August 11th, 2011 by Bryan Vartabedian, M.D. in Opinion
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I never thought I’d change the way I practice medicine. But I recently enrolled as a provider in the Improved Care Now (ICN) collaborative network and I’m already working differently.
ICN is an alliance of gastroenterologists and patients working in a new model of pediatric inflammatory bowel disease care based on the analysis of thousands of doctor–patient visits as well as the latest studies and treatments. Doctors and patients apply this information, experiences are tracked in an open registry, the results are then shared and refined to improve care. I can see what I’m doing well and where I’m falling short relative to other clinics and pediatric gastroenterologists.
ICN is under the direction of Dr. Richard Colletti of the University of Vermont. ICN is supported by the Chronic Collaborative Care Network (C3N), the brainchild of Cincinnati Children’s qualitymeisters, Peter Margolis and Michael Seid. I flew to Cincinnati earlier this week to catch up on C3N and what appears to be a first step into medicine’s future. More on the specifics later. But suffice it to say that I’m stoked about where this is all headed.
A couple of thoughts after enrolling my first few patients: Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at 33 Charts*
June 23rd, 2011 by RamonaBatesMD in Uncategorized
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I hope @oracknows, Respectful Insolence, will write more about this. He is much better than I at sussing out fraudulent medical treatments.
I have lived and practiced in Little Rock, AR for over twenty years and I did not know this was in my backyard until my local paper (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette) reported on the outcome of the trial last week. The article title caught my eye as I was skimming the news: Jurors: Cancer therapy a fraud, Award in suit is $2.5 million (subscription only unfortunately).
A federal jury awarded $2.5 million in damages Tuesday to a California woman who paid $6,250 to undergo alternative treatments from a Jacksonville woman who promised a “100 percent success rate” in destroying cancerous breast tumors.
Antonella Carpenter, the former Jacksonville woman who has since moved to Broken Arrow, Okla., and continues to proclaim on her website that she has found a simple, painless way to kill cancerous tumors, wasn’t present for the verdict against her and her company, Lase Med Inc. …….
I don’t recall ever hearing of Lase Med Inc: LIESH Therapy.
The plaintiff in the lawsuit is Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Suture for a Living*
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*
January 10th, 2010 by Stanley Feld, M.D. in Better Health Network, News, Opinion
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Cecelia and I just finished watching the movie Food Inc. It is a movie worth watching.
I was upset seeing the abuse of our food chain by big food corporations. There is little respect for America’s food safety.
America’s obesity epidemic is caused, in part, by the food industry’s ability to produce cheap food. Fifty years ago, when I was at Columbia College, the solution to America’s impending food shortage was debated. The predication was the nation was going to face a food shortage in the next 50 years. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Repairing the Healthcare System*
August 17th, 2009 by Joseph Scherger, M.D. in Better Health Network, Opinion
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I have never been one to shy away from the truths about our world. An Inconvenient Truth was a movie that affected many of us profoundly. Most of my family does not like Al Gore because they are in denial about what is happening to our planet, and our role in that. A new movie does the same about our food sources in America. It is called Food, Inc. It may upset you, but I highly recommend it. The authors explore just where our food comes from, the chicken, the beef, the grains and how our big corporate food industries operate.
I am not an anti-corporate person. I agree with Calvin Coolidge that the business of America is business. In our modern life, we have accomplished many things through industry. Our supermarkets contain a richer variety of food than ever available before in the history of mankind. But, there are important issues for us to address. What are the implications of feeding our cattle corn meal when that is not their best food source? What danger do we have of serious bacterial contamination? How do the big food corporations treat our farmers? These are all questions explored in this film. Like Anderson Cooper on CNN, this film “keeps them honest”.
Two of the main characters in the movie are authors I admire a lot: Eric Schlosser, who wrote Fast Food Nation, and Michael Pollen, author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma. These men are dedicated to keeping our food supply safe and healthy and for us to avoid the traps that make us unhealthy and obese.
Should you become a “locavore”? That is a new word to describe someone that only eats locally grown food. That may be an option for some but not for others depending on where you live. Locally grown food, like what is found in a Farmer’s Market, is more likely to be fresh and have fewer questions than other commercially developed foods. I saw an interesting bumper sticker today, “Supermarkets have branches, Farmer’s Markets have roots”.
The tagline for Food, Inc. is “You’ll never look at dinner the same way again”. I must say that is true. I continue to shop in supermarkets and eat in restaurants, but I am much more mindful about what I put in my body. We all should be.
*This blog post was originally published at eDocAmerica*
