July 21st, 2010 by DrRob in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Opinion, True Stories
Tags: A Doctor's Letter, Bipolar Disorder, Chronic Disease, Chronic Pain, Cushing's Disease, Dear Patients, Diabetes, Emergency Medicine, End-Stage Kidney Disease, Family Medicine, General Medicine, Internal Medicine, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Primary Care, Public Health, Rheumatoid Arthritis
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Dear Patients:
You have it very hard — much harder than most people understand. Having sat for 16 years listening to the stories, seeing the tiredness in your eyes, hearing you try to describe the indescribable, I have come to understand that I, too, can’t understand what your lives are like. How do you answer the question, “How do you feel?” when you’ve forgotten what “normal” feels like? How do you deal with all of the people who think you are exaggerating your pain, your emotions, your fatigue? How do you decide when to believe them or when to trust your own body? How do you cope with living a life that won’t let you forget about your frailty, your limits, your mortality?
I can’t imagine.
But I do bring something to the table that you may not know. I do have information that you can’t really understand because of your unique perspective, your battered world. There is something that you need to understand that, while it won’t undo your pain, make your fatigue go away, or lift your emotions, it will help you. It’s information without which you bring yourself more pain than you need suffer. It’s a truth that is a key to getting the help you need much easier than you have in the past. It may not seem important, but trust me — it is. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Musings of a Distractible Mind*
July 21st, 2010 by Toni Brayer, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion, True Stories
Tags: Blue Shield of California, Eligible Medical Services, EOB, Explanation of Benefits, Family Medicine, Fixing Primary Care, General Medicine, Insurance Companies, Insurance Reimbursement, Internal Medicine, Lack of Primary Care, Medical School, Medical Students, More Primary Care Doctors, Primary Care, Primary Care Shortage
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Most doctors have a love/hate (and mainly hate) relationship with health insurance companies. We struggle with their confusing and complex coding rules in an effort to be reimbursed for our care of patients. When patients leave the office, they may think that a bill is sent to their insurance company and payment follows. More often than not it rarely happens that way.
I am staring at an explanation of benefits (EOB) from Blue Shield of California for a patient I saw for a physical exam and Pap test. This patient had recently been hospitalized with a life threatening throat infection and abscess and saw me for needed follow up. I spent about 45 minutes with the patient, reviewing the events leading to hospitalization, coordinating the medications, as well as addressing the routine screening and examination of a middle aged woman with some chronic health problems. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
July 18th, 2010 by Jon LaPook, M.D. in Better Health Network, News, True Stories, Video
Tags: A Moment To Forget, CBS Doc Dot Com, cbs evening news, CBSDOC.COM, Child Psychology, Disaster Relief, Documentaries, Dr. Jon LaPook, Earthquake Survivors, Family Medicine, FilmAid, General Medicine, Haiti, Hope For Children, Mental Health, Movies, Pediatrics, Public Service Announcements, Refugees
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FilmAid International provides the children of Haiti what many doctors can’t bring earthquake survivors — a moment to forget about the pain and suffering the last six months has brought. Dr. Jon LaPook reports.
Click HERE to watch the CBS Evening News video.
July 18th, 2010 by John Mandrola, M.D. in Better Health Network, Humor, Opinion, True Stories
Tags: Cardiology, Career, Education Program, Educators, General Medicine, Good For The Heart, Job, Occupation, Passionate Leadership, Quality Education, Science, Stand And Deliver, Teachers, Teachers For America, Teaching, Wall Street Journal
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What would you be if life gave you a do-over, and stipulated you couldn’t be what you are now?
It’s true, I’m a dreamer. I cried during “Stand and Deliver.” A believer in the power of passionate leadership am I.
Finally, this Saturday morning, I was able to drink coffee, eat bagels and read the paper. Ah, it felt so good. And in doing so I was moved by the WSJ piece on Teachers for America, an organization that allows recent Ivy league graduates to try their hand at being “Kimo-sabes.”
As a dreamer, I often find myself thinking of what I would be after finishing a stint as a doctor, or even more dreamer-esque, what would I be if I wasn’t a doctor. For me, an equally-attractive job to doctoring would have to entail contributing something positive to humanity.
One of the coolest things about being a doctor is asking patients what they do. Not just to find out how much one’s occupation contributes to the inflammatory soup of life, but also to feed a dreamer’s visions. Few patient occupations pique my interest more than teaching. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr John M*
July 17th, 2010 by GarySchwitzer in Better Health Network, Health Tips, News, Opinion, Quackery Exposed, Research, True Stories
Tags: Cynthia Sass, Dietetics, Food and Nutrition, Gary Schwitzer, Health Claims, Health Scams, Health-Conscious Consumers, HealthNewsReview.org, Healthy Diet, Multigrain, Potato Chips, Pringles, Processed Foods, Procter & Gamble, Suzanne Schlosberg, The New York Times, Whole Grain, Whole Wheat
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Freelance journalist and author Suzanne Schlosberg wrote because she was so upset over a New York Times story, “The Chip That Stacks Adds a Multigrain Twist,” that she wanted us to review it. I thought anyone who feels so strongly about something should review it herself. So she did. Here is Suzanne’s guest post:
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I was flabbergasted when I read this New York Times piece on Procter & Gamble’s new entry into the potato-chip market: multigrain Pringles. The story accepts at face value P&G’s misleading marketing pitch — that “multigrain” is equivalent to “healthy.” When I sent a link to my nutritionist friend Cynthia Sass., M.S., R.D., she replied: “Did you notice it says ‘advertising’ in the top left corner? It must be a paid ad that resembles an article.”
Actually, it’s not. It’s a business story that ran in the “Media & Advertising” section. Though the story didn’t appear on the health pages, it should have made clear that “multigrain” simply means that more than one grain is included in the product — not that the product is necessarily nutritious. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Gary Schwitzer's HealthNewsReview Blog*
