Op-ed: Social media can enhance the doctor-patient relationship

Social Media in Medicine
February 13, 2010

A version of this op-ed was published on January 27th, 2010 in the USA Today.

Raise your hand if you’ve ever left a physician’s office without fully understanding what the doctor just told you.

Studies show that half of patients admit to not understanding what their doctor told them during an office visit; and more than 75% of emergency room patients acknowledge not fully grasping instructions given to them.

As a primary …

Read more…

Op-ed: Social media can enhance the doctor-patient relationship

How overly aggressive cancer awareness can backfire

Conditions and Diseases
February 12, 2010

The American Cancer Society has designated this weekend “Suits and Sneakers Awareness Weekend,” as part of the annual Coaches vs. Cancer program that will feature well-dressed basketball coaches wearing “sneakers instead of dress shoes with their usual game attire during weekend games to demonstrate their support for the Society and the fight against cancer.” The idea is to encourage people to exercise and eat a healthy diet to reduce their …

Read more…

How overly aggressive cancer awareness can backfire

Thoughts from a doctor attending a patient funeral

Patient
February 12, 2010

On the way to the funeral you wonder how you’ll be received by the grieving. Although you are confident that your care for the deceased was sincere, professional, and adept, you still question if others will so assume. There is silence in the car. This is a trip you make alone.

You manage a bitter smile as you recall stories the patient shared in unguarded moments, behind the door of a …

Read more…

Thoughts from a doctor attending a patient funeral

Neuroscience explains why changing addictive behavior is so difficult

Conditions and Diseases
February 12, 2010

Originally published in MedPage Today

by Kristina Fiore, MedPage Today Staff Writer

By the end of January, many New Year’s resolutions have been tossed out with the leftover holiday cookies. That’s because change is hard — and neuroscientists are learning why.

Advances in neuroimaging have enabled researchers to peer inside the brains of addicts and patients with addictive behaviors. They can see in …

Read more…

Neuroscience explains why changing addictive behavior is so difficult

Why Haiti disaster relief efforts cannot be applied domestically

Social Media in Medicine
February 11, 2010

Like most people, I’ve found the news and images coming from Haiti in the aftermath of the January’s earthquake appalling and upsetting.

The sheer amount of devastation and orders of magnitude loss of life make the story compelling by itself. Coupled on top of Haiti’s ignominious history, the situation touches us for its Job-like quality: ”How much misery can one people withstand?”

I’ve been pleased at the outpouring of support for Haiti. …

Read more…

Why Haiti disaster relief efforts cannot be applied domestically

AMA: Why patients should care about fixing the Medicare physician payment cut

Health Policy
February 11, 2010

The following is part of a series of original guest columns by the American Medical Association.

by J. James Rohack, MD

Prominently displayed at the top of the AMA’s Web site this week is a “countdown clock” to this year’s 21 percent Medicare physician payment cut, which will hurt physicians ability to care for all Medicare and …

Read more…

AMA: Why patients should care about fixing the Medicare physician payment cut

Doctors are responsible for a minority of medical mistakes in radiation therapy

Physician
February 11, 2010

The New York Times recently featured a disturbing expose of serious medical errors associated with the newest forms of high tech radiation treatment, entitled, Radiation Offers New Cures, and Ways to Do Harm. The piece is an example of excellent medical journalism, compelling stories of two individuals who sustained truly horrifying injuries as the result of treatment errors framed a detailed investigation of similar errors that have occurred in New …

Read more…

Doctors are responsible for a minority of medical mistakes in radiation therapy

Doctors have an ethical obligation to treat complications from a transplant operation performed abroad

Conditions and Diseases
February 11, 2010

Originally published in MedPage Today

by Kristina Fiore, MedPage Today Staff Writer

Patients who travel to foreign countries for organ transplants may return with more problems than they left with — and physicians here have a moral responsibility to treat them, researchers asserted in a transplant journal.

“Medical tourism” has been on the rise as demand for organs outpaces supply and U.S. …

Read more…

Doctors have an ethical obligation to treat complications from a transplant operation performed abroad

When doctors can’t figure out what’s wrong with a patient

Conditions and Diseases
February 10, 2010

Part one of a series.

The first patient I ever saw as a first year resident came in with a litany of complaints, not one of which I remember today except for one—he had headaches. The reason I remember he had headaches isn’t because I spent so much time discussing them but rather the opposite: at the time I knew next to nothing about headaches and somehow managed to end the …

Read more…

When doctors can’t figure out what’s wrong with a patient

How will the earthquake affect the future of the Haitian American community?

Physician
February 10, 2010

Marleine Bastien is the founder and executive director of Fanm Ayisyen Nan Miyami–Haitian Women of Miami–www.fanm.org, which advocates for the rights of Haitian women. She is also a congressional candidate for U.S. House District 17, representing Little Haiti and other neighborhoods in Miami. Erin N. Marcus spoke with Bastien on Jan. 22 about the Haiti earthquake.

What has FANM been doing since the earthquake?

As soon as we heard about it, …

Read more…

How will the earthquake affect the future of the Haitian American community?

