If you’ve seen the news recently, you know that emergencies can happen unexpectedly in communities just like yours, to people like you. We’ve seen tornado outbreaks, river floods and flash floods, historic earthquakes, tsunamis, and even water main breaks and power outages in U.S. cities affecting millions of people for days at a time and now Hurricane Irene is coming. Health care professionals should be ready too.
I was …
So you’re not having a heart attack like your wife thought. That’s the good news. But what is wrong, what did cause that pain, and what should you do from here on out?
That’s the purpose of discharge instructions, and it’s not enough for the ED staff to just print out some forms, say “sign here,” and send you on your way.
What constitutes good discharge instructions, and why are they critical …
Whether you are going to the hospital for an outpatient procedure or whether you will be admitted to the hospital for medical illness or surgical procedure, there are certain things you must know and certain things you must do in order to ensure that your reasonable expectations will be met.
Today, healthcare is criticized by the public as too high on technology and too low in touch. Computers take patients histories, provide differential diagnoses, and even supply educational materials to patients. A new specialty, tele-medicine, offers healthcare services to rural areas that were previously underserved or couldn’t afford the latest diagnostic technology.
A humorous story about technology occurred when a patient’s secretary called to say that her boss was too …
I was a medical researcher for several decades, investigating an unusual, but not rare, condition called infective endocarditis. I found the disease fascinating, primarily because of how understanding it could unlock many secrets of the endothelial cell, the cells lining all our blood vessels. I chose my research subject because it interested me and I thought I could do some good studying it. This is the case for …
When a patient shows up for a doctor’s appointment with a companion, I often find myself studying (and later, interacting with) them as much as I do the patient. Most times, a quick review of body language is all I need to make an assessment – is this person looking out for the interests of the patient? Are they here begrudgingly, or out of concern? Are they indifferent, or …
Seniors spend a lot of time at hospital ER’s. Now, a small but growing number of hospitals in the US have built ER’s especially for the aging patient – with wider hallways, motion detectors, hearing and visual aids. To me, this is long overdue.
Older patients are avid consumers of emergency medical services. Older people make up a significant percentage of the total population of ER patients. A 2008 Read more…
A 44-year-old man came to my office to begin Suboxone in hopes of stopping his injecting heroin. He was raised well by married parents, whose other four children have not indulged in narcotics.
He lives with a friend, unable to contribute to rent while “not working” yet somehow he affords $50 per day for narcotics through (self-admitted) hustling (comprising: working as one tentacle of the drug-dealers’ network, shoplifting, borrowing with no …
My family, my friends and my patients think being selfish is bad. I bet you do, too. I used to think so, as well. Twenty seven years in practice has taught that being selfish is good. Actually, selfishness is essential to an individual’s health.
Today, I saw a selfless young woman who was ill. She had an assortment of complaints. She had not felt well in months. If she was the …
“Be a fountain not a drain,” an expression used by baseball announcer Rex Hudler, is one that has motivational content particularly in terms of an individual included as part of a team.
I would suggest that this expression would be appropriate when considering a basic team in medical practice: the doctor-patient relationship. It is critical in most clinical situations that both the doctor and the patient assume responsibility for making …
I was working in an urgent care clinic when I walked into the exam room to see my next patient. He was a six-year old who primarily spoke Spanish, with some broken English. Jose’s mom was with him, she only spoke Spanish.
I sat down and picked up the phone receiver to contact our translator service. With the Spanish interpreter on the line I was able to proceed. I then asked …
Regret is a harmful emotion. Regrets are best avoided. Its one thing to regret buying a stock that plummets. It’s another to regret that you ever smoked because your chest x-ray shows a large tumor.
People often don’t appreciate what they have until they’ve lost it. When you’ve lost your health, you will regret its loss for the rest of your (shortened) life. Imagine that you were supposed to take your …
Despite this culture’s obsession with good health, people get sick.
This piece is based on a story I tell in my book.
In 2001, I got sick with what the doctors initially thought was an acute viral infection. I have yet to recover. Diagnosis: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome—a little-understood illness that is as debilitating as its more justly named cousins that also compromise the immune and neurological systems. My case is particularly …
ADVERTISEMENT
As a patient, and reader of KevinMD.com, I’d like to respond to a recent piece, Doctors face difficult choices to save Medicare.
The funny thing about this entire situation is that people refer to numbers. Numbers that consist of how much doctors are in debt when actually entering into the working world, how much Medicare reimburses or pays annually, how many patients are actually on Medicare, and how much …
I am an enigma. I always have been. Some doctors think of me as a challenge while others make it clear they dislike dealing with my case. I’ve had gastroparesis since I was born. Idiopathic gastroparesis. I’ve had debilitating migraines since I was 3. Idiopathic migraines. I’ve had several-month bouts of low grade fevers for years. Idiopathic fevers. Over the past 6 months I’ve started going into anaphylaxis. Idiopathic anaphylaxis.
Every …
I was working as a PA in an internal medicine office seeing patients. One afternoon, I was in the clinic hallway when I saw an elderly looking wife in her 60s actually pushing her husband into the next exam room. He had his heels dug into the floor, but she was winning, due to his obvious shortness of breath and audible wheezing.
I walked in behind the medical assistant who …
ADVERTISEMENT
I am utterly sick of the myth that living a healthy lifestyle will prevent illness.
The story goes …
There are multiple costs to non-compliance, including financial, both personal and societal, and physical-emotional. When patients fail to comply with treatment protocols, fail to get prescribed tests, or fail to stop destructive behaviors, there is a societal cost.
Today, I want to address the physical and emotional costs of non-compliance. I just read a brilliant article by Roxanne Sukol, MD. Dr. Sukol’s article discussed the fact that diabetes starts …
I had a “wow” experience recently when I accompanied my wife to interview a new doctor for her. As some reader may know she is being seen by specialists at MD Anderson Medical Center in Houston for Stage IV lung cancer. She has not had a local oncologist for the past 6 years, but she does now. And we both love this guy!
You need to understand that I have …
ADVERTISEMENT
A guest column by the American Society of Anesthesiologists, exclusive to KevinMD.com.
As patient safety advocates responsible for monitoring vital signs, managing pain and safeguarding a patient’s overall health through the surgical process, anesthesiologists are committed to informing patients about the anesthesia experience. The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) and the Michigan Society of Anesthesiologists (MSA) have launched a new public education campaign to help patients better prepare and …
Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.
