January 20th, 2010 by JessicaBerthold in Better Health Network, News, Research
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In early 2008, researchers at the International Stroke conference unveiled two studies showing a “weekend effect” in stroke– ie, mortality from stroke was higher on the weekends (and at night) than weekdays. We explored this topic in the June 2008 ACP Hospitalist.
Now, a new Archives of Neurology study has found no difference in stroke death rates based on weekend/weekday arrival. What’s more, stroke patients admitted on weekends were more likely to get tPA. This flies in the face of one of the main theories about the weekend effect–namely, that stroke rates may be higher on weekends because there is often a shortage of staff and resources, which leads to less aggressive treatment. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Hospitalist*
January 20th, 2010 by Bryan Vartabedian, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy
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This picture from 3G Doctor is remarkable. It captures the flier of a Merck supported Mexican Medmobile initiative that apparently connects patients with their doctors via SMS (translation available on 3G Doctor Blog.)
But don’t expect fliers of this type in American offices anytime soon. Risk of privacy violation and difficulty in documentation stifle this level of
doctor-patient connectivity. The very laws created to protect patients may ultimately thwart the timely adoption of new communication channels.
And the slow march towards a single payer system will only make real connectivity a rare bird.
Look to the groundswell in mobile technology and social platforms will force change in our current privacy laws. Until then look for innovation to come from the second and third world.
*This blog post was originally published at 33 Charts*
January 20th, 2010 by Peggy Polaneczky, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy
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A study published in this week’s Archives of Internal Medicine looked at so-called errors made in consultation code billing by specialists seeing patients at the request of a primary care practice in suburban Chicago. The methodology? Comparing the primary care office referral form with the specialist’s bill.
The author concludes that specialists are greatly overusing consultation codes in situations where a new patient visit would be more appropriate, to the tune of over half a billion dollars a year in Medicare payments, and suggests that it is time to reconsider the use of these codes. (Medicare, of course, has already come to the same conclusion, and beginning January 1 of this year, is no longer paying for consultation codes.)
There may be misuse of consultation codes going on, but this study does not necessarily prove that. The methodology does not include medical record review, the standard by which coding choices are verified or refuted, and relies entirely on the referring physician’s determination of what the specialist should be billing. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The Blog that Ate Manhattan*
January 20th, 2010 by Shadowfax in Better Health Network, True Stories
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The ER is a highly effective bottom-filter for society. When you work in the ER you are in daily contact with the worst that mankind has to offer: addicts, sociopaths, criminals, and the many many varieties of personality disorders with which a loving God has imbued humanity. I say this not as condemnation: they are my people. I know them and accept them for who they are. I am here every day to serve them in their various needs, from the heroin addict who is dropped off blue and apneic to the homeless guy who just wants his unwashed feet looked at.
One of the refreshing features of many members of the lumpenproletariat is their candor regarding their habits. Sure, it’s by no means universal, but it’s entirely common for me to ask someone quite directly: “Do you use meth?” and have the patient respond in the affirmative and without the least trace of self-consciousness expand on the degree and nature of their drug use. The hardest question for me to learn to ask without blushing was “do you ever have sex for money or drugs?” (And yes, I do ask that of both men and women, when it seems potentially relevant.) But people on occasion forthrightly admit that they turn the odd trick to support their habit. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Movin' Meat*
January 20th, 2010 by Happy Hospitalist in Better Health Network, Humor, True Stories
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I don’t know a thing about bikini line waxing. But I do know there is a right way to wax your bikini line and a wrong way wax your bikini line. I present to you a story about how not to wax your bikini line. I do not know the original author, but I’m sure they want to keep it that way.
My night began as any other normal weeknight. Come home, fix dinner, play with the kids. I then had the thought that would ring painfully in my mind for the next few hours:
‘Maybe I should pull the waxing kit out of the medicine cabinet.’ Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The Happy Hospitalist Blog*
