June 10th, 2010 by Medgadget in Better Health Network, Humor, News, True Stories
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They seem to like medical devices in the high stakes world of spelling championships. Anamika Veeramani, from Cleveland, Ohio, won the Scripps National Spelling Bee this weekend by spelling “stromuhr,” a rheometer designed to measure the amount and speed of blood flow through an artery.
Don’t feel bad — we’d never heard of it before either, and we’re supposed to be experts in this stuff. Education never ends…
Merriam-Webster: Stromuhr
London Science Museum: Ludwig-type stromuhr, London, England, 1920-1940
Press release: National Spelling Bee: A Spawning Ground for Future Physicians and Obscure Diseases
*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*
June 9th, 2010 by RamonaBatesMD in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion, Research, True Stories
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Dr. Wes and Kevin, M.D. have both written reviews of the documentary film “The Vanishing Oath.” I started the process rolling of trying to get the film shown locally. No date yet, but looks like it will happen before the year is out.
This is not a new phenomenon in medicine (or any profession). Dr. Robert Goldwyn wrote a nice essay on the some of the issues that can lead to burnout, though not once did he mention burnout specifically. The title says much:
“I Bargained on Working Hard as a Surgeon, Not Working Hard to Be Able to Work Hard as a Surgeon”
The preceding title is a quote from a letter written by a resident in the last year of his training (S. A. Teitlebaum, August 20, 1994). It reflects the gloom besetting the young in particular but certainly not them exclusively. We all are uneasy about our futures, professionally and economically. Bandied in the corridors at a national meeting was a dismal figure: 1:100,000, the presumed proper ratio, as determined by Health Maintenance Organizations, of plastic surgeons to population. That 1 million Americans need only 10 plastic surgeons seems wrong and idiotic to me, but it makes good economic sense to health providers and insurance companies. Their coffers swell as they collect the same or higher premiums while curtailing what they provide. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Suture for a Living*
June 9th, 2010 by Richard Cooper, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, Research
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In a recent blog posting, I described Group Health’s medical home for 8,000 patients. It proved to be a boon for primary care physicians, who were able to reduce the size of their patient panels, see fewer patients per day, refer more patients to specialists, and maintain or increase their incomes.
Patients liked it, too. And Group Health was happy because expenditures per patient were 2 percent lower. But poor patients had trouble getting through the front door of the medical home, so based on demographic differences alone, expenditures should have been lower by 10 percent or more. Nonetheless, they declared victory.
Now news filters south from Ontario’s eight-year experiment with medical homes for 8,000,000 patients, and the news is similar. Participation is skewed to healthier and wealthier patients who, in the absence of risk adjustment, yield profitable capitation for primary care physicians. Incomes have soared an average of 25 percent. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at PHYSICIANS and HEALTH CARE REFORM Commentaries and Controversies*
June 8th, 2010 by Davis Liu, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion
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The Associated Press recent article “Overtreated: More medical care isn’t always better” reiterated a commonly known fact which is not understood by the public. This problem of doing more and yet getting little in return is a common issue which plagues the U.S. healthcare system and was illustrated quite convincingly by Shannon Brownlee’s book. Americans get more procedures, interventions, imaging, and tests but aren’t any healthier.
In fact they are often worse off. Too many unnecessary back surgeries. Too many antibiotics for viral infections, which aren’t at all impacted by these anti-bacterial therapies. Too many heart stents which typically are best used when someone is actually having a heart attack. Research shows that those that are treated with medications do just as well. As all patients with cardiac stents know, they also need to be on the same medications as well.
Eliminating unnecessary treatments is a good thing, particularly when it is based on science. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Saving Money and Surviving the Healthcare Crisis*
June 8th, 2010 by StaceyButterfield in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, Research
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We’ve been slacking in the “Medical news of the obvious” department lately. Seems like research has been either actually newsworthy or so obvious that you could spot it yourselves (for example, the continuing investigations of whether smoking and being lazy are bad for you).
But we couldn’t let this one slide by: “A new study that analyzes what would happen if a person were to eat 2,000 calories of foods that are advertised on the tube,” as HealthDay describes. As even the average Saturday morning cartoon viewer could have predicted, the food in commercials turns out to be bad for you. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Hospitalist*
