In other words...abbreviations, acronyms, and other healthcare shorthand - health literacy
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In Other Words...Abbreviations, Acronyms, and Other Healthcare Shorthand - Health Literacy: "Frank Federico, RPh, is concerned about abbreviations and acronyms from a patient safety point of view. Federico is content director for the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in Cambridge, Massachusetts. One area that particularly concerns him is the use of abbreviations for medications.Federico says one of the more serious safety concerns is the fact that the meaning of an abbreviation may differ from one hospital to another. For example, depending on where you work, “MTX” could stand for either “methotrexate” or “mit...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - May 7, 2008 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
In other words...helping patients separate true health information from false - health literacy
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In Other Words...Helping Patients Separate True Health Information From False - Health Literacy: "Use external aids to improve accurate recall. To aid recall, Skurnik recommends the use of memory aids such as note taking, supplemental reading material, or using another person as a “second set of ears.” Memory aids can help to offset the fact that people may remember just bits and pieces of claims, especially when the situation — or context — is rushed, harried, or otherwise distracting, as is often the case in a clinical setting." (Source: The Patient's Doctor)
Source: The Patient's Doctor - May 7, 2008 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
Medical travelers market - mapping the market for medical travel - health care - strategy & analysis - the mckinsey quarterly
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medical travelers market - Mapping the market for medical travel - Health Care - Strategy & Analysis - The McKinsey Quarterly: "Mapping the market for medical travel * Medical travel has captured the world’s attention and imagination, but a new McKinsey study suggests that the market isn’t as large as reported and that most medical travelers seek high quality and faster service instead of lower costs. * McKinsey places the current market at 60,000 to 85,000 inpatients a year, but these numbers could grow substantially if certain barriers, such as noncoverage from payers, were removed. Payers and providers looking...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - May 6, 2008 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
Challenging patients make our work interesting !
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(Source: The Patient's Doctor)
Source: The Patient's Doctor - May 6, 2008 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
The enquirer - text messages help teens with asthma
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The Enquirer - Text messages help teens with asthma: " Tylor Thomas, 16, has never counted how many text messages he gets in a day, but it’s a lot.Tucked in among all those shout-outs from friends, one potentially lifesaving message arrives every morning around 9 for the Winton Hills teen.“They just text me and tell me, ‘Hi. Don’t forget to take your asthma meds,’” Tylor said.He’s one of a handful of teens participating in a Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center pilot project to determine how well text-message reminders work to help teens manage their asthma.If text messages are an effective solu...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - May 6, 2008 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
Pleio health support systems
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Pleio Health Support Systems: "For millions of patients, new medications are often misunderstood or misused. Everyone has a parent, friend, brother or sister who fails to get the advice, encouragement or support they need when they need it. Most patients quickly abandon drug therapy; many times for the wrong reasons—and with serious consequences. Pleio brings people together to improve patients' experiences with new medications, for the benefit of patients, their families and the entire healthcare industry.Pleio GoodStart™ is a practical adherence support system for patients in the early adoption stage of a new medici...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - May 6, 2008 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
Personal health profiler: part 1 | trusted.md network
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Personal Health Profiler: Part 1 | Trusted.MD Network: "I’m going to delve into the details of a truly next-generation personal health record (PHR). As I discussed in my last post, this paradigm-busting software technology is a radical departure from current day applications. It addresses this question: How can a computer help an individual and his/her healthcare professionals understand how the person’s health, wellbeing and quality of life are affected by his/her: * Thinking processes (one’s beliefs, attitudes, perceptions, etc.); * Emotional processes (how one feels in different situations and why); * Behaviora...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - May 6, 2008 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
Hifi's and healthcare | trusted.md network
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HiFi's and Healthcare | Trusted.MD Network: "Specialty facilities can offer more expert care more quickly, and (perhaps) more cost-efficiently than traditional hospitals. They lack, of course, extended stay options; when my mother was recently hospitalized, she was taken first to the same facility as I had been, but had to be transported later that day to a 'regular' hospital. Still, we couldn't have known that at the time, and it seemed a reasonable choice.It seems to me that 'distributed healthcare' may be on the horizon. By unbundling services, providers can specialize more efficiently, which may lead to a reduction in ...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - May 6, 2008 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
All you wanted to know about adoption in india !
