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California’s proposition 46: What motivates doctors and lawyers

Physician

October 15, 2014

Is it about physician drug testing? Is it about allaying the pain and suffering of families of patients whose outcomes have been devastating and tragic? Is it about the compensation of the legal counsel who represent those families and patients?

Truthfully, I don’t want to talk about 46. I think the issue is very much deeper and the process that underlies medical malpractice litigation has consequences for individuals and society that …

Nurse Nina Pham is a hero: Stop blaming her

Sarah Beth Cowherd, RN

Conditions and Diseases

October 15, 2014

nina pham

The director of the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia apologized for implying that the nurse in Texas was responsible for her own infection with the deadly Ebola virus. This comes less than two weeks after hospital officials from Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital and other prominent officials blamed a different nurse for releasing the patient with Ebola from the emergency …

Breast cancer awareness: It’s more than mammograms

J. Leonard Lichtenfeld, MD

Conditions and Diseases

October 15, 2014

It’s October and that means we are about to see a lot of pink for the next 31 days. And virtually all of the work comes down to one simple -some might say overly simple-message: Get a mammogram.

But as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (NBCAM), begins, I find myself one again asking some difficult questions: Are we …

8 tips for spiritual assessment in the hospital

Lizzy Miles, MSW

Patient

October 15, 2014

As part of the admission process for a hospice patient, the admission team will ask the patient about their spiritual orientation and/or religion. Because there is so much information and education to convey at the admission, the discussion of a patient’s spiritually may only be minimally discussed. It is important for the hospice team to be aware of a patient’s spiritual orientation because it can affect their choices regarding treatment …

Ebola in Texas: A fascinating story of system errors

Vamsi Aribindi, MD

Conditions and Diseases

October 15, 2014

Ebola is in the United States! Everybody (please don’t) panic! Quarantine all Texans! Though that might be a good idea anyway (just kidding). More on Ebola in general in another post if I have time.

First off though, we’ve found out more information about the sequence of events leading to the hospitalization of the patient, Thomas Duncan. Apparently, he came …

See Ebola through the eyes of the virus

David L. Katz, MD

Conditions and Diseases

October 14, 2014

As you no doubt know, Ebola has been brought to the U.S.

Predictably, this has resulted in a media feeding frenzy, rumination, recrimination, and the familiar blend of hyperbole and hysteria that tends to populate those infamous 15 minutes during which any given crisis holds our attention.

No, we are not suddenly at risk. As the media coverage spells out, …

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See Ebola through the eyes of the virus

An ER missed Ebola. Here’s how it could happen to you.

Edwin Leap, MD

Physician

October 14, 2014

How did the emergency department staff of a Texas hospital see, and discharge, a patient infected with Ebola? Despite the fact that blame spreads through hospitals faster than hemorrhagic fever viruses, I’m not interested in pinning down a single person or a single thing, which may have allowed that to happen. I am very interested, however, in offering a few insights …

Spurring a movement for patient and family-centered care

Peter Pronovost, MD, PhD

Physician

October 14, 2014

Earlier this year, our hospital staff was weighing a new 24/7 family presence policy to allow immediate family members to stay with patients 24 hours a day. We knew this was a step in the direction of delivering patient- and family-centered care.

We presented the proposal at a meeting of our patient and family advisory council. One of the members of the council told a story that drove home the importance …

Almost a convert: Donating one’s body to science

Ted Beal, MD

Medical Education

October 14, 2014

During most of my career as a psychiatrist, I haven’t often dealt directly with death. For the past five years, though, I have had the privilege of spending two days a week treating service men and women returning from deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq. Listening to their stories and talking with them about their war experiences, I’ve spent much more time thinking about death and dying.

Despite this, I was shocked …

Open Payments: Detailing the media’s witch hunt

Margalit Gur-Arie

Health Policy

October 14, 2014

Physicians, whether practicing medicine or not, should not be involved in clinical research. They should never be consulted on development of new drugs and medical devices. Doctors should not invent new treatments, and should never supervise clinical trials. They should not travel to or speak at conferences either, and they should banish all entrepreneurial notions out of their heads. If they insist on engaging in these activities, they should do …

Ebola: We need to act, rather than respond

Kevin R. Campbell, MD

Conditions and Diseases

October 14, 2014

Thousands of people have travelled from West Africa to the U.S. in the last 6 months. While the CDC and others throughout the Obama administration continue to reassure everyone that the U.S. is 100 percent prepared for an outbreak, potential cases and exposures continue to surface all across the country.

In Dallas, the first confirmed case of Ebola has passed away. Even more concerning is the fact that the patient initially …

Staying healthy: More than an annual physical

Davis Liu, MD

Conditions and Diseases

October 13, 2014

Having a healthy life is more than getting an annual physical examination. It is about having healthy habits. Some of these healthy habits make common sense. Others seen unnatural, but yet are vitally important.

A healthy life is more than feeling well. It is about living life to the fullest and ensuring you are doing your part to improve both your quality of life and longevity.

Which ones are you missing?

How do …

What the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders can teach us about hiring doctors

Trina E. Dorrah, MD

Physician

October 13, 2014

I’ll admit it. I like reality TV. In fact, one of my favorite reality TV shows is Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team. It shows what it takes to become a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader (DCC). Why am I talking about cheerleading in a health care blog? Because the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders put more effort into hiring cheerleaders than most health care …

Ebola in the ER: What you should and shouldn’t worry about

Darria Long Gillespie, MD, MBA

Conditions and Diseases

October 13, 2014

As an ER doctor, right now I’m thinking a lot about Ebola — it’s in the news, in my inbox, and in questions from my patients. Whether it’s an outbreak, a flu epidemic, or a bombing — we in the ER see them first, and so I’m always thinking about how we’ll be ready.

So, what concerns me, and what doesn’t?

Ebola patients in the …

How to communicate with patients who have dementia

Edward Leigh

Patient

October 13, 2014

All health care professionals must be skilled at effectively communicating with patients who have dementia. Some professionals may erroneously assume that only those employed in long-term care, assisted living facility, and other similar places need these skills. However, patients with dementia visit medical practices, acute care hospitals and other health care centers. This article will provide a framework to effectively interact with patients who have dementia.

Go along to get along

This …

Why your doctor won’t refill prescriptions over the phone

Michael Kirsch, MD

Medications

October 13, 2014

Giving prescription refills is not quite as fun as it used to be. Years ago, we doctors would whip out our prescription pads — often sooner than we should have — and we’d scribble some coded language that pharmacists were trained to decipher. I’m surprised there were not more errors owing to doctors’ horrendous penmanship. On occasion, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would require a pharmaceutical company to change …

Why do doctors still use pagers?

Fred N. Pelzman, MD

Physician

October 12, 2014

I was on call last night.

Don’t get me wrong, this is not as bad as it sounds.

With over 20 partners sharing evening call, and residents getting the calls first, we do not have it bad at all. And certainly nothing like my obstetrician friends, who seem to go in every time they are on call for labor and delivery and then …

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Why do doctors still use pagers?

Don’t call me a “prescriber”

Maria Yang, MD

Physician

October 12, 2014

Please don’t call me a “prescriber.” Yes, I know it’s easier to say “prescriber” than “psychiatric nurse practitioner or psychiatrist.” The word “prescriber,” however, puts severe limits on what I can do and how I can help.

You may believe that, because I have a license to prescribe medications, that’s all I choose to do. In fact, you may believe that’s all I know how to do.

Psychiatrists can do a lot more than that.

As a …

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Don’t call me a “prescriber”