Similarities between H1N1 flu pandemic conspiracies and the Y2K bug

Conditions and Diseases
February 10, 2010

Originally published in MedPage Today

by Mike Himowitz

When I read Michael Smith’s account of European politicians taking WHO to the woodshed for allegedly conspiring with vaccine makers to overinflate the danger from H1N1 pandemic flu, I was reminded of a similar — and equally silly — argument that occurred exactly a decade ago.

In the early days of 2000, you …

Read more…

Similarities between H1N1 flu pandemic conspiracies and the Y2K bug

Not enough patients receive vaccines and what doctors can do about it

Medications
February 9, 2010

Imagine a world where consumers all knew about the latest developments in preventive health.

Earlier this month the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) released the 2010 immunization schedules. Revised annually, the immunization schedules are what doctors in the U.S. use to decide who should be immunized against what diseases. Far from esoteric, the schedules pertain to every single person living in the United States. If the H1N1 pandemic and subsequent …

Read more…

Not enough patients receive vaccines and what doctors can do about it

How fame has corrupted Dr. Mehmet Oz

Social Media in Medicine
February 9, 2010

The newest media doc on the block is Dr. Mehmet Oz. When he was first seen on Oprah, he seemed engaging and answered some interesting questions in a real and professional way. The audience loved his blue scrubs and boyish clean cut open style.

That was then.

Let’s face it . . . the media spotlight seems to corrupt even the best physicians. Dr. Oz now has his own show and …

Read more…

How fame has corrupted Dr. Mehmet Oz

ADVERTISEMENT

Increasing copays will increase costs for health insurance companies in the long run

Health Policy
February 9, 2010

Originally published in MedPage Today

by Todd Neale, MedPage Today Staff Writer

Raising seniors’ copayments for ambulatory care to offset increasing healthcare costs may backfire on insurers, researchers asserted.

Seniors enrolled in Medicare plans that increased copayments had significantly fewer outpatient visits but spent more time in the hospital than patients in plans that left copayments untouched, according to Amal Trivedi, MD, …

Read more…

Increasing copays will increase costs for health insurance companies in the long run

The power of a doctor’s choice of words in explaining CPR

Conditions and Diseases
February 8, 2010

Words have power. Language has power.

The words we use may comfort or shock, allay or provoke, sooth or batter. Words often imply layers of meaning that are not explicitly articulated, yet rest beneath the surface:

“I worry that time is short for you” (You are dying) (I care about you)

“I wish we could have done more” (Nothing would have changed her death) (I am on your side)

“I hope with you that …

Read more…

The power of a doctor’s choice of words in explaining CPR

An anesthesiologist accused of making up trial data pleads guilty to federal charges

Medications
February 8, 2010

Originally published in MedPage Today

by John Gever, MedPage Today Senior Editor

A Massachusetts anesthesiologist accused of fabricating data in studies of pain drugs will plead guilty to federal criminal charges under an agreement with prosecutors.

Scott Reuben, MD, a well-known pain researcher at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Mass., was charged with one count of healthcare fraud.

Early last year, the hospital …

Read more…

An anesthesiologist accused of making up trial data pleads guilty to federal charges

How hypertension increases the risk of dementia

Conditions and Diseases
February 7, 2010

Originally published in MedPage Today

by John Gever, MedPage Today Senior Editor

Another study has found that hypertension may contribute to increased risk of dementia, this time with evidence of actual brain abnormalities.

Data from an offshoot of the Women’s Health Initiative found that participants’ baseline blood pressure was strongly correlated with volume of lesions in their brains’ white matter, according to Lewis …

Read more…

How hypertension increases the risk of dementia

What is the biggest risk for soldiers fighting overseas?

Conditions and Diseases
February 6, 2010

Originally published in MedPage Today

by John Gever, MedPage Today Senior Editor

More than 85% of American military medical evacuations from the Middle East were not the direct result of enemy action, but the result of non-battle injuries and disease, researchers said.

Of some 34,000 military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan who shipped out for medical reasons from 2004 to 2007, only …

Read more…

What is the biggest risk for soldiers fighting overseas?

Telling a patient story and the issues facing physician writers

Social Media in Medicine
February 6, 2010

There is a veritable epidemic of doctor-writers out there. What is going on?

Are doctors suddenly in the kiss-and-tell mode? What about confidentiality? Professionalism? HIPAA?

As one of the aforementioned doctor-writers, I look upon this trend with both awe and trepidation. I suspect that that this flourishing literary phenomenon relates to the public’s fascination and fear about all things medical. It also relates to the falling away of previous, pedestal-like images of …

Read more…

Telling a patient story and the issues facing physician writers

When doctors are at greatest risk of making a mistake

Physician
February 5, 2010

Early in my training as a glider pilot my instructor showed me an excellent but simple analogy for ensuring my safe performance as a pilot. I have always remembered this lesson, which he called the ‘accident slope’, and have tried to apply it to my method of practicing medicine, as well as the other ‘dangerous’ activities for which I have an affinity.

“Accidents and mistakes are seldom the result of one …

Read more…

When doctors are at greatest risk of making a mistake

1562
pages