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NAAF, the National Association for Adoptive Families in India, has published an excellent guide for prospective parents who want to adopt a baby. Unfortunately, this is now out of print, so we've uploaded this to the web ! It's a free download - and is packed with useful information ! (Source: The Patient's Doctor)
Source: The Patient's Doctor - May 6, 2008 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
How information therapy can help to improve healthcare
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Traditionally, most of us think of Information Therapy as information which is prescribed by the doctor and administered to the patient. Actually, it can be much more than this !For one, Information Therapy can be dispensed by other healthcare professionals , such as pharmacists and X-ray technicians . At present, they are often underutilised. By getting them to teach patients, we can make more effective use of their skills. They much more likely to be experts in their area of interest ( for example, most pharmacists would know much more about drug interactions than the average doctor); and because they are much less intim...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - May 5, 2008 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
Costs of overtreating patients - los angeles times
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DOCTORS ARE frequently criticized for the things they fail to do. In general, they don't spend enough time on patient education, don't provide adequate preventive care and don't treat many chronic disorders aggressively enough.These shortcomings are well-documented. An equally important problem that attracts less attention, however, is doctors who do too much. Whether it's ordering an unnecessary test or advocating an aggressive form of treatment over one that's more measured, the result is the same. Patients wind up getting more than they need. (Source: The Patient's Doctor)
Source: The Patient's Doctor - May 5, 2008 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
Self indulgance and exercise
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I have many posts I've been meaning to do.... home births, non-compliance, the rising c-section rate, teaching residents, the fact that nobody ever listens to me (heh!), but instead of blogging about something important, today I'm blogging about me...So, I've been on prednisone for the colitis for most of the past year, with doses averaging at about 20mg, but on 10 mg for the past couple of months (ever since I saw New GI Doc). I'm not symptom-free on 10mg, but my symptoms are manageable and tolerable on that dose. It's not a very high dose, but there's still a difference (for me) in side effects in being on 10mg vs 0 mg o...
Source: Midwife with a Knife - May 4, 2008 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: jogging kicking Exercise Culture of Medicine Source Type: blogs
The democratization of health knowledge by steve denning, guest contributor « lisa neal
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The Democratization of Health Knowledge by Steve Denning, Guest Contributor « Lisa Neal: "Steve Denning wrote previously about The democratization of knowledge: anyone can know anything.“This phenomenon is particularly notable in the spontaneous formation of global communities of interest in the field of medical problems. Patients who were once at the mercy of doctors who had unique access to esoteric medical knowledge now find themselves able to contact other doctors and patients and explore their particular subject, gather new data, discover new leads for treatment, and learn how to cope with side effects. The emergin...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - May 4, 2008 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
Health 2.0 - modern healthcare online
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Health 2.0 - Modern Healthcare Online: "The first principle, O’Reilly says, is the software of a Web 2.0 company has to be Web-based, has to provide a service and that service has to be structured so that the more people use it, the better it becomes. He described it as 'an architecture of participation.' An exemplar is eBay; as more and more buyers and sellers participate, the broader the eBay market becomes, which creates more value to the customer.O'Reilly calls the second key principle 'harnessing collective intelligence,' which also is referred to by others as 'the wisdom of crowds.' To avail themselves of this wisd...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - May 4, 2008 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
The open-access medical office - seeing patients when they want to be seen helps you respond to their needs and stay competi
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The open-access medical office - Seeing patients when they want to be seen helps you respond to their needs and stay competitive. - Medical Economics: "How important is open access? It's one of the seven core components of the medical office of the future as envisioned by TransforMED, a practice redesign initiative of the American Academy of Family Physicians. If you want more proof, witness the burgeoning growth of retail clinics and urgent care centers that patients can visit at the drop of a hat. For medical practices to compete, they'll need to be just as convenient.Beyond delighting patients with quick service, open-a...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - May 3, 2008 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
Six word meme
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A long time ago, I was tagged by TBTAM for the six word memior meme. The instructions? Write a 6 word memior and tag 6 others. Catch a baby, watch the floor.I'll tag all three shrinks at shrink rap, someonetc, RLBates, and Mark's Tails. (Source: Midwife with a Knife)
Source: Midwife with a Knife - May 2, 2008 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Memes Source Type: blogs
