April 7th, 2010 by DrRob in Better Health Network, Opinion, Primary Care Wednesdays, True Stories
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If there is a central theme to this blog, it is this: Medicine is a human thing.
On the Facebook page of my podcast, I recently asked for readers to tell me some of the “war stories” they have from the doctor’s office. What are some of the bad things doctors do wrong? I quickly followed this with the flip side, asking readers to comment on the best interactions that they’ve had with their doctors.
The response was overwhelming, and equally quick to both rant and rave. They told stories about doctors who didn’t listen, explain, or even talk with them. They told about arrogance and disconnectedness from the people from whom they were seeking help. They also told about doctors who took extra effort to listen and to reach out in communication. They talked about doctors who genuinely seemed to value them as humans. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Musings of a Distractible Mind*
April 5th, 2010 by Medgadget in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Research
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Researchers from the Medical Device Safety Institute at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington in Seattle have published an article in the latest New England Journal of Medicine suggesting technological and regulatory actions that they hope will increase the security and privacy of implantable medical devices.
As has been reported earlier, implantable pacemakers, defibrillators, and similar devices are subject to wireless hacking that may influence their functionality. Although a lip-smacking target for devious hackers, an actual incident where a person’s implant has been interfered with is yet to be reported.
NEJM: Improving the Security and Privacy of Implantable Medical Devices…
Flashback: Implant Hacking Possible, Not Probable…Yet
*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*
January 20th, 2010 by Bryan Vartabedian, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy
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This picture from 3G Doctor is remarkable. It captures the flier of a Merck supported Mexican Medmobile initiative that apparently connects patients with their doctors via SMS (translation available on 3G Doctor Blog.)
But don’t expect fliers of this type in American offices anytime soon. Risk of privacy violation and difficulty in documentation stifle this level of
doctor-patient connectivity. The very laws created to protect patients may ultimately thwart the timely adoption of new communication channels.
And the slow march towards a single payer system will only make real connectivity a rare bird.
Look to the groundswell in mobile technology and social platforms will force change in our current privacy laws. Until then look for innovation to come from the second and third world.
*This blog post was originally published at 33 Charts*
January 15th, 2010 by KevinMD in Better Health Network, Opinion
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Thanks to Medscape for including my take in their recent article, “Is Twitter a “must” for doctors?”
I discuss some common sense tips doctors should follow while using Twitter:
1. Patient privacy is paramount. Do not discuss individual cases or provide patient advice via Twitter.
2. Use Twitter to point your patients to trustworthy online health information sources.
3. Use Twitter as a tool to promote your practice’s brand. More and more patients are using Twitter; those who do are likely to feel positive about their physicians using it as well. More than just a fad, Pho says that Twitter is here to stay and offers tremendous potential.
4. Remind your patients using Twitter: Be careful whom you follow. Anyone can sign up for Twitter claiming to be a physician. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at KevinMD.com*
January 5th, 2010 by PhilBaumannRN in Better Health Network, Opinion
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- Image by sirwiseowl via Flickr
Disclosure: I’m fascinated with Technology in general and social software and communities in particular. I’m one of Twitter’s biggest fanboys (here’s proof). I blog and tweet often about these media because I believe it’s important that we understand our relationship with Technology (and for me, Technology is more than just gadgets – for instance: I consider Law, Democracy, Religion and Capitalism technologies – but that’s another post).
I also believe that we need better or more original conversations about the Web and its deepening influences on our lives, our businesses, our sciences and our health care. Social Media pundits (or however they refer to themselves: gurus, evangelists, mavens) for too long have held the dominant voice in these discussions.
One phenomenon which our Web has engendered is the ability for virtually anyone to express their opinions and experiences and perspectives in accordance with their mastery of media. And therein lies a pesky issue: one’s accumulation of social attention for a particular field doesn’t always correlate with their expertise.
Over the last decade, many brilliant contributors have offered important and refreshing perspectives on the promises of the web. But some of these ideas have yet to be vetted and validated by closer scrutiny and scientific inquiry. The truth is not always intuitive. It’s easy, therefore, for appealing ideas to have fundamental flaws. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at phil baumann online*
