Orthopaedics Blogs This is an OPML file. It can be used to export all the MedWorm RSS feeds on this topic into your personal RSS reader (usually you have to save this file to your own computer before clicking on an Import OPML command in your own feed reader to upload the file which will then import all the feeds) or it can be used by webmasters to integrate MedWorm feeds with their own website. This is an RSS file. You can use it to subscribe to this data in your favourite RSS reader, such as GoogleReader, or to display this data on your own website or blog. Subscribe to this data using MyMedWorm.Subscribe to this data using GoogleReader.Subscribe to this data using Bloglines.Subscribe to this data using MyYahoo.

This page shows you the most recent publications within this specialty of the MedWorm directory. This is page number 6.

Decision Aids Lower the Rate of Elective Surgery
A decision aid is a web-enabled set of slides designed to inform a patient about a particular health topic. As an example, take a look at one developed by AHRQ focusing on the risk for post-menopausal women of developing osteoporosis. For the total impact, you will need to navigate through 21 slides in order. If the reader doesn't understand any of the words or concepts presented, she can branch to other slides. In my opinion, an educated patient will usually make better health care decisions. It should come as no surprise then that a recent article concluded that the use of decision aids reduced the rates...
Source: Lab Soft News - September 10, 2012 Category: Pathologists Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Electronic Medical Record Healthcare Business Healthcare Solutions Other than Lab Hospitals and Healthcare Delivery Medical Consumerism Medical Education Medical Ethics Source Type: blogs

How to speak to a lupus patient in a wheelchair
I came across this thoughtful, direct post: If you have questions, ask, in a polite and respectful manner. I am usually very happy to answer questions about my condition or why I am in a wheelchair. I know I make people curious, especially because I am young. Many people don’t understand my disease, lupus, and want to know why I am in a wheelchair, especially when I don’t have a visible cast or broken bone. Politely asking is not offensive; ignoring and staring covertly is. I found this part both the most helpful and the most painful, as it reminded me of the truths I experienced during my times on a walker, also from ...
Source: A Life Less Convenient - September 10, 2012 Category: Other Conditions Authors: Jennifer Burke Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs

The LITFL Review 075
Welcome to the overwhelming 75th edition! The LITFL Review is your regular and reliable source for the highest highlights, sneakiest sneak peaks and loudest shout-outs from the webbed world of emergency medicine and critical care. Each week the LITFL team casts the spotlight on the best and brightest from the blogosphere, the podcast video/audiosphere and the rest of the Web 2.0 social media jungle to find the most fantastic EM/CC FOAM (Free Open Access Meducation) around. The Most Fair Dinkum Ripper Beaut of the Week PHARM This could go down the podcast of the year! Minh is brilliant as usual but this time he t...
Source: Life in the Fast Lane - September 10, 2012 Category: Emergency Medicine Doctors Authors: Kane Guthrie Tags: Education eLearning Emergency Medicine Featured Health Intensive Care Blogs critical care FOAM FOAMed LITFL R/V LITFL review Social Media Source Type: blogs

Fight Aging! Newsletter, September 10th 2012
This study highlights potential mechanisms by which age related inflammatory responses become counter-productive for muscle regeneration and suggests new strategies for enhancing muscle repair in the old." STEM CELL TRANSPLANT RESTORES FEELING AFTER SPINAL INJURY Tuesday, September 4, 2012 http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2012/09/stem-cell-transplant-restores-feeling-after-spinal-injury.php Via the New Scientist: "For the first time, people with broken spines have recovered feeling in previously paralysed areas after receiving injections of neural stem cells. Three people with paralysis received injections of 20 million...
Source: Fight Aging! - September 9, 2012 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs

American Journal of Orthodontics & Dentofacial Orthopedics Volume 142, Issue 3 , Pages 406-409, September 2012 Severe complication of a bonded mandibular lingual retainer
This article presents a serious complication of a lingual flexible spiral wire retainer. Four years after the orthodontic treatment, a 20-year-old man sought treatment for a broken flexible spiral wire retainer. The clinical examination showed about 35° of buccal root torque of that tooth. A cone-beam computed tomography image showed that the root and the apex of the tooth were almost completely out of the bone on its buccal side. Surprisingly, the tooth's vitality was preserved. The tooth was moved back, nearly to its original position; clinically, only a gingival recession remained. Orthodontists and dentists should be ...
Source: Dental Technology Blog - September 8, 2012 Category: Dentists Source Type: blogs

