August 11th, 2010 by Davis Liu, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips
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As a practicing primary care doctor, I continue to work incredibly hard on making my bedside manner even better so that patients feel heard. The other reason is because as most doctors learned in medical school 90 percent of getting the right diagnosis comes from taking a good history from a patient.
Unfortunately with shorter doctor office visits and doctors interrupting patients within 23 seconds of starting, you need to know how to get your concerns across. While I don’t believe this is the responsibility of patients, the reality is not everyone has access to doctors with great bedside manner.
How to talk to your doctor is quite easy if you follow three simple steps. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Saving Money and Surviving the Healthcare Crisis*
August 11th, 2010 by Bryan Vartabedian, M.D. in Better Health Network, News, Opinion, Research
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This is something: A study published in the July 20, 2010 Annals of Internal Medicine finds that 5 percent of residency applications contain plagiarized content. The study from Boston’s Brigham & Woman’s Hospital is based on the personal statements of nearly 5,000 residency applicants that were matched against a database of published content.
The authors comment that the study is limited, among other things, by the fact that it was done in just one institution. It makes me wonder if the number is artificially high or potentially too low.
So why would medical students lie? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at 33 Charts*
August 11th, 2010 by RyanDuBosar in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Research
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Office-based practices are focusing increasingly on patients 45 and older, reports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In 2008, those 45 and older accounted for 57 percent of all office visits, compared to 49 percent in 1998. Prescriptions, scans and time spent with the doctor also became increasingly concentrated on those middle aged and older, according to data from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics.
Also, physician visits increasingly concentrated on medical and surgical specialists and less on care provided by primary care practitioners for those ages 45 and older. Furthermore, for patients ages 65 and older, the percentage of visits to primary care specialists decreased from 62 percent to 45 percent from 1978 to 2008, while the percentage of visits to physicians with a medical or surgical specialty increased from 37 percent to 55 percent. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
August 11th, 2010 by Lucy Hornstein, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Health Tips, Opinion
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I like Dr. Rob, the one with the “distractible mind.” And although I thoroughly agree with the stance he takes in his recent post against cholesterol screening in kids, I must take issue with his opening statement:
I have a unique vantage point when it comes to the issue universal cholesterol screening in children, when compared to most pediatricians. My unique view stems from the fact that I am also an internist who deals with those children after they grow up on KFC Double Downs.
From Dictionary.com:
“Unique: existing as the only one or as the sole example; single; solitary in type or characteristics.”
Your med-peds training allows you to follow patients from birth to death (but no obstetrics or gynecology). You can care for all organ systems and all stages of disease (but without as much training in psychiatry). Congratulations! You’ve just (re)invented family practice (except for the above shortcomings). Oh, wait — that’s already a recognized specialty with its own residency programs, boards and everything like that, forty years now.
This misuse of the word “unique” is one of my pet peeves. “Unique?” I don’t think that word means what you think it means. After twenty years in practice, I agree that there probably isn’t much difference between what Dr. Rob does and what I do. After twenty years, I’m not even sure how much relevance remains from our “training.” Still, there remains a great deal of confusion about the very real differences between family practice and med-peds residencies. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Musings of a Dinosaur*
August 10th, 2010 by DrRob in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
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Dr. Wes (a cardiology blogger whom all should read) wrote a very compelling post about technology and the bondage it can create for doctors:
The devaluation of doctors’ time continues unabated.
As we move into our new era of health care delivery with millions more needing physician time (and other health care provider’s time, for that matter) –- we’re seeing a powerful force emerge –- a subtle marketing of limitless physician availability facilitated by the advance of the electronic medical record, social media, and smartphones.
Doctors, you see, must be always present, always available, always giving.
These sound like dire words, but the degree to which it has resonated around the Web among doctors is telling. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Musings of a Distractible Mind*