Literacy partners of manitoba - plain language service
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Literacy Partners of Manitoba - Plain Language Service: "Literacy and Health Manual. This workshop manual introduces health providers to the links between literacy and health and offers strategies for reaching clients with low literacy skills. Another cool tool is the ClearDoc Index which is a handy plain language checklist." (Source: The Patient's Doctor)
Source: The Patient's Doctor - May 1, 2008 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
Dispensing patient information
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If we all agree that information therapy needs to be prescribed, how do we ensure that it is efficiently dispensed ? One solution would be to have a patient education resource Center at every point of clinical care. This would include the doctor's clinic ; the pathology laboratory ; the diagnostic center; the pharmacy ; and the hospital. When someone falls sick, these are their contact points with the healthcare system. Each of these represents an opportunity to educate the patient. We all know that in order for an information prescription to be effective , this information should be provided at the point at which the pati...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - April 30, 2008 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
The doctor is part of the patient's tool-box of dealing with illness
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One of the problems with modern healthcare is the excessive importance given to doctors. When patients fall sick , they are very happy to dump their problems on the doctors's lap and they expect him to provide a quickfix. Unfortunately , this is an unrealistic expectation; and gives rise to a lot of unhappiness and stress both for patients and for doctors.An illness is just an episode in the patient's life; and that while the doctor usually sees only a disease which needs to be treated and is fixated on fixing the medical problem, the patient has a life which is much more than just his illness.One way of putting the patien...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - April 30, 2008 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
Learning health from the scriptures:
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" It is often said that Indians are fatalists who leave everything to fate or to God. The excuse patients usually quote is: "Our religion tells us that bodily sufferings are a result of sins incurred in our past life". This excuse is used to avoid taking medicines or insulin, and to explain inertia on part of the patient. "My sugar levels are always 400: they will never come down." What do our scriptures actually teach us? Lord Krishna exhorted Arjuna to fight the Mahabharata, not to bow before his enemies. Lord Ram and Hanumanji fought Ravana and his army of demons. Hindu scriptures talk of Gods fighting 'asuras'( demons...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - April 29, 2008 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
Patient education in ancient india
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Patient Education in Ancient India " The treatise Sutrasthana mentions four essential parts of a successful treatment regime, known as The Quadruple of Atreya. The four components necessary to treat diabetes, or any other disease, are1.The Physician.2.Drugs.3.The Patient.4.Attendants. [ = Family = nurses]Just as successful cooking requires utensils, fuel /fire, food items and a cook, successful medicine requires all the above four. Similarly, the potter has to coordinate earth/clay, water and his wheel to create good pottery.And just as a strong table needs four equally stable legs to stand, all four components of the qua...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - April 29, 2008 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
Doctors , patients, problems and solutions
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Patients come to a doctor because they have a problem and want a solution. Doctors are fascinated by problems - especially those which are rare or complex. Differential diagnosis can be one of the most intellectually challenging parts of a doctor's practise - and since most doctors are intelligent, they love "cracking diagnostic conundrums" and interpreting scans and images. However, once the problem has been diagnosed and the disease given a name, many doctors lose interest, because treatment is usually quite cut and dried and not very intellectually stimulating. After all, zebras are fun to talk about while horses are bo...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - April 29, 2008 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
Why i don't think doctors should educate their patients
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I am a big believer in patient education . I feel this empowers patients and allows them to form a partnership with their doctors. All these years, I have advocated that doctors spend time on educating their patients, but I have now had to change my beliefs, and I no longer think doctors should educate their patients.Let me clarify.1. Most doctors are not good educators. They use complex medical jargon and are not able to simplify matters, so that that patients often cannot understand what they are saying.2. Doctors have not been taught how to teach patients , and this is not always an easy skill to acquire.3. Because doct...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - April 29, 2008 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
Microsoft says web 2.0 can give consumers more control over health care
