Patient

The balancing act between science and art is what makes medicine so challenging

Patient
January 27, 2010

Medicine is at risk from a technology takeover.

Consider hospital rounds, for instance. Records are electronic, and doctors have to sort through data from an increasing number of diagnostic tests, like laboratory values and imaging results. Even before stepping into a patient’s room.

Stanford’s Abraham Verghese continually reminds doctors about what’s most important: the patient before us. In fact, his essay published a few years back in the New …

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Talking to a patient, without a translator, in mutual non-native languages

Patient
January 22, 2010

“Je m’a…,” I stuttered to Aristede Mezondes, the serious young man in a grey wool overcoat, standing before me with ramrod posture. “Je m’appelle Dr. Ofri.”

There. I’d gotten it out.

The language of Descartes, Voltaire, and Balzac had clearly vacated my cortex. Despite those years of French classes and one brief visit to Paris, “Je m’appelle” was the best I could come up with. And even that was a struggle. Pushed …

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Obese college students are reading health related spam e-mails

Patient
January 22, 2010

Most people automatically filter out spam e-mails, or delete them without ever opening them up.

But a surprising number of people actually take the time to read them, which is probably why annoying spam will continue unabated. From the New York Times’ Well, Tara Parker-Pope writes points an interesting study looking at who actually read health-related spam e-mails.

Looking at college students who were overweight, a study showed that an …

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How a doctor’s office can affect patient trust

Patient
January 17, 2010

Originally published in MedPage Today

by Marianne Mattera

Trust is an essential element in the doctor-patient relationship.

You’re well aware of how important it is that you can trust the history the patient gives you. You know the problems that can arise in planning and managing care if you’re working with only part of the story. And you probably even feel a twinge …

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We are becoming a nation of people with multiple chronic diseases

Patient
January 15, 2010

by Monte Ladner, MD

Many Americans are resolving that this will be the year they finally lose weight. Sadly, most of them will reach the end of 2010 heavier than when they started. We continue losing the weight loss game because our efforts are misplaced. The issue is lifestyle.

Dr. Dana King of the Medical University of South Carolina recently published two papers on the erosion of American lifestyle …

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When should patients call doctors by their first name?

Patient
January 6, 2010

According to a recent study from the BMJ, more than half of patients preferred that doctors call them by their first name.

But what about doctors? Do they mind if patients didn’t address them with a proper title?

In a piece from the New York Times, physician Anne Marie Valinoti notes some discomfort when patients addressed her as “Anne Marie”:

How does one address one’s physician? It is almost always an …

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Why patients should be careful of celebrity medical advice

Patient
December 31, 2009

More celebrities are giving medical advice these days.

Rahul Parikh explores the phenomenon in a recent piece from Slate, citing Lance Armstrong, Suzanne Somers, and Jenny McCarthy, among others.

But does their celebrity make them an authority in a given medical issue? Unfortunately, too many people think so, as following celebrity medical advice can be dangerous

Their messages have led some doctors and patients to make inappropriate health decisions, at times increasing …

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How to tell a family that their loved one has died

Patient
December 30, 2009

by Tim Noonan

When a team misses out on an opportunity to go to the Super Bowl, World Series, Final Four, or something similarly trivial, these words may be appropriate. When the person, who has been the center of your life dies, what is more insensitive than, We’re sorry for your loss?

What kind of language is that to use when providing some of the worst news we could imagine? True, we …

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10 ways patients can save on health care costs

Patient
December 22, 2009

It’s beginning to look like health care consumers are going to have to take lowering health care into their own hands since no answers are coming down from above.

Here are ten tips for lowering your costs.

One, encourage your employer to offer a health savings account with a high deductible. Encourage the employer to pay half the deductible. Your premiums will be much lower, and your employer will save up to …

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How doctors can show respect to patients

Patient
December 18, 2009

“Angelina Gomez,” the medical assistant hollers out to the crowded waiting room. As always, I cringe when I hear this. It sounds so harsh, so cattle-like. I know that the assistant is actually a gentle and caring person, and I understand that he uses a loud voice so that he can be heard over the general din of a large waiting room.

