, early adopters of social media like Dr. Wendy Swanson (and yours truly, by the way) have a different view. Not only should physicians become active in social media, but they have an ethical responsibility to do so.
Wendy is a pediatrician, mother, and blogger at Seattle Children’s Hospital. My friend “ePatient Dave” deBronkart recently encouraged me to watch an excellent video of Wendy speaking at the Swedish Symposium 2010 conference. I’d like to summarize Wendy’s pro-social media arguments for you here, with the hope of luring more of my peers to join the conversation online! Read more »
November 10th, 2010 by AndrewSchorr in Better Health Network, Health Tips, News, Opinion, True Stories
Tags: Andrew Schorr, Cancer of the Blood Cells, Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, CLL, Empowered Patients, Helping Others, Hematology, Inspiring Others, Jill Clayburgh, Oncology, Patient Empowerment, Patient Power, Patient Privacy, Patient Responsibility, Responsibility Of Survivorship, Responsibility To Others, Sharing Your Health Issues
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This past weekend Oscar-nominated Hollywood and Broadway actress Jill Clayburgh died at age 66. The cause was chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), which she had been fighting, privately, for 21 years.
As you may recall, I, too, have CLL and I was diagnosed at the same age, 45. For me, I am 16 and a half years into that “battle” although, fortunately, I have been feeling very good in the ten years since I received treatment as part of a breakthrough clinical trial. While I have no symptoms and take no medicine I do not consider myself cured.
So when someone like Ms. Clayburgh dies of CLL after 21 years, I can’t help but wonder if the disease will shorten my life too, even if I feel good now. That brings up the question of what do we do with the time we have when we know we have had a serious diagnosis and the clock may be ticking for us — or not? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Andrew's Blog*
November 9th, 2010 by Edwin Leap, M.D. in Better Health Network, Opinion, True Stories
Tags: Anger, Doctors Who Lose Their Tempers, Doctors Who Treat Others Badly, Doctors' Behavior, Dr. Edwin Leap, General Medicine, Immaturity, Inappropriate Professional Behavior, Medical Staff Behavior, Physician Behavior, Rage, Rudeness
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When we physicians don’t get our way, or don’t get the response we desire, we can be intimidating. I have seen this play out many different ways. I have been treated rudely by other physicians. I was once threatened by a very prominent one, who told me (in response to the fact that I dared question his tone): “Be careful son, you’re digging yourself a deep hole.” I don’t know what kind of hole, or where it would have taken me, but he was certain I was digging it. Oddly enough, I rather like digging holes. (Very zen.)
Physicians yell at one another, or curse. Physicians stomp around and slam down charts. I don’t like it at all. I think it suggests immaturity. I always tell students and residents that in the ER, especially, the physician is “Captain of the Ship,” and the Captain must never lose his or her cool.
But physicians, sadly, do the same to non-physicians. Nurses, in particular, earn their ire as they scream, curse, stomp and engage in all sorts of negative behaviors. It also happens to paramedics, unit secretaries, dietary workers, therapists, administrators and all manner of persons. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at edwinleap.com*
November 7th, 2010 by KerriSparling in Better Health Network, News, Research, True Stories
Tags: American Diabetes Month, Be Part Of The Cure, Camillo Ricordi, Diabetes Research Institute, Huffington Post, Kerri Morrone Sparling, Living With Diabetes, Robert Smith, Six Until Me, Type 1 Diabetes, University of Miami
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(And no, this doesn’t mean you have to become Robert Smith.)
With more than two decades of diabetes clocked in, my faith in a cure has been shaken with every diabetes anniversary. Each September, I realize that more has been done to improve the quality of life for people with diabetes, but little has been done in giving us the hope that a cure — a real cure — is possible in our lifetime.
Except last year, when I made a trip to Florida to visit the Diabetes Research Institute (DRI), my hope was reignited. The Diabetes Research Institute is functioning solely to provide research for a cure for diabetes. And I have cautious hope that they will be the ones to make great strides in curing type 1 diabetes. If not for me, then for the generation after me.
Which is why I am part of The Cure this month for American Diabetes Month. I made a small donation to the DRI and uploaded my photo to the Cure collage. (You can find me in the bottom left hand corner of that sassy little “E” there.)
Camillo Ricordi, Scientific Director and Chief Academic Officer of the University of Miami Diabetes Research Institute, stated in a recent interview on the Huffington Post: “I started this work to cure diabetes. My goal has not changed. I will keep working until I get the job done.”
I can get on board with that. Be part of the Cure.
*This blog post was originally published at Six Until Me.*
November 5th, 2010 by Lucy Hornstein, M.D. in Better Health Network, Opinion, True Stories
Tags: After Hours Care, Doctor's Lifestyle, Doctor's Well-Being, Doctors Who Work Weekends, Downtime For Doctors, Dr. Lucy Hornstein, e-Prescriptions, EHR, Electronic Health Record, Electronic Medical Record, EMR, Family Medicine, General Medicine, Musings of a Dinosaur, Personal Boundaries, Prescription Refills, Primary Care, Professional Boundaries, Work-Life Balance
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I’ve had a longstanding policy in my office that routine prescription refills will only be addressed during regular office hours. No evenings; no weekends; if you need a refill of your long-term chronic medications, you need to call during regularly scheduled office hours, five days a week. You can leave a message if you like, but you should not expect us to call in the medication until the office is open.
The main reason for this policy has always been medical: prescription medication requires appropriate monitoring. From the moment I hung out my shingle, I’ve made it my habit always to write enough refills on your medication to last until the next time I need to see you. In all likelihood if you need a refill, what you really need is a visit.
The logical reason for the policy is the need to consult the medical record before authorizing refills. And when those records are contained on bits of dead trees on shelves in the office, there’s no way I can access them if I’m not physically there. I’ve been known to drive out to the office at decidedly odd hours for the express purpose of consulting those records so that I can provide appropriate care to my patients. That has always been the bottom line for me, and always will. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Musings of a Dinosaur*