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Microsoft says Web 2.0 Can Give Consumers More Control over Health Care: " Ben Flock, a Microsoft Healthcare & Life Sciences Industry advisor, told attendees during his closing keynote at Microsoft's Health & Life Sciences Developer and Solutions Conference, held April 22 through 24 in Atlantic City, N.J., that Web 2.0 technologies moved information out of isolated silos and into interlinked community computing platforms that function like software for users.Flock said applying those same concepts to the health care industry would provide tools that would allow for better and more relevant information sharing, coll...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - April 29, 2008 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
Virtual office visits appeal to patients, physicians, insurers -- orlandosentinel.com
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Virtual office visits appeal to patients, physicians, insurers -- OrlandoSentinel.com: "The cost to her for the online consultation: zero. Her insurance company, Cigna, paid Dienst $35 for the virtual office visit, and under her health plan Steinert had no co-pay (compared with a $20 co-pay for an office visit). 'I'm not into computers,' said Steinert, 57. 'But this was easy. It's a good idea.'It's a good idea for doctors, too, said Dienst, who is among the first physicians in Central Florida to conduct online, reimbursed consultations with patients. With three major health-insurance plans now reimbursing physicians for on...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - April 29, 2008 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
Payer pilots diabetes smart phone app
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Payer Pilots Diabetes Smart Phone App: "Owings Mills, Md.-based CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield will conduct a pilot study in which it will offer 260 patients mobile phone-based diabetes management software from WellDoc Communications Inc., Baltimore. The 12-month study seeks to evaluate the effectiveness of such disease management software on reducing Ac1 hemoglobin levels of patients with Type 2 diabetes.The application enables diabetic patients to enter their blood sugar readings into their mobile phone and receive real-time feedback on what they should eat and other ways they can help stabilize it. The software also can...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - April 29, 2008 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
Still alive
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Hey everybody, thanks for the inquiries. I'm still alive, just working a lot. I'm on clinical service right now, and working at least 12 hours/day, plus prepaying my call so I can take all of my vacation (I have 3 weeks left) in May/June.So, if you haven't given up on me, thanks for not giving up on me. If you have, well, then, that's your fault. More soon. I understand I get my life back at the end of the month. ;) (Source: Midwife with a Knife)
Source: Midwife with a Knife - April 28, 2008 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
Half of americans don't get a second opinion - health care- msnbc.com
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Half of Americans don't get a second opinion - Health care- msnbc.com: " Even if you don't take the second doctor's opinion, simply knowing your options and thinking through the pros and cons can improve your care. You don't have to have a serious condition to benefit. 'There may also be more than one way to approach the same problem, or there may even be a financial incentive for a physician to recommend one treatment over another,' says Gail Gazelle, MD, an assistant clinical professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and president of MD Can Help, an online patient advocacy practice. 'Also, doctors can diagnose any ...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - April 28, 2008 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
Help to setup patient information centers in hospitals in india
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Objective: · To set up a Multimedia Patient Education Resource Center in the hospital to attract more patients; improve patient care, and enhance patient satisfaction. Background of HELP: · The Patient Education Resource Center of HELP is located on DN Road in Mumbai. The centre hosts a large number of visitors daily. It is a great way to experience the power of ‘Information Therapy ’ first hand. The numerous success stories of patients who are empowered by the information provided here has prompted HELP to set up more centres all over India. · HELP is a one of the world’s largest patient education...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - April 27, 2008 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
How to make a hospital hospitable
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Hospitals can be very unfriendly. Even though hospitals are meant to serve patients, in real life they seem to be designed to serve doctors. Not only do hospitals strip you of all your dignity (having to wear a half-open hospital gown which barely covers your body properly does not do much good to your ego!), but they also subject you to painful routines and humiliating rituals performed by a retinue of strangers. You are woken up at any time of the day, (or night), deprived of your privacy, forced to eat unpalatable food, cut off from friends and family, and denied a lot of the independence which you take so much for gran...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - April 27, 2008 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
72 hours (in bullet points, because i'm just that tired)
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Listed below are 3 days (in a row) that I have had the pleasure of undergoing recently. You can't make this stuff up. The only thing that makes it better is wine. So for those of you wanting to "know what it is like to be an OB ," here you go. Day 12:00 am - Page #1 - Induction for preeclampsia, asking for pain meds for contractions. Nurse didn't bother to check the orders I had called in the evening prior, for pain meds, for contractions. Oops.3:00 am - Page #2 - Triage - 32 weeker, pain with urination, no contractions, cervix closed. UA, Rx antibiotics, see in office.5:00 am - Page #3 - Induction requesting epidural, IV ...
