May 21st, 2011 by JessicaBerthold in Health Tips
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A few pearls from a session on legal risks and mitigation strategies from an HM ‘11 session by Harvard’s Allen Kachalia, MD, JD:
–A relatively small number of injured patients actually file claims and get compensation.
–Many filed claims do no have actual errors in them, but the majority do.
–Poor outcomes are correlated with claims, and so is patient satisfaction. Satisfied patients are less likely to file.
–There is no evidence that hospitalists’ risk of having claims filed against them is higher than primary care internists.
To protect yourself against claims, document well. Don’t go back and change a record (you can addend, but don’t alter). Document as contemporaneously as possible. Also, “as simple as it sounds, don’t abandon your patient, and don’t stop providing necessary care,” he said. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Hospitalist*
May 20th, 2011 by David Kroll, Ph.D. in Health Tips, Research
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A very well-written review of an orally-active drug for multiple sclerosis has just appeared in the April 25th issue of the Journal of Natural Products, a joint publication of the American Chemical Society and the American Society of Pharmacognosy.
The review, Fingolimod (FTY720): A Recently Approved Multiple Sclerosis Drug Based on a Fungal Secondary Metabolite, is co-authored by Cherilyn R. Strader, Cedric J. Pearce, and Nicholas H. Oberlies. In the interest of full disclosure, the latter two gentlemen are research collaborators of mine from Mycosynthetix, Inc. (Hillsborough, NC) and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. My esteemed colleague and senior author, Dr. Oberlies, modestly deflected my request to blog about the publication of this review.
So, I am instead writing this post to promote the excellent work of his student and first author, Cherilyn Strader. As of [Wednesday] morning, this review article is first on the list of most-read articles in the Journal. This status is noteworthy because the review has moved ahead of even the famed David Newman and Gordon Cragg review of natural product-sourced drugs of the last 25 years, the JNP equivalent of Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon (the album known for its record 14-year stay on the Billboard music charts.). Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Science-Based Medicine*
May 20th, 2011 by Glenn Laffel, M.D., Ph.D. in Health Policy, News, Research
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It was 1999 when the Federal government first acknowledged our nation had a problem with race and health care. That year, Congress tasked the Institute of Medicine to study the matter, and the resulting report was not good. Minorities were in poor health and receiving inferior care, the report said. They were less likely to receive bypass surgery, kidney transplants and dialysis. If they had diabetes, they were more likely to undergo amputations, meaning their disease had been poorly controlled. And there was a lot more where that came from.
The IOM report was a call to action. In subsequent years, lawmakers crafted policies and established goals for improvement. Federal and state governments and numerous foundations set aside billions to fund projects. Health services researchers expanded their efforts to study the problem.
Twelve years later, we have something to show for the effort. Steep declines in the prevalence of cigarette smoking among African Americans have narrowed the gap in lung cancer death rates between them and whites, for example. Inner city kids have better food choices at school. The 3-decade rise in obesity rates, steepest among minorities, has leveled off.
Nevertheless, racial disparities persist across the widest possible range of health services and disease states in our country. The overall death rate from cancer is 24% higher for African-Americans than white people. The racial gap in colorectal cancer mortality has widened since the 1980s. African Americans with diabetes experienced declines in recommended foot, eye, and blood glucose testing between 2002-2007. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Pizaazz*
May 20th, 2011 by RamonaBatesMD in Health Tips, Research
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I stumbled across this review article (first full reference below) earlier this week.
Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States. Most skin cancers form in older people on parts of the body exposed to the sun or in people who have weakened immune systems (such as inflammatory bowel disease patients on immunosuppressive therapy).
According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), in there were more than one million new cases of nonmelanoma skin cancers (NMSC) in the United States in 2010. There were less than 1,000 NMSC deaths during the same time.
NMSC includes squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and basal cell carcinoma (BCC). Both occur more frequently on sunlight-exposed areas such as the head and neck. BCC is far more common than SCC and accounts for approximately 75% of all NMSC. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Suture for a Living*
May 20th, 2011 by RyanDuBosar in News
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Seven percent of U.S. physicians use online video conferencing to communicate with any of their patients, according to a study of physician digital adoption trends.
The study captures a snapshot of technology, including mobile platforms, electronic health records, electronic prescribing and interaction with patients, pharmaceutical and health care market research company Manhattan Research said in a press release.
Psychiatrists and oncologists are more likely to be using video conferencing with patients. But physicians added that reimbursement, liability and privacy are still major barriers to communicating online with patients.
Major findings include: Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
