Blogs
The Impossible Workload For Doctors In Training
April 19, 2013 8:45 am | by Dr. Pauline Chen, M.D. | CommentsYou can’t keep asking these young doctors to do more and more work in less time without affecting patient care. Until we address the problem of overwork, we’re just playing a shell game. Something more substantial needs to be done to deal with the problem of overwork for young doctors.
‘Good’ Patients, ‘Bad’ Patients
April 17, 2013 9:50 am | by Dhruv Khullar | CommentsAs we continue to carry out the Affordable Care Act and enter a new era of tremendous change, we must confront our natural tendencies to favor patients we find pleasant — especially when it comes at the expense of those we find less so.
The Fallout Of Chance Medical Findings
April 16, 2013 9:19 am | by Kevin R. Campbell, M.D. | CommentsThere will always be controversy when it comes to using diagnostic tests for routine screening of asymptomatic patients. Ultimately, we must continue to take a reasonable and academic approach to testing. We are still going to discover the “incidentaloma."
Doctor-Owned Hospitals Prosper Under Health Law
April 15, 2013 10:07 am | by Jordan Rau | CommentsThe hospitals, many of which specialize in heart or orthopedic surgeries, have long drawn the ire of federal lawmakers and competitors. They say physicians often direct the best-insured and more lucrative cases to their own facilities, while leaving the most severely ill patients to others.
Increasing The Role Of Nurse Practitioners In The Inpatient Setting
April 12, 2013 9:46 am | by Gene Uzawa Dorio, M.D. | CommentsThe doctor shortage will have a profound effect on every community attempting to receive adequate medical care. Using existing resources like NPs will bridge the healthcare gap, but this must be done wisely and carefully to assure patient care is not compromised.
Awareness About Intraoperative Awareness
April 10, 2013 8:40 am | by Nina Singh-Radcliff, M.D. | CommentsMedia coverage of this issue has resulted in the medical community proactively addressing and researching methods to prevent, identify, and treat intraoperative awareness. In fact, mindfulness about intraoperative awareness is a good thing, especially when it is discussed factually and is not sensationalized. Here are some facts every patient undergoing general anesthesia should know.
My Surgery: A Casual Disregard For Patients
April 9, 2013 9:34 am | by Trudy Lieberman | CommentsI really had no choice of hospitals. If I wanted my trusted doctor to do the operation, I would have to go where he recommended. However, my patient experience made me aware of how many places in the chain of care where mistakes can occur.
The Movement For Medical Price Transparency Is Happening
April 8, 2013 9:46 am | by G. Keith Smith, M.D. | CommentsTransparent pricing is necessary for any concept of value to have meaning, and to send appropriate signals concerning scarcity or abundance. Non-transparent pricing is a hallmark of command economies. There can simply be no meaningful competition when the prices aren’t transparent and known up front.
Rethinking Centers Of Excellence (And Other Well-Laid Plans)
April 5, 2013 9:55 am | by Pauline Chen, M.D. | CommentsHealthcare policy is a moving target; and the most effective measures endure as “best practices” only until new research points the way to even better approaches.
The Costs Of Emergency Room Cost-Cutting
April 3, 2013 9:54 am | by Pauline Chen, M.D. | CommentsSimply stated, there is one significant drawback: patients can't predict the urgency of their diagnosis based on initial symptoms alone.
Surgical Smoke: Is It Dangerous To Your Health?
April 2, 2013 9:10 am | by Skeptical Scalpel | CommentsSome groups, particularly nursing organizations, are calling for the placement of smoke evacuators in all operating rooms. As you might suspect, these efforts are being vigorously supported by the manufacturers of smoke evacuators. I attempted to find some real evidence about all this, but it is hard to come by.
Consider New Treatment Options For Aortic Stenosis
April 1, 2013 9:25 am | by Steven R. Gambert, M.D. | CommentsNo choice is without risk for the high-risk surgical patient with significant aortic stenosis.
How Diminishing Returns May Render The Surgical Timeout Ineffective
March 29, 2013 9:31 am | by Jeffrey Parks, M.D. | CommentsPerformance of a group timeout (of which I am actually a strong proponent) has quickly become the standard of care at most American hospitals prior to initial incision. But the bureaucrats have taken a good idea and muddled it up in layers of unnecessary complexity. The simple timeout has been expanded and diversified.
A Bridge To Health — And Away From ER Overuse
March 27, 2013 9:29 am | by Nancy Wang | CommentsThere are patients in almost every hospital emergency room who do not need urgent care. They are there because they don’t have health insurance or a regular physician, or they didn’t know what else to do. Often, they are repeat visitors. It’s a problem that leads to emergency department overuse and contributes to spiraling health care costs.
Only One Company Can Deliver The Perfect EMR: Google
March 26, 2013 9:36 am | by Rob Lamberts, M.D. | CommentsWhat constitutes a "good" EMR? Here are the things I think are most important.