Nevertheless it feels horrible to me, so demeaning, like …

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Patients using internet health information without physician guidance

Patient
December 16, 2009

The advent of the internet, combined with social media, has made everyone experts and has increased the disdain for authority.

No where is that more apparent than the firestorm that surrounds vaccines and its detractors.

The Los Angeles Times’ James Rainey writes a column on the phenomenon, observing the backlash against a well-written, nuanced piece debunking the link between vaccines and autism.

But as we know, those who already believe there is a …

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How doctors can stay up to date with current medical information

Patient
December 14, 2009

Originally published in MedPage Today

by Todd Neale, MedPage Today Staff Writer

With the amount of research being published in medical journals and presented at meetings, it should not be surprising when a new finding slips by a busy physician.

Nor should it be surprising, then, that some decisions about patient care might be made without benefit of the most recent evidence.

Although experts …

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Poll: How to control costs in end of life, or terminal, care

Patient
December 14, 2009

It’s estimated that up to 30 percent of the 50 billion dollars Medicare spends on end of life care has no meaningful impact on patients.

Is there a rational way to control costs when it comes to terminal care?

Most patients want to spend their last days at home, but 75 percent die in either a hospital or nursing home. Almost 20 percent of terminal patients end up in intensive care settings.

Worse, …

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Doctors need to take care of themselves, for their patients’ sake

Patient
December 11, 2009

by Nancy Rappaport, MD

In order to be truly effective in our work, we physicians need to conduct our own personal exploration, take time for introspection, and replenish our personal reserves. Part of our job is to balance the demands of our work (be they finding a cure for cancer, caring for terminally ill patients, solving the problems of healthcare or delivering twins—whatever our calling may be) with caring for ourselves. …

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How to talk with your family about end of life care

Patient
November 26, 2009

Like last year, I’m participating in the Engage with Grace blog rally. I’ll be signing off until Monday. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.

Last Thanksgiving weekend, many of us bloggers participated in the first documented “blog rally” to promote Engage With Grace – a movement aimed at having all of us understand and communicate our end-of-life wishes.

It was a great success, with over 100 bloggers in the healthcare …

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Patients should be careful when doing online health information research

Patient
November 23, 2009

With the majority of American patients using the internet to research their health, it’s essential that they be guided to reputable sources of information.

Better Health’s Val Jones, in a recent presentation at the e-Patient Connections 2009 Conference, starkly framed the problem in a creative limerick, presented Pecha Kucha-style.

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Discharged from the hospital without answers; the death of Jane Q. Patient

Patient
November 20, 2009

We found out that her real name was Cindy Chapman, and that she died alone and afraid.

Cindy was a paralegal, an activist and a fighter of lost causes who lived in Worcester, Massachusetts. She was part of an online community called RATEMDs, where she had many soul mates. Her posts on health care were funny and cynical and wise. Her screen name was Jane Q. Patient.

My wife, Pam, was especially …

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Are older nurses being forced out of the profession?

Patient
November 20, 2009

Originally published in HCPLive.com

by Colleen O’Leary, RN, MSN, AOCNS

Last time I talked about how I had never really experienced the concept of nurses eating their young in action.

However, I have seen the opposite begin to evolve. I see this as a bigger issue in nursing these days. The “putting out to pasture” of seasoned, experienced nurses is happening more often …

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Learn how to conduct a family meeting by using a structured approach

Patient
November 16, 2009

On my last day of ward attending, I handed out an EKG that resembled the Dow Jones industrial average over the last 10 years (not pictured). The normal pattern of an EKG was completely disrupted: ST segments were markedly elevated, P waves were hidden, and beats were grouped in odd patterns. My medical team laughed and shook their heads.

I asked why.

A brave intern responded that he was completely at a …

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The decision not to test is often the more difficult choice

Patient
November 12, 2009

Ordering that head CT scan is the easy way out.

In a piece from Newsweek (via Bryan Vartabedian), Yale emergency physician Christopher Moore details a common scenario: should he order a CT scan in an asymptomatic 15-year old who was hit in the back of the head while playing soccer?

Dr. Moore encapsulates his thought process: “In a case like this, evidence shows the chance of a life-threatening injury is vanishingly small. …

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