August 30th, 2011 by Lucy Hornstein, M.D. in Health Policy, Opinion
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Race is a medically meaningless concept.
Spare me the few tired cliches about prostate cancer, diabetes, and sarcoidosis being more common in blacks than whites, or even the slightly increased risk of ACEI cough in patients of Asian descent. We screen Jews of Ashkenazi descent for Tay Sachs without any racial labeling. All that information is readily accessible under the Family History section of the medical history. It is no more than custom which dictates the standard introductory format including age, race, and gender. It turns out I’ve blogged about this before at some length (pretty good post, actually). What is new is the advent of electronic medical records.
Much hullabaloo has been made about federal stimulus funds allocated to doctors as payments for adopting EMRs; “up to $44,000!” Here’s the problem with that figure, though, including how it breaks down (source here): Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Musings of a Dinosaur*
August 28th, 2011 by GarySchwitzer in Health Tips, News
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After seeing the NBC Nightly News last night, a physician urged me to write about what he saw: a story about a “simple blood test that could save women’s lives.”
Readers – and maybe especially TV viewers – beware whenever you hear a story about “a simple blood test.”
And this is a good case in point.
Brian Williams led into the story stating:
“Two of three women who die suddenly of cardiac heart disease have no previous symptoms which is all the more reason women may want to ask their doctors about a blood test that can be a lifesaver.”
Then NBC News chief medical editor Dr. Nancy Snyderman said:
“It’s not a new test, it’s not an experimental test but nonetheless it’s a test not a lot of people know about and that’s a problem because this simple blood test could save your life.”
The test in question is Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Gary Schwitzer's HealthNewsReview Blog*
October 21st, 2010 by Berci in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Research
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More than a year ago I wrote about AccessDNA, which now changed focus and became Inherited Health. Jordanna Joaquina, M.S., C.G.C., Director of Genetics and Co-Founder of Inherited Health, shared what kind of changes they implemented into the site:
— We have created an easy-to-use and secure tool that allows people and their biological relatives to collectively create and update their family health history together.
— We then analyze the family history information to create a personal health guide, which identifies hereditary disease risks and provide actionable guidance about how to lower these risks for each family member.
— We also provide a summary of the family health history that can be printed and shared with doctors and helps avoid repeatedly filling out health history forms at doctors office and improves the accuracy of the information provided because of collaborative family effort.
Click HERE to see an image of a whole health report, with all the details and disease risks.
*This blog post was originally published at ScienceRoll*
August 10th, 2010 by EvanFalchukJD in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Health Tips, Opinion
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You have a right to your medical record. It’s true –- the record of every test and procedure you’ve had done, any films or studies, your doctors notes — it’s all yours if you ask for it. But it’s not that simple.
If you’re sick, your “record” is likely in pieces in lots of different places. Some of it is in paper files and computers in the offices of each of your doctors, or in the clinics where you had a test or procedure. It’s in multiple computer systems in a hospital, or in a folder in a radiology department, a container in a pathology department, or the computer system of a pharmacy. Each of these places has their own policy or procedure if you want your record. There are forms you have to fill out, fees you have to pay, time you have to wait.
So while you have a “right” to your records, for practical purposes, you’re going to have a very difficult time actually getting them. (By the way, this is something our team at Best Doctors does very well.) But let’s say you actually get all of your medical records. Now what? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at See First Blog*
August 8th, 2010 by DrWes in Better Health Network, News, True Stories
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This occurred after a liver, heart, lung, and kidney transplant:
Allison John, 32, made medical history in 2006 after she received her fourth organ transplant — a kidney from her father, 61-year-old David John, to add to her previous heart, lung and liver transplants.
A life plagued by illness and frequent hospital visits has not deterred John from her dream of becoming a doctor, however. After 14 years of interrupted study, she finally received her medical degree from Cardiff University last month, according to the U.K. press.
Wow.
-WesMusings of a cardiologist and cardiac electrophysiologist.
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes*
