February 26th, 2011 by Steven Roy Daviss, M.D. in Health Policy, Opinion
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I read today that Eastern Ontario has started a bed registry to keep track of where open psychiatric beds are available. This is something I’ve long advocated. The United States now has less than 10 percent of the beds it used to have 50 years ago. Granted, treatment has improved and community resources are enhanced. But there are still areas that often do not have a sufficient number of hospital beds for folks needing acute inpatient psychiatric care.
The Ontario story described in the Ottawa Citizen states that six of the area hospitals have been connected to a computerized “bed board” that provides real-time information on who has an appropriate bed available. This saves time in the ER and gets patients to needed treatment more quickly. Otherwise calls need to be made to each individual hospital, which is very time-consuming.
And it’s not uncommon for all the beds to be full. Last July there was an EMTALA complaint against a hospital in Maryland because a patient sat in the ER all weekend, and this hospital said they had no beds to admit the patient to. The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH) investigated the complaint and found that indeed the hospital was full that weekend. The ER’s record indicated that all the hospitals (except the state hospitals) were called that weekend and all indicated their beds were full. So DHMH visited every hospital (about 28, I think) thinking that surely one of them had an empty bed they were hiding. What they discovered was that every single psychiatric bed in the state was full.
Unfortunately, we have no way of determining how often this happens, but we know if happens often enough. A “bed board” like this would be very helpful in quickly finding beds when needed and keeping track of the extent of this problem. Having patients wait in ER for days is unsafe and is even discriminatory. How many people with stroke or uncontrolled diabetes sit in ER for days waiting to find a bed for treatment? I’d like to hear others’ thoughts on how this problem can be addressed.
*This blog post was originally published at Shrink Rap*
November 2nd, 2010 by admin in Health Policy, Humor, Opinion, True Stories
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This is a guest post from Carolyn Thomas:
An Open Letter To All Hospital Staff
Dear hospital employees,
After a particularly bizarre experience undergoing a treadmill stress echocardiogram at your hospital recently, I decided to do something that I have never done before: I called the manager of the cardiology department to complain about her staff. (Incidentally, a recent opinion survey of international tourists found that Canadians were #1 in only one category: “Least likely to complain when things go wrong” — so you can appreciate that lodging an official complaint is a fairly big deal here!)
In my best PR fashion, I told the manager how distressing the appointment had been because of the behaviour of the two cardiac technicians in the room. It’s not so much that they were openly rude, but it was their insufferable lack of people skills that had pushed me over the edge. No introductions, no eye contact, no consideration of how awkward this test can be, no explanation of the test procedures or even the flimsiest effort at polite conversation. To them, I was merely the 1:00 o’clock appointment, the obstacle between them and their next coffee break, just a piece of meat on a slab — but worse, an invisible piece of meat. Read more »
October 8th, 2010 by Toni Brayer, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips, News, Research
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We have know for some time that there are health benefits from drinking green tea. Research also shows that Omega 3 fatty acids have beneficial effects on a number of organs in the body, including the cardiovascular system, the brain, and even depression.
Dr. Fereidoon Shahidi, research professor in the Department of Biochemistry at Memorial University in Newfoundland, Canada, is hoping to show that green tea polyphenols, particularly epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), may also prevent colon cancer and even have anti-viral effects when combined with certain Omega 3 fatty acids.
“We know from experience that green tea is not well absorbed by the body,” Dr. Shahidi said. “Our premise was to see if by adding something to it that has its own benefits, like Omega 3 fatty acids, we might get an entity that would have improved properties in terms of its absorption and health benefits,” he said. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*
September 4th, 2010 by Dr. Val Jones in Better Health Network, Health Tips, News
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The Public Health Agency of Canada has issued a “travel health notice” to its citizens who plan to travel to California. Childhood vaccination against whooping cough (pertussis) has dropped low enough to result in a 7-fold increase in the number of infections over the past year alone.
An increasing number of parents are opting out of vaccines, a trend that could threaten to reverse the preventive health gains we’ve made against certain infectious diseases this past century. How scary is that?
Incidentally, whooping cough can be lethal — killing a small percentage of kids who suffocate from the damage it does to the respiratory tract. For more information about whooping cough, I recommend the Mayo Clinic’s consumer health website.
To all the moms and dads out there, please vaccinate your kids. The benefits far outweigh any potential harms. And to you Canadians, make sure you’re vaccinated before you go to California.
May 3rd, 2010 by Toni Brayer, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, Research
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A new article published in the American Journal of Public Health shows that U.S., Canadian, and European insurance firms hold $1.88 billion of investments in fast food companies like Jack in the Box, McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s/Arby’s Groups. Both health insurers and life insurers have substantial holdings in these companies.
A person just needs to read “Fast Food Nation” or watch the documentary “Food, Inc.” to understand the negative impact of processed foods on the health of our country.
The evidence is so compelling that the new health reform legislation is requiring fast food and chain restaurants to disclose calorie counts on their menus. Ironically, the new legislation will also add millions of customers to the health insurers. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*