The Joint Commission Provides Hospitals Guidance for Better Opioid Use Management
Over the past few years, there has been a growing focus on the abuse, misuse, and overuse of opioids or painkillers. Public health experts estimate that more than 35 million Americans age 12 and older have reported non-medical use of opioid analgesics during 2010 – up from 29 million in 200. In 2009, nearly 342,000 emergency department visits were associated with nonmedical use of opioid analgesics. In 2007, nearly 28,000 Americans died from unintended consequences of drug use, and of these, nearly 12,000 involved prescription drug pain relievers. To address these issues, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) r...
Source: Policy and Medicine - September 6, 2012 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Thomas Sullivan Source Type: blogs

Using Clindamycin for a Bone Infection
Recently, I broke my right big toe and fractured some bones in my foot. I do not have a lot of feeling in my feet so I was unaware of the infection. I ended up with an infection in the bone of my big toe due to all of this.Contributor: R. Elizabeth C. KitchenPublished: Sep 05, 2012
Source: Most Recent Health Wellness - Associated Content - September 5, 2012 Category: Other Conditions Source Type: blogs

LDR’s Lateral Lumber Cage System Gets FDA Nod
The Avenue L Lateral Lumber Cage System from LDR (Austin, TX) received 510(k) clearance, opening the way for the first lateral lumbar cage with integrated in-line plating to be sold in the U.S. The device has been on the market in Europe since 2010.Designed to stabilize lumbar spinal segments to promote fusion, the device offers the company’s proprietary in-line, self-guided VerteBRIDGE plating technology, which has been used in more than 25,000 cage implantation procedures since it debuted in 2008.Read More
Source: Medgadget - September 5, 2012 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Brian Klein Tags: in the news... Orthopedic Surgery Source Type: blogs

Acute Care Tricks
There are so many OTs in the Acute Care/Hospital setting, and yet sometimes it's as if we're the black sheep of the OT family. There's not a lot of OT research done in the field, we must work within the medical model, and turnover of patients and therapists is high. I remember when I was getting started, I borrowed books on PT in acute care to try to bridge some knowledge gaps and vowed that there should be more on the role of OT. (click through to continue) After spending four years in the hospital system, I had made up a list of topics that were relevant to OT in acute care that weren't covered well in my textbooks and ...
Source: Occupational Therapy Notes - September 4, 2012 Category: Occupational Therapists Tags: AOTA acute care Source Type: blogs

PEEK Orthopedic Implant Uses Stem Cells to Increase Strength and Longevity
Orthopedic procedures, such as hip replacement surgeries, restore mobility to thousands of people each year, but current technology makes them far from perfect. Current implants use polyethylene, stainless steel, titanium or ceramic, which each have their own drawbacks ranging from biocompatability issues, which could lead to infection, to inflexibility, which can lead to the loss of bone density. Moreover, when an implant is placed, it is usually held in place by a rod that is fixed into the marrow of a bone. Bone marrow, which is rich in stem cells that can differentiate into many different kinds of cells, tends to diff...
Source: Medgadget - September 4, 2012 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Scott Jung Tags: Nanomedicine Orthopedic Surgery Source Type: blogs

Stem Cell Transplant Restores Feeling After Spinal Injury
Via the New Scientist: "For the first time, people with broken spines have recovered feeling in previously paralysed areas after receiving injections of neural stem cells. Three people with paralysis received injections of 20 million neural stem cells directly into the injured region of their spinal cord. The cells, acquired from donated fetal brain tissue, were injected between four and eight months after the injuries happened. The patients also received a temporary course of immunosuppressive drugs to limit rejection of the cells. None of the three felt any sensation below their nipples before the treatment. Six months a...
Source: Fight Aging! - September 4, 2012 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs

What Is Your Life Worth?
By BirdStrike M.D. “Good, it’s about time that these greedy doctors get smacked down for being the financial rapists that they are. Medicine in this country is the biggest, most destructive SCAM going on today. Doctors think they are entitled to RIDICULOUS amounts of money for simple routine procedures.”- Johnathan Blaze August 27, 2012 at 4:54 pm It is generally agreed upon that the more one values a good or service, the more he or she is willing to pay for it. Most will agree that shoes are important. They keep your feet from bleeding and hurting when you walk on the street. People seem happy ...
Source: WhiteCoat's Call Room - September 2, 2012 Category: Emergency Medicine Doctors Authors: Birdstrike Tags: Guest Posts Source Type: blogs

