It’s commonly thought that health care in the United States is heavily dependent on diagnostic testing.
But how do we compare with the rest of the world? Perhaps these graphs, courtesy of the New York Times can provide a stark illustration.
Here’s the data regarding CT scans, showing the number of tests per 1,000 people. Guess which country’s on top:
The rapid advance in digital video and still camera technology has found its way into the operating room.
There is the potential to capture and record just about every minute of every surgical procedure in some way. The newest endoscopic camera systems and operating microscopes have integrated systems to record video footage. Storing all that data is just the press of a button away.
The advantages for surgeons are obvious, like the …
As the first decade of the 21st century comes to an end, it is interesting to look back and reflect on the most significant medical advances we’ve seen. I’d like to present 12 medical advances that I consider to have been the most important over the past decade, and I’d like to ask you, the wider world, to contribute in two ways:
– Add your nomination in the comment field regarding …
It’s common knowledge that fewer medical students are entering primary care and that patients are having a hard time finding a primary care doctor. Part of the reason is that insurance companies place little value on much of the work that primary care doctors do.
Even though physicians’ complaints are seen in the medical and lay media, it is rare to see descriptions of a primary care physician’s “typical day” in …
Two years ago, I wrote about the case of Julie Thao, the Wisconsin nurse sent to prison for a medication error. I argued then that – although Julie bypassed some safety rules – she most certainly did not deserve jail time.
Along comes another case involving jail time for a medical mistake, this one featuring an Ohio pharmacist named Eric Cropp. I became aware of Eric’s case through the efforts of …
Originally posted in Insidermedicine
The eye is very similar to a camera. Both are optical systems that have lenses in the front to focus light rays onto a film. The retina is the eye’s film. It is a tissue that consists of 10 layers and is about 500 microns thick—or, half a millimeter. The main function of the retina is to trap light rays, convert them into electrical impulses, and send …
I practice in the rural, northwest corner of South Carolina, also known as “The Upstate.” It is a place of expansive lakes, white-water rivers and the mist covered foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The area includes thousands of acres of Sumter National Forest. The natural beauty is breathtaking. Sumter National Forest and our various parks are laced with hiking trails, which are lined with unique plants and trees, some …
Among the many differences between the U.S. and the French health-care systems is the approach to medical training. While U.S. medical school graduates in 2008 had an average debt of $154,000, French medical students receive their training virtually for free. For example, first-year medical students at the Faculte de Medecine Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris have only one mandatory cost for this year: an enrollment fee of $264.
The amount …
A version of this op-ed, co-written with Doug Farrago, was published on October 26th, 2009 in Medscape.
It’s tough to be a doctor these days. Whether it’s listening to the difficulties of our medical colleagues as they try to best care for their patients, or engaging other health professionals about the uncertainties surrounding health reform, we’ve noticed a tense, sometimes gloomy, atmosphere among physicians.
A recent survey from the Annals of Internal …
Originally published in MedPage Today
by Chris Emery, MedPage Today Contributing Writer
Complications from first trimester abortions performed by family practitioners are rare, and family doctors could help address abortion provider shortages across the U.S., a new study found.
Among more than 2,500 abortions performed by family physicians, abortion was successful without complications in 96.5% of patients using medications (95% CI 95.5% …
The Wall Street Journal and other sources reported on a study from the Annals of Internal Medicine that showed that most US doctors don’t know the guidelines of how often women should get a pap smear. More importantly, doctors were doing a lot of pap smears on women who didn’t need them. In all the talk about health care reform, reducing costs by eliminating unnecessary testing has been mentioned multiple …
At the American Heart Association meeting in Orlando, the results of the ARBITER 6-HALTS study were released. No Vytorin was used in the study, but I am sure that all the headlines will mention Vytorin.
The actual study published ahead of press online in the New England Journal of Medicine. Essentially, they enrolled over 200 patients from Walter Reed and Washington Adventist who had known heart disease or were at …
I recently cared for a patient who raised my heart-rate a bit. Of course, any emergency physician will tell you, the potentially difficult and complicated cases often come at the end of the shift, as you’re trying to clean up all of the paperwork and ‘head for the house.’ Nurse Ginger came to me and said, ‘we need a doctor in room 11.’ I snarled, snatched the paper, grumped and …
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Originally published in Insidermedicine
Nearly half of women who undergo surgery and other treatments for breast cancer report having persistent pain in and around the treatment area a year or more later, probably because of nerve damage, according to research published in the November 10 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
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by Paula Hartman Cohen
Have we overlooked the public health aspect of health care reform?
In the health care reform debate, we’ve heard and read how health care reform will or will not work, what it will or will not cost, and how it will or will not impact each one of us as individuals.
We’ve also heard from those who have great faith in our current system, and sincerely believe we should …
by Michael Kirsch, MD
This is a less controversial issue than patients ‘friending’ their doctors on Facebook, which I oppose. Although most physicians’ offices are not e-mailing with patients, perhaps they should. There are several obvious advantages.
* Decompress phone lines, which are suffocating nearly every medical practice in America.
* Relieve patients of the cruel and unusual punishment of languishing on ‘hold’ listening to elevator music or dead air.
* Allow office staff …
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by an anonymous radiologist
I recently read the article and comments on this link from this post, concerning radiologists, from Musings of a Dinosaur.
I was disturbed to discover the animosity with which this topic is covered. The tenor of the blog is that radiologists are greedy, self-serving and are out to erode the doctor-patient relationship. The suggestion that radiologists would schedule percutaneous breast biopsies for their financial enhancement is both …
by Chris Emery, Contributing Writer, MedPage Today
A large number of U.S. medical schools say students have posted unprofessional material on Web sites such as MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter, but few schools have adequate policies in place for dealing with such behavior, a new study found.
Of 78 U.S. medical schools that responded to a survey, 60% reported incidents of …
Caster Semenya is the South African track and field star who recently was engulfed in controversy at the recently concluded World Track and Field Championships.
Turns out, there are some who are questioning her gender, and subsequently, tests are being conducted to see if she is really a woman.
It’s not as cut and dry as it appears.
Consider the possibility of Read more…
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Recent reports have said that Michael Jackson died from a propofol overdose. Is that really the case?
Here’s what happened, according to the published timeline.
— At about 1:30 a.m., [Dr. Conrad] Murray gave Jackson 10 mg of Valium.
— At about 2 a.m., he injected Jackson with 2 mg of the anti-anxiety drug Ativan.
— At about 3 a.m., Murray then administered 2 mg of the sedative Versed.
— At about 5 …
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