Part time vs. full time
If you are a patient, you are a patient 24 hours a day. Your doctor works 8, 10, 12 hours a day, more or less. This leaves you with no way to contact your doctor for 12-16 hours a day - never mind...
View ArticleLeapâs profanity/narcotic quotient
Leap’s quotient  The number of F-bombs used is inversely proportional to the chance of receiving narcotic analgesics in the emergency department.  That is, # F-bomb=1/narcotic Rx (Source:...
View ArticleCome Sit in My Seat With Me
As most of you who read this blog regularly know, I am plagued by sacroiliac joint pain. I have other problems but today, since I am lying here on a painful behind and have been intensely trying to get...
View ArticleDoctors better than patients at spotting skin cancer
Not only are doctors more likely to find melanoma than patients, but they tend to find them earlier, when they are easier to treat. That’s the finding of a study out this week in the Archives of...
View ArticleThe Importance Of Social Media In The Medical Field
Recently, I had the pleasure of being surrounded by brilliant health care thought leaders. First, I delivered a social media presentation at the Eyeforpharma conference. Secondly, I sat in the...
View ArticleThe History of Medicine
THE HISTORY OF MEDICINE 2000 B.C. - "Here, eat this root." 1000 B.C. - "That root is heathen, say this prayer." 20 A.D. - "That prayer is good, but you have to pray in my name me to get through to...
View ArticleGetting Along With Nurses
Last week, in my post titled Doctors & Nurses, K8 left this comment/question: I’m about to start the journey of medical school. If you had to give advice to someone just starting, what would you...
View ArticleSo whats your medical history?
Do you even know your medical history? Could you write it down and give it to your doctor? I know the doctors always ask if you have had or if there is any family history of about twenty different...
View ArticleGood news on disability: or âdisability.â
Good news on disability:Â or should I say ‘disability.’ Anyone working in social services or medicine (well, anyone with half a cerebrum and some rational thinking capacity mixed in with their...
View ArticleWhich Generation Of Physicians Uses The Most Mobile Technology?
Smartphones and tablets have reached 80% of physicians across all practice types, locations and years in practice, and 25% of users are “Super Mobile” physicians who use both types of mobile devices....
View ArticleSurgery Journal July 2011 emphasizes importance of social media for...
My attention was drawn to a series of articles in the July 2011 subscriber-reserved issue of Surgery concerning the importance of social networks for the medical profession. Each author explains why...
View ArticleThe Stories In Medicine That Need To Be Told
I canât help but think that as time passes weâll forget about how much medicine has changed with the introduction of the Internet. Â Weâre witnessing a transition that hasnât been seen in...
View ArticleI have a patient to send you! The safety net is tearingâ¦
Last night I was contacted by a physician in the local urgent-care.  I like him, and we made polite, but brief, conversation. ‘So, are you guys busy?’ I gave him the status report. ‘Well, yeah.Â...
View ArticleDoctors
Usually when you visit the doctor, the hospital personnel and medical staff all seem to be on the healthy side. There may be a few exceptions but hospitals seem to be full of doctors and nurses and...
View ArticleYou Get to Choose Your Doctors
I write often about how it is important to work with doctors you like and can trust. I was reminded of this last week when I had my four-month oncologist appointment. I love my oncologist, Dr. Khan. He...
View ArticleInfographic about Doctors' Use of Technology
++ Click to Enlarge Image ++Image Source: Spina Bifida Info.com (Source: Denise Silber's eHealth)
View ArticleHealth Care Attorney Warns About HIPAA Privacy Issues In Social Media
This is the first of a three part post addressing the legal concerns of social networking in the health care arena. Legal expert, David Harlow, Esq., Health Care Attorney and Consultant at The Harlow...
View ArticleA failure to communicate - and why does the patient suffer?
This story was told to me about a friend of a friend. This woman was suffering from back pain so she went to her doctor. The doctor said we can help you by putting rods in your back. Her surgery was...
View ArticleNew Program At USF Health Hopes To Mold More Empathetic Physicians
Can we teach empathy to the next generation of physicians? Â The University of South Florida Health thinks so and theyâre putting it on the line this week with the launch of the SELECT program, a new...
View ArticleA quarter of heart surgeons âabove averageâ in updated ratings
Eighty-one of 323 surgical groups that perform heart bypass surgery got three stars (above average) in updated ratings published today by Consumer Reports and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons. In...
View ArticleTreatmemt options
In treating any kind of ailment, you always seem to start with a doctor. You hope the treatment will work but sometimes its not the treatment that is the problem, it could be your doctor. If you are...
View ArticleTreatment options
In treating any kind of ailment, you always seem to start with a doctor. You hope the treatment will work but sometimes its not the treatment that is the problem, it could be your doctor. If you are...
View ArticleDiagnosing And Fixing Blocked Tubes
Diagnosing a blocked tube is easy by taking a careful medical history and obtaining an x-ray demonstrating blocking of the fallopian tubes. Fixing the tube is not always easy but advanced outpatient...
View ArticleMourning on the road home
We are called by Christ, among other things, to mourn with those who mourn, to weep with those who weep. This sometimes happens, suddenly and briefly, in the emergency room. I was sitting at my desk...
View ArticleEmployment Report Shows Health Care Added 31,300 Jobs
The U.S. economy added more jobs than expected last month. And the health-care industry showed particular strength, with 31,300 new jobs — higher than the average monthly increase seen in 2007, before...
View ArticleLimiting work hours: residents and parents?
The American College of Graduate Medical Education has enacted further restrictions on resident work hours. No more than 80 hours per week of work for resident physicians, averaged over one month.Â...
View ArticleHealth Care Attorney Discusses The Use Of Disclaimers On Facebook Pages
This is the third part of a three part post addressing the legal concerns of social networking in the health care arena. In part one, legal expert David Harlow, Esq., Health Care Attorney and...
View ArticleAntidepressants Overprescribed in Primary Care
Antidepressants have long enjoyed a reputation as being a quick and “easy” treatment for all types of depression — from a mild feeling of being a little down, all the way up to severe,...
View ArticleToo Many Non-Psychiatrists Prescribing Antidepressants?
Almost 80% of antidepressants are prescribed by non-psychiatristsâand almost three-quarters of these prescriptions arenât accompanied by a formal psychiatric diagnosis, Psych Central reports....
View ArticleBody-imaging chain fined for unnecessary medical scans
Colorado health officials levied a $3.2 million fine against Heart Check America for performing unnecessary X-rays and CT scans on consumers without a licensed doctor's request or oversight. The...
View ArticleExpanding the Healthy Patient â Doctor Relationship
Patient Doctor Relationship It seems like this topic keeps coming up in my online and social media reading. Basically, the discussion usually centers around the role the patient plays in healthcare....
View ArticleThe Physician-Patient Partnership, an interview with Catherine Cerisey
For today, Silber's blog presents Catherine Cerisey, a French patient advocate and author of her blog "after my breast cancer", « après mon cancer du sein ». Since we launched the health 2.0 chapter...
View ArticleHow interconnected are we?
At Doctors 2.0 & You, the "& You" referred to the fact that the health care system is (or should be) a very, if not fully, interconnected world. However, this is still a work in progress. To...
View ArticleBeing A Doctor Is A Lot Like Being A Parent: You Canât Tap Out
The American College of Graduate Medical Education has enacted further restrictions on resident work hours. No more than 80 hours per week of work for resident physicians, averaged over one month.Â...
View ArticleShould Doctors Want Their Patients To Use The Web To Stay Informed?
Recently, Iâve had an interview with a national newspaper and the woman who performed the interview told me she was surprised that I seemed to be the first doctor in her life who was happy about...
View ArticleClinicians, fear the e-patient no more ; read this scholarly publication....
Are e-patients, -- as for example, online patient bloggers or members of an online patient community -- attempting to serve as "amateur doctors" for other online patients? Those who read this blog know...
View ArticleIts time to work on delivery again
There are manufacturing shortages periodically for just about everything. They are worse now that most manufacturers are using the 'just in time' model where nothing sits on their shelves for any...
View ArticleWhy Physician Ratings Arenât Quite Adequate Yet
âMost physicians are competent and able to take care of most of the problems patients present with. The standards for getting into medical school are high and for getting out are higher. I think...
View ArticleWould you sue your doctor?
I don't think I would sue anyone unless I really felt they had done something wrong - like operated on the wrong body part. After I read this article I felt like I am the only one who wouldn't. These...
View ArticleThe Greater Pain Scale
On a scale of one to ten, What is your loneliness? Think of one as a day when your Family was out shopping, Laughing, going to movies, but You were sick in bed. Ten is Like everyone you knew Perished,...
View ArticleDoctors as human beings
Sometimes us patients may not believe it but our doctors are human beings. Well most of the time, some times they seem to be sadists as they perform 'medical adventures' on semi-sedated patients who...
View ArticleDon't call me Mrs.
I have noticed in recent years, maybe its because I got married or maybe its because I have been going to the doctor so often, that they call me Mrs R at the doctor's offices. After 6 1/2 years of...
View ArticleMany doctors and nurses embrace alternative medicine
Your doctor or nurse might be more likely than you to turn to dietary supplements and alternative therapies such as acupuncture and chiropractic care, according to a recent study in the journal Health...
View ArticleYes, favorable internet evaluations be purchased.
While internet rating sites for physicians in the US have been around for a number of years and a number of specialized sites are now part of the online health landscape (HealthGrades, RateMDs, and...
View ArticleShifting GeoPolitics of Online Physician Communities (purchase of...
How would you describe the universe of online physician communities? Up until today, there were two historic categories, those launched within the borders of one country and those, generally more...
View ArticleManaging Information Overload In The Age Of Unlimited Information
Perhaps the biggest challenges facing the next generation of physicians is information overload. The problem: Unlimited information on limited human bandwidth.  Thereâs simply too much to read and...
View ArticleAs you would have done to your kids
I think a lot about the slow, certain dissolution of medicine as we know it. Mental health issues crowd emergency departments, as few mental health clinics are available. Psychiatrists are in short...
View ArticleMisdiagnosis Happens All The Time: Tips To Avoid It
Billionaire Teddy Forstmann has apparently been diagnosed with a serious form of brain cancer. Thereâs a tragic twist to the story: according to Fox Business News, Forstmann believes that for more...
View ArticleTwo of the worst words of all
: ‘Not now.’ (This column first appeared in the Greenville News, but I re-wrote and expanded it for my EMN readers in the September edition. So here it is with a few special thoughts for the...
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