Healthcare Update — 09-02-2012
Deadly amoeba found in home drinking water. Initially, two patients who died from Naegleria fowleri meningoencephalitis were thought to have contracted the disease from using Neti pots. Now investigations show that the amoeba was found in the patients’ home plumbing systems. JCAHO soon will require only bottled JCAHO-approved spring water in all hospital plumbing systems. For patient safety, of course. Pediatric emergency department injuries go up in the back-to-school months. More broken bones and head injuries from falling off playground equipment allegedly to blame … although those injuries shouldn’t just occur wh...
Source: WhiteCoat's Call Room - September 2, 2012 Category: Emergency Medicine Doctors Authors: WhiteCoat Tags: Healthcare Update Source Type: blogs

Boston Sci’s PRECISION PLUS SCS Now MR Conditional in Europe
European regulators have given their OK to perform head-only MRI scans on patients implanted with Boston Scientific‘s PRECISION PLUS spinal cord stimulator (SCS).The rechargeable stimulator is used to address acute refractory pain and has been implanted in over 60,000 patients since receiving approval in the U.S. and Europe in 2004 and 2005, respectively.Read More
Source: Medgadget - August 31, 2012 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Gene Ostrovsky Tags: Neurological Surgery Orthopedic Surgery Radiology Source Type: blogs

Back to school: Children’s health
This article, written by Zrinka Peters, was originally published on Education.com.
Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - August 31, 2012 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: Children Uncategorized Young Adults children's health kids teenagers Source Type: blogs

Digital Pathology Misconceptions Debunked by Digital Pathology Consultants
Amande Lowe, president of Digital Pathology Consultants, LLC has a great article for practicing pathologists about common misconceptions regarding the use of digital pathology in the practice of pathology and how and what the technology means in clinical practice under the current framework of government demands, regulations and consumer expectations. Debunked: Digital Pathology Misconceptions Yes, you can be reimbursed, and no, it won't slow you down. By Amanda Lowe Posted on: August 29, 2012 There is hesitation in the healthcare community to adopt digital pathology for clinical use. But why? Digital...
Source: Digital Pathology Blog - August 30, 2012 Category: Pathologists Authors: Kaps Source Type: blogs

Watch out for 'discount' screening tests
You can now get tests to check for clogged arteries or weak bones at your local pharmacy, your gym, the mall, or even your church, often at discount prices. Good idea? No, according to an editorial out yesterday in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Our medical experts agree. The tests may have a veneer of respectability, as they're typically sponsored by well-known community groups, local physician offices, or hospitals. And most of the tests offered, such as electrocardiograms or echocardiograms of the heart to assess your risk of heart disease, or an ultrasound of your heel to measure your risk of osteoporosis, seem har...
Source: Consumer Reports Health Blog - August 28, 2012 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Consumer Reports News Tags: Heart Disease osteoporsis Conditions & Treatments Doctors Hospitals Health Source Type: blogs

12 Depression Busters for Seniors
Roughly a quarter of people age 65 or older suffer from depression. More than half of doctor’s visits by the elderly involve complaints of emotional distress. Twenty percent of suicides in this country are committed by seniors, with the highest success rate belonging to older, white men. According to a recent report in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, depression is one of the major causes of decline in the health-related quality of life for senior citizens. Why all the depression? Rafi Kevorkian, M.D. calls them the five D’s: disability, decline, diminished quality of life, demand on caregivers...
Source: World of Psychology - August 28, 2012 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Therese J. Borchard Tags: Aging Caregivers Depression Disorders General Grief and Loss Happiness Aggressive Treatment American Geriatrics Society Brain Chemistry Cancer Patients Chronic Illnesses Creative Methods Depression And Anxiety Depression Anxiet Source Type: blogs

Houston! We Have Breakfast Foods Again!
I am going to fix the Mag-Dawg and I one hell of a wholesome breakfast after our walk in the morning. I can already smell and hear that bacon frying as we speak. Mom Gets a Tune-Up… “I thought Dr. Martin was an orthopedic surgeon?” I asked my father as we sat on my couch tonight. “Your mother says he does skin cancer removal on the side,” my father replied. “She has to get two places on her skin taken off tomorrow. She mainly thinks he is cute and is enamored with him is what I believe.”
Source: The 4th Avenue Blues - August 27, 2012 Category: Mental Illness Authors: Andrew Quixote Source Type: blogs

