Horrible.
Perry doctor killed by patient
SUSPECT HAD BEEN REFUSED PAIN PILLS EARLIER IN DAY
By Dori Hjalmarson, Bill Estep and Karla Ward – dhjalmarson@herald-leader.com
CORNETTSVILLE — A man seeking prescription painkillers shot and killed a doctor at a Perry County medical clinic Tuesday morning, according to state police. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at GruntDoc*
When a patient decides they are leaving against medical advice what responsibility does the physician have to their care? When I was a resident in training, and even early on in my position as a hospitalist, I would get a call from the nurse that Mrs Smith was demanding to leave the hospital against medical advice. I would tell the nurse “Fine. Let her go. I’m not her father.” I would tell the nurse to discharge Mrs Smith with no medications and leave it up to them to find follow up.
I would suspect this is a prevalent attitude for many hospital and emergency based physicians. I’ve seen it over and over again. And I still see it today. Many doctors and nurses feel obliged to let grown men and women make poor decisions. However, being a grown man or woman able to make poor decisions is apparently not enough to keep a doctor for being sued and losing that lawsuit because a patient chose to make poor decisions. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at A Happy Hospitalist*
Part 1 in a series on the e-patient and participatory medicine
There’s no question that today’s patients are savvy. Today’s patients are e-patients. Surrounded by technology, researching health information on the Internet has never been easier. Patients are engaging in communities and social networking sites and the exchange of information between patients has proven invaluable to some.
When patients visit their doctor and other health care professionals, many are armed with questions and they are not satisfied until they get answers. Patients are empowered and they want to be engaged in a relationship with their doctors and other health care professionals. They want respect, collaboration and connection. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Health in 30*
They say that breaking up is hard to do
Now I know, I know that it’s true
Don’t say that this is the end
Instead of breaking up I wish that we were making up again
There are times that relationships need to end. Usually something happens to undermine trust; it’s hard to build trust, but it’s very easy to destroy it.
I had a discussion today with the other physicians in my practice as to when patients should be “discharged” from our practice. I have always found it somewhat ironic that we use the term “discharge” when we are basically telling patients we don’t want them to be our patients anymore. Doctors deal with discharges of various sorts – most of which are not pleasant. Here is a dictionary definition of discharge: the emission of pus, mucus, or other liquid from an orifice or from diseased tissue. True, there are other definitions of discharge that don’t cary that connotation (we discharge patients from the hospital), but if I see an appointment on my schedule with the word discharge as part of the reason for visit, I am not excited. I am praying for a no-show. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Musings of a Distractible Mind*
I have a lot of friends in Boston this week who are attending the annual meeting for the American Academy of Family Physicians (ie – Congress of Delegates or AAFP CoD). And, they may not be too happy with what they read in this post, but here goes.
As some of you know, I’m scheduled to present at BlogWorld Expo (BWE) later this week in Las Vegas. I’m going to be moderating a panel about how patient privacy and the HIPPA law can impact blogging, podcasting, and interacting with social networking. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Doctor Anonymous*
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