Source: Ob/Gyn Kenobi - April 24, 2008 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: work whining Source Type: blogs
Notes from the personal health information workshop
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Notes From The Personal Health Information Workshop: "Health is a function of human behavior – the trick is identifying the right behaviors for each person and helping to motivate them to adopt and stay with those behaviors. The greatest opportunity in this space lies in providing better consumer outcomes, whether by helping to manage behaviors with human interaction (“skin-wrapped software” American Healthways, Canyon Ranch) or with the internet (RealAge, Fitlinxx).Although it is far from complete, there is a great deal of patient health information today within the health systems, and there is value to be derived f...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - April 24, 2008 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
What is patient centered care?
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What is Patient Centered Care?: " Each day I prepare myself for work by playing the same CD in my head over and over again. “What if it was your mother, your wife, your daughter or son? How would YOU personally want to be treated? What is it about a particular facility that makes you uneasy?”For the past 19 years, our mission in life has been to create an environment of care that provides a loving, nurturing feeling for families and their loved ones. It has been to provide a center of excellence that addresses not only the need to be competent, but also the need to be human.It has been my goal to create a truly healing...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - April 24, 2008 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
Quest diagnostics to support google’s new online health initiative | healthnews. direct!
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Quest Diagnostics to Support Google’s New Online Health Initiative | HealthNEWS. Direct!: "Mountain View, CA based Google Inc., an American public corporation that provides services and technology to organize and access information, has collaborated with Madison, NJ based Quest Diagnostics Incorporated, a leading provider of diagnostic testing, information and services, to help patients access their diagnostic laboratory data through Google’s online personal health record platform, Google Health.MedPlus solution’s Care360™, a patient-centric physician electronic network, will serve as a platform to securely transfe...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - April 24, 2008 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
From ‘informed patient’ care to ‘patient informed’ care”
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From ‘Informed Patient’ Care to ‘Patient Informed’ Care”: " In a soon-to-be-published article, Ruth Gardiner argues, we are seeing a shift from the ‘informed patient’ which has resulted from improved access to healthcare information, primarily from the Web, to the ‘participative patient’ as we move into Web 2.0 territory.This is a “major turning point” according to Gardiner, “that could present greater challenges for healthcare professionals, organizations and the patient or client.” How will providers adapt? What impact will Google et al. have in their attempts to “own” the health care consum...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - April 24, 2008 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
The informed patient -- demaria 51 (15): 1505 -- journal of the american college of cardiology
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The Informed Patient -- DeMaria 51 (15): 1505 -- Journal of the American College of Cardiology: "It is now abundantly clear that the transmission of medical information to the public is of great importance to physicians. Patients seek this information; it can be of value to them in choosing healthy lifestyles and it can affect medical decisions. It is important, therefore, that the information be accurate, unbiased, and understandable. As is true of so many health-related things, we physicians are in the best position to oversee this transmission of information and to ensure that it is done optimally. The ACC has already t...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - April 24, 2008 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
The informed patient- the clinician's pledge
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The Informed Patient-The Clinician's Pledge : " I want you to be an informed patient.This means that I or one of my colleagues will: 1. Involve you in decisions about your care, and respect your preferences. This means I will listen to you and do what I have promised. 2. Ensure that you are treated with dignity and respect. 3. Be honest with you about your management options and the evidence supporting them and make sure you understand them. 4. Keep you fully informed about what is happening with your care. 5. Provide you with written information about your diagnosis, treatment and what will happen at each stage and, if ap...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - April 24, 2008 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
The informed patient
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The Informed Patient The term, ‘Informed Patient’, presumes that people with illnesses (‘patients’, but not just those awaiting treatment) need appropriate information in order to be properly involved in their healthcare – be it to seek care, decide on the best courses of action with care professionals, or to follow through the agreed course of treatment. The project deliberately focused on patients, excluding wider issues of health promotion and education, though these aspects may be critical in terms of preparing the public to avoid illness, or for any encounter with illness or the healthcare system. (Source: The Patient's Doctor)
Source: The Patient's Doctor - April 24, 2008 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
Why are doctors stuck at remaining skilled labourers ?
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I met a very interesting person who is the CEO of a healthcare consulting company. I was showing him around HELP, and was asking him why he felt doctors did not do more to educate patients. His answer was very enlightening, because it offered me a new perspective about the healthcare industry.He felt that most doctors were happy to remain just skilled labourers. They were so focussed on providing high quality medical care to their patients, one-on-one, that they failed to think about the bigger picture, leave alone trying to improve it.This is extremely true, and I think there are many reasons for this.Firstly, it's the wa...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - April 24, 2008 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
The wisdom of patients: health care meets online social media - chcf.org
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The Wisdom of Patients: Health Care Meets Online Social Media - CHCF.org: "The Internet has evolved from the information-retrieval of “Web 1.0” to “Web 2.0,” which allows people who are not necessarily technologically savvy to generate and share content. The collective wisdom harnessed by social media can yield insights well beyond the knowledge of any single patient or physician, writes report author Jane Sarasohn-Kahn. The outcome of this development is “Health 2.0” -- a new movement that challenges the notion that health care happens only between a single patient and doctor in an exam room.Using examples, th...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - April 24, 2008 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
How information therapy helped me get better medical care !
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HOW INFORMATION THERAPY HELPED ME GET BETTER MEDICAL CARE “ An excellent place to be if you really want to empower yourself and not let the doctor take you for a ride. This is the place to be. Keep it going. – wrote a reporter from a leading Mumbai newspaper. “The concept of self health education must catch on!” – writes a well known Doctor. These are only a couple of compliments being regularly received by us from our readers and speakers at Health Education Library for People – HELP. At HELP we have made it our goal to provide the best health information for every patron every day. The words of our rea...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - April 23, 2008 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
Audio features - www.healthleadersmedia.com
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Audio Features - www.healthleadersmedia.com: "An Embarrassment of Riches?Aniruddha Malpani, MD, an IVF specialist in Bombay, says India's booming healthcare industry might become too much like the United States."Please listen to my interview with Rick Johnson, Senior Editor, Healthleadersmedia.com, and let me know if you agree ! (Source: The Patient's Doctor)
Source: The Patient's Doctor - April 23, 2008 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
Blogging live from the world health care congress 2008
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Blogging Live from the World Health Care Congress 2008: " Here’s a smattering of quotations form some national thought leaders talking about health care reform and other key health care issues, during World Health Care Congress keynote sessions:“The problem in dealing with health care issues in the world today is not ignorance, but pre-conceived ideas.” Hans Rosling, MD, PhD, Professor of International Healtht, Karolinska Institute, Sweden“In today’s world, more efficient and effective caregivers simply deprive themselves of income.” George Halvorson“Interestingly, physicians practicing in regions with the gr...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - April 22, 2008 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
Innovation xchange
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Innovation xChange : "Do you want to improve the U.S. health care system? Or at least be part of the much-needed dialogue? If you have ideas or solutions to improve the system, submit your ideas through ChangeNow4Health’s Innovation xChange and you can win up to $10,000 or have your ideas published in the e-book, Tomorrow’s Health Care.The Innovation xChange is looking for practical ideas and suggestions for improving the health care system. All participants in the system, from providers and health plans to consumers and government, are encouraged to join in the discussion.To participate, simply click to register and t...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - April 22, 2008 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
The state of e-visits in 2008
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The state of e-Visits in 2008 : "A recent article called them 'mouse calls.' Some call them web-visits, or online consultations. The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) defines an e-visit as an evaluation and management service provided by a physician or other qualified health professional to an established patient using a web-based or similar electronic-based communication network for a single patient encounter, that occurs over safe, secure, online communication systems.e-Visits, introduced at the start of this decade, continue to gain momentum as technologies improve, consumer demand increases, experience from ...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - April 22, 2008 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
Doctors talking to doctors - why leave patients out in the cold ?
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After a doctor ( usually a family physician) refers a patient to a consultant, the specialist sends a note ( often by email these days ) about what his findings were; his clinical opinion; and his recommendations. While this is very useful, often what happens as a result of one doctor talking to another is that the poor patient gets left out in the cold. He cannot decipher the jargon in the referral note or the consultant's opinion; and since specialists are often extremely busy, they rarely spend much time with the patient - or fob him off by saying that "your family physician will explain everything to you" !We use an al...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - April 22, 2008 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
Which is the best way to educate patients ?
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If there is so much free, high quality patient information around, why don't more patients utilise this ?I can think of two simple solutions to improve utilisation.Firstly, doctors should prescribe this information. Patients have high regards for their personal doctor, and most of them will follow instructions, when told to do so by their doctor. If a doctor gives you a brochure to read, the chances are very high that you will do so ! However , doctors are busy people, and often forget to prescribe information. Also, doctors can be intimidating ! If you don't understand what your doctor says, you are too scared to ask for ...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - April 20, 2008 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
What the indian government can do to promote medical tourism
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Medical tourism has become a hot area in India today; and the government promises to do everything they can to promote this. After all, not only does it earn the country valuable foreign exchange, the fact that patients come to India from the US and the UK adds to our national prestige .The tragedy is that a lot of the promises are just hot air. Ideally, the government should promote medical tourism by providing subsidies and infrastructure services to hospitals and doctors so that they can improve the care they provide. This is done routinely for the IT industry, which gets large tracts of real estate from the government ...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - April 20, 2008 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
The resident doctors strike and the commercialisation of medical education
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The newspapers have been full of articles about the recent medical students and residents doctors strike in Maharashtra ( which has just been called off). Reading about this strike makes me cry - but not because I think doctors should not go on strike ! Let me explain.Medical students are going to be the doctors of tomorrow. They enter medicine because they want to help other people ( and yes, they also make money in the process, and I think it's perfectly justified for them to do so !) . Sadly, the conditions under which they work are so miserable, that their resentments and grievances keep on festering; and when they fin...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - April 20, 2008 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
9 months and mobile
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The Bean just turned 9 months old. It seems that he has had quite the spurt of development in the last few weeks. He got 2 new teeth, he started pulling up, he started crawling "for real," and he started to cruise. Just like that! He is a "big boy." I'm not ready! He is my *baby.* In so many ways. He still prefers the mama. He still dive bombs the boobs. Such a boob man, is he. I am breastfeeding longer than I had with CindyLou. She had little interest in the breast starting around month 8. Mr. Bean, however, is all about the boob, and I fear that it will continue that way until I say, "No more." Gah. I look at CindyLou's...
Source: Ob/Gyn Kenobi - April 20, 2008 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: kids work whining Source Type: blogs