FDA: J&J Unit (Synthes) Recalls Potentially Flammable Bone Putty
The health regulator said certain lots of bone putty made by Johnson &Johnson unit Synthes were recalled as there was potential for the putty to catch fire if it came in contact with electrosurgical cautery systems during surgery.The Hemostatic Bone Putty is used to stop bone bleeding by creating a physical barrier along the edges of bones damaged by trauma or cut during a surgical procedure.The recall, which has been classified as Class I, or the most serious type of recall, was initiated on July 5.Synthes had issued a medical device recall letter on July 5 requesting medical facilities to examine their inventory and ...
Source: Medical Hemostat - August 26, 2012 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: hemostatguy at gmail.com (hemostat guy) Source Type: blogs

Fight Aging! Newsletter, August 27th 2012
This study reports the therapeutic potential of AFS cell transplantation in stroke animals, possibly via enhancement of endogenous repair mechanisms." INVESTIGATING THE GENE NETWORK OF CALORIE RESTRICTION Thursday, August 23, 2012 http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2012/08/investigating-the-gene-network-of-calorie-restriction.php Research into the detailed mechanisms of calorie restriction continues apace: "Dietary restriction (DR), limiting nutrient intake from diet without causing malnutrition, delays the aging process and extends lifespan in multiple organisms. The conserved life-extending effect of DR suggests the inv...
Source: Fight Aging! - August 26, 2012 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs

Actos Warning
The Food and Drug Administration approved generic versions of the type 2 diabetes medication Actos (pioglitazone) last week. But we say skip Actos as both a generic and brand-name medication, unless other options have not worked. Pioglitazone can cause serious side effects, such as an increased risk of heart failure, bone fractures, and bladder cancer. Other medications to treat diabetes, such as metformin, are a better first choice. For those who must take it, only three manufacturers are currently allowed to make the generic formulations of Actos for the next six months, so the price will likely stick close to the bra...
Source: InsureBlog - August 24, 2012 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs

Harvard and Pfizer Announce Industry-Academic Partnership
The collaboration between industry and academia has produced significant improvements in science and medicine for almost a century. From the mid 1920’s when Frederick Banting and his assistant Charles Best isolated insulin in 1921 at the University of Toronto, academic-industry collaborations has led to tremendous breakthroughs that have saved and improved the health of millions. A new academic-industry partnership was recently discussed in an article in Bloomberg News. The collaboration first began when Hal Dvorak, a Harvard scientist, helped spur the advance of targeted cancer drugs. He then sought a partner t...
Source: Policy and Medicine - August 24, 2012 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Thomas Sullivan Source Type: blogs

Decreasing medical costs: How insurers are taking the easy way out
In May 1999, Abigail Sulerzyski was born deaf and blind with cerebral palsy and multiple other medical complications. While Victoria, her mother, was learning how to cope with the needs of a severely disabled child, she was also learning how to fight with UnitedHealthcare. Abigail required continuous feeding through a jejunostomy tube, and the insurer was denying the prescription nutritional supplements that Abigail needed to survive. As Victoria was preparing to mount a legal battle against United, “something changed around December of that year,” she said. The formula along with other specialized equipment was covere...
Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - August 22, 2012 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: Consumer Health Care Coverage Policy Insurance Managed care Source Type: blogs

Frugal medicine - what Indian doctors can teach the US healthcare system
America is the world leader in a number of fields - and this is true for medicine and healthcare as well. Doctors all over the world come to institutions such as the Mayo Clinic and Johns Hopkins , in order to learn about the recent advances in medicines. These institutes are considered to be the embodiments of medical perfection. Most of the leading medical journals are published in the US ; and most of the authors of the authoritative medical textbooks work in US medical schools . If doctors need advanced training in a particular area, they usually travel to the US ; and lots of the newest medical equipment, tools, techn...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - August 21, 2012 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Mayo Clinic Medicine Health United States Health care healthcare Johns Hopkins Physician Source Type: blogs

New generic version of the diabetes drug Actos is one 'bargain' to avoid
The Food and Drug Administration approved generic versions of the type 2 diabetes medication Actos (pioglitazone) last week. But we say skip Actos as both a generic and brand-name medication, unless other options have not worked. Pioglitazone can cause serious side effects, such as an increased risk of heart failure, bone fractures, and bladder cancer. Other medications to treat diabetes, such as metformin, are a better first choice. For those who must take it, only three manufacturers are currently allowed to make the generic formulations of Actos for the next six months, so the price will likely stick close to the bran...
Source: Consumer Reports Health Blog - August 21, 2012 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Consumer Reports News Tags: Diabetes Drugs Health Source Type: blogs

New generic diabetes drug Actos is one 'bargain' to avoid
The Food and Drug Administration approved generic versions of the type 2 diabetes medication Actos (pioglitazone) last week. But we say skip Actos as both a generic and brand-name medication, unless other options have not worked. Pioglitazone can cause serious side effects, such as an increased risk of heart failure, bone fractures, and bladder cancer. Other medications to treat diabetes, such as metformin, are a better first choice. For those who must take it, only three manufacturers are currently allowed to make the generic formulations of Actos for the next six months, so the price will likely stick close to the bran...
Source: Consumer Reports Health Blog - August 21, 2012 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Consumer Reports News Tags: Diabetes Drugs Health Source Type: blogs

A Parent’s Guide: What to do if Your Child Dies After Vaccination
Conclusions [indicate] Systemic autoimmunity appears to be the inevitable consequence of over-stimulating the host’s immune ‘system’ by repeated immunization with antigen, to the levels that surpass system’s self-organized criticality. The Tsumiyama, etal paper contains information pathologists may find helpful. [1] http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0008382 Qiagen’s Sample & Assay Technology is available at www.qiagen.com with ordering information, Fax numbers, and technical support phone numbers for the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chi...
Source: vactruth.com - August 21, 2012 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Catherine J. Frompovich Tags: Catherine Frompovich Top Stories Writers Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) Vaccine Death Vaccine Excipient & Media Summary / Excipients Source Type: blogs

Slowing Stem Cell Aging
Via the New Scientist: "Could we stem the tide of ageing by delaying the deterioration of stem cells? A new compound that appears to do just that could help us find ways to protect our organs from age-related wear and tear, experiments in mice suggest. As we age, so do our mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs): their numbers in our bone marrow decline, and those that are left lose the ability to differentiate into the distinct cell types - such as bone, cartilage, fat and possibly muscle cells - that help in the healing process. ... We think this ageing of stem cells may be linked to the onset of some age-related disorders, such a...
Source: Fight Aging! - August 21, 2012 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs

Fight Aging! Newsletter, August 20th 2012
Discussion - Latest Headlines from Fight Aging! - Everyone Suffers the Downward Spiral of Exercise Capacity - More Blood Vessel Engineering - Nanofactories to Produce and Target Drugs in the Body - Nanoparticles and RNA Interference Versus Cancer - An Improvement in Engineered Pancreatic Tissue - The Possibility of a Vaccine for Heart Disease - The Next Step in Building a Better Eye Prosthesis - Gadd45a Orchestrates Much of Muscle Atr...
Source: Fight Aging! - August 19, 2012 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs

Supplements don't protect bone in advanced prostate cancer
Calcium and vitamin D regimens widely recommended to prostate cancer patients who undergo hormone therapy are inadequate to prevent treatment-related bone loss--and may even increase the risk of heart disease and advanced prostate cancer. This according to a review article published online ahead of its publication in the September issue of The Oncologist, a peer-reviewed journal for cancer specialists. Researchers from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, NC, analyzed data from 12 clinical trials involving a total of nearly 2,400 men given calcium and vitamin D supplements to prevent bone loss from androg...
Source: Consumer Reports Health Blog - August 17, 2012 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Consumer Reports News Tags: Conditions & Treatments Health Vitamins Supplements Source Type: blogs

Top medicine articles for August 2012
Here are my suggestions for some of the top articles in medicine for August 2012: Contrary to marketing, there is no evidence that sports drinks are essential adjunct for anyone doing exercise - BMJ http://goo.gl/h6kg9 To drink or not to drink to drink during exercise - BMJ reviews the evidence http://goo.gl/vKGX0 Mythbusting sports and exercise products - BMJ: color of urine does not reflect hydration http://goo.gl/8q1Wc Health-care law driving doctors away from small practices, toward hospital employment - Washington Post http://goo.gl/Uvb7f Top 5 reasons why the independent physician practice is dying http://goo.gl...
Source: Clinical Cases and Images - Blog - August 17, 2012 Category: Professors and Educators Tags: Health News of the Day Source Type: blogs

Fingertip Injuries
aka Insidious Injury 002A 56 year old women presents to your minor injuries room, holding a blood soaked tea towel around her middle finger. She reports her blender got jammed, and as she was unjamming it, the blender started off – catching her finger in it.You unwrap the tea towel to reveal:Ouch!!! QuestionsQ1. Define fingertip injuries.Answer and interpretationexpand(document.getElementById('ddet1797450873'));expand(document.getElementById('ddetlink1797450873')) ”A fingertip injury is defined as any soft tissue, nail or bony injury distal to the dorsal and volar skin creases at the distal interphalangeal jo...
Source: Life in the Fast Lane - August 16, 2012 Category: Emergency Medicine Doctors Authors: Kane Guthrie Tags: Clinical Case Education Emergency Medicine Featured Health Medical Specialty digit amputation Distal Phalangeal Fracture Fingertip Injuries fingertip injury Nail Avulsion Nail Bed Laceration Pulp Injury Subungual Haematoma Tuft Source Type: blogs

One Right Choice: A Letter to My Younger Self
I don't know why you were born in the United States to intelligent parents who had decided way back then to raise you earthy in the hippie way, homeschool you, love you unconditionally like Jesus taught them in the few simple verses they clung to even before they really knew Who they were following. I don't know why your childhood was golden, filled with woods and brothers and beauty. I don't know why it shattered because of one person who chose evil instead of good, and bludgeoned you with sexual abuse when you were just a tiny person of seven or eight years. Even now, at 33, I don't know the rest of the story. But I do k...
Source: Turquoise Gates - August 16, 2012 Category: Cancer Tags: blessings looking back child abuse letters to myself sexual orientation faithjam wisdom blessings in disguise living like you're dying FaithBaristajam God's mercy lesbianism God's grace Source Type: blogs

Medtronic’s doctor centered approach helps patients, too
As I described on Tuesday, orthopedic device makers are putting more control in the hands of patients to make adjustments that used to be handled by physicians. It’s more convenient for patients, but the key to the business model is that such moves reduce the demands on physicians, who otherwise would have to participate in these low-margin, unexciting activities. I mentioned cardiology as another field where device makers think similarly. And I was rewarded today when a colleague showed me an article that illustrates my point perfectly. When patients with implanted cardiac devices go to the emergency room –e...
Source: Health Business Blog - August 16, 2012 Category: Health Managers Authors: David E. Williams of the Health business blog Tags: Devices Economics Source Type: blogs

Getting a Leg Over
Apologies for the somewhat non-sensical blogpost title, but how else could we follow up An Easy Way To Get Plastered?You’ll remember that George Douros (from the Austin in Melbourne and edteaching.com) shared with us all the Austin”s innovative template-based approach to improving upper limb plasters. Having used the templates myself, I was impressed. But upper limbs are easy… the lower limbs are where we earn our money.George got together with his ortho team and plaster tech extraordinaire John Kinealy (based at the Western Hospital in Melbourne) to figure out a systematic approach to plastering the low...
Source: Life in the Fast Lane - August 16, 2012 Category: Emergency Medicine Doctors Authors: Chris Nickson Tags: Education Emergency Medicine Featured Orthopedics above knee austin below knee fracture george douros lower limb plaster slab template u slab Source Type: blogs

There Is More Than One Jacques Pepin
(The title is intended to raise a question in your mind. Two men named Jacques Pepin? Who are they, and why do I care? Read on and I'll explain. The first Jacques Pepin is a world-renowned chef, born in 1935 in Lyon, France. Much of what he is famous for is his work with the late Julia Child, known for "The French Chef" television series on American public television during the 1960's and 1970's. They also collaborated on a number of other programs shown on public television up into the late 1990's and into the beginning of the 21st century. Julia Child passed away in 2004, and today would have been her 100th birthday. ...
Source: Life in Manch Vegas - August 15, 2012 Category: Ambulance Crew Source Type: blogs

Why Quality Healthcare Will Not Be Brought To Us By The Good People Of Cheesecake Factