Originally published in MedPage Today
by Crystal Phend
Aid appears to still be trickling in to Haiti, making little headway against the swelling need for food, water, and medical care after last Tuesday’s earthquake.
With a projected death toll between 100,000 and 200,000, the dead bodies piled in the streets — and reportedly even being incorporated into roadblocks by angry Haitians …
How soon should the dead be buried in Haiti?
by George Van Antwerp
In the pharmacy and pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) business, there are lots of reasons to reach out to a physician:
* Drug-drug interactions
* A chemically equivalent version of the drug prescribed is available
* A therapeutically equivalent version of the drug prescribed is available
* The prescribed drug is not covered
* A prior authorization is required
* The patient is required to try an alternative drug first (step therapy)
* The prescribed …
How should pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and pharmacies communicate with physicians?
Originally published in HCPLive.com
by Jeffrey Gene Kaplan, MD, MS
In a given year in the U.S., 1/4th of US men and 2/5ths of US women attempt to lose weight, unfortunately, they often fail to keep the weight off.
Sobering statistics that we see all around us, particularly poignant in my office as a pediatrician. Clearly a multifaceted approach is required, but the most …
A comprehensive plan to fight obesity begins at an early age
The momentum and enthusiasm in the mobile technology world is, these days, clearly with Google.
The question for many people is whether to go with the reigning champion of the mobile device world (arguably Apple) or to take a chance on the challenger. The Nexus One, the flagship of the Android family of mobile devices, was unveiled to much fanfare in …
What doctors need to know about Google Android and Nexus One
The current (first generation) Apple iPad probably won’t run a robust electronic health record (EHR).
However, it may run some iPhone/iPod touch EHR/EMR apps. I think most physicians will prefer to use a standard tablet PC instead of the iPad. However, given that a large percentage of physicians are not using the tablet in the outpatient office setting, perhaps …
10 ways an Apple iPad can help doctors improve patient care
We have a new EMR system. I like it because I type well. I’m facile at using a keyboard and touch-screen. Not everyone in my group is so blessed, and we’ve had some difficulties using the voice-transcription software. Nevertheless, my gut tells me that in a month or two more, we’ll be getting along with our new system swimmingly. It’s the sort of thing I have wanted for a while, …
EMRs can slow medical charting by requiring too much information
Originally published in MedPage Today
by Kristina Fiore, MedPage Today Staff Writer
Physicians may be too quick to medicate children suspected of having attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
The etiology of the disease is not well understood, and while some cases may have neurological causes, children may respond to psychotherapy instead, Esther Fine, PhD, a psychoanalyst in private practice in Los Angeles, told …
Why doctors are too quick to prescribe drugs for ADHD
Originally published in MedPage Today
by Michael Smith, MedPage Today North American Correspondent
The strain of caring for a disabled spouse is associated with an increased risk of stroke, researchers found.
The risk is increased for men, and especially African-American men, according to William Haley, PhD, of the University of South Florida, in Tampa, and colleagues.
On the other hand, there was no significant …
How the stress of caregiving can lead to stroke
by Michael Kirsch, MD
Choose the best answer.
To stimulate organ donation, we should provide organ donors with:
* Cold, hard cash
* Upgrades to business class on any flight within the continental United States for 1 year
* College tuition discounts for up to 3 children
* Income tax relief
* First row Bruce Springsteen concert tickets
* A certificate of appreciation
There is a reason that we don’t ask families of kidnapped victims what our policy should …
Should society consider purchasing and selling tissues and organs?
Originally published in HCPLive.com
by Colin Crawford
The Steve Jobs iPad Tablet media show held at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco was always going to have a hard time living up to the ridiculous pre-launch hype that’s been circulating around the Web.
Steve’s presentation was more moderate than at previous product launches as he tried to manage expectations positioning …
5 reasons why Apple’s iPad will have trouble in health care
Here are two vignettes illustrating the failure of doctors to master the obvious and maybe a window onto the future struggles to control medical costs.
A 90-year old is referred for care due to “end stage dementia.” End-stage dementia is medical speak and as such does not really convey the appropriate imagery. It means a skeletal man, in a wheelchair or mostly in bed, with diapers, who has does not know …
How can doctors stop drugs prescribed by other physicians that are no longer effective?
What can physicians do to make American a better place to live, die, afford, and receive care? What can we do to bring about practical reform? What can we contribute?
These may seem odd questions, After all, we deliver care. Care goes through us. But Medicare, Medicaid, and private third parties are big players. They dictate terms of engagement and payment. But the answers lie at the core of the physicians’ …
How can doctors make America a better place to live?
Originally posted in MedPage Today
by Mike Himowitz
I have a libertarian streak that compels me to shout “Nanny State!” when local governments put up speed-trap cameras to extort money from otherwise law-abiding citizens who drive a few miles over artificially low limits. Same for legislators who want to make me a criminal for calling my wife on my cell phone to ask her if I should pick up anything at …
Will New York’s ban on salt really make patients healthier?
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I must admit I’m a little weary of the entire debate on health-care reform. But something still haunts me. And that something is accountability. Of course, over the almost twenty years that I have borne the title ‘MD,’ I’ve learned a few things about accountability.
I understand that, almost without fail, the buck stops with me. The nursing home director knows the elderly lady wasn’t seriously hurt in that fall, but …
Nobody will be held accountable if healthcare reform fails
The march is on across the American healthcare landscape to implement electronic health records that also function as decision-support systems.
These “advanced” electronic health records will both provide centralized records and assist providers in making care decisions such as implementing therapy and utilizing evidence-based practice on the individual patient level. And anyone that has had the opportunity to work with some of the systems out there knows that they can be …
Why health IT won’t help with medical risk management
Early last year, my boss Talmadge King and I were at an ABIM meeting (we’re both on the board), and the group was debating a controversial topic. Another participant at the meeting, like Talmadge the chair of a prominent department of medicine, said, “We polled 250 people at our grand rounds last week, and they said ‘X’.” The audience gasped – ‘X’ was a completely unexpected …
How to make your medical grand rounds thrive
Originally published in HCPLive.com
by Ed Rabinowitz
There’s a great scene in the movie The Big Chill where the main characters are having a discussion on the topic of rationalizations. One individual comments that he doesn’t know anyone who could get through the day without two or three juicy rationalizations. That may be true. But when a rationalization involves taking things from the office or workplace, and that office just happens to …
How to stop theft from your medical practice
Originally published in MedPage Today
by Emily P. Walker, MedPage Today Washington Correspondent
President Barack Obama’s State of the Union speech Wednesday night will likely focus on job creation and the economy and not — as many Democrats once hoped — on congratulations for the passage of healthcare reform.
In the week following the election of Republican Scott Brown to the U.S. …
How President Barack Obama’s State of the Union speech will impact healthcare reform
Johns Hopkins Hospital is consistently named one of the best in the country. I can’t disagree with that; after all, I just started working there as an internist in September. Coincidentally, in the midst of the raging debate around health care reform, the past few months have seen increasing discussion of a small but crucial question: why do some of the best hospitals spend more money than others? If other …
How should patients decide which hospitals are best for them?
I’ve been given permission to deliver the National Consortium of Breast Centers (NCBC) position statement. It does a far better job with a critique of the USPSTF Screening recommendations than I did when I shared my first thoughts. As the President for the NCBC, I want to acknowledge the work done on behalf of our organization by our Policy Chairpersons, Drs. John Bell and Barbara Rabinowitz, both of whom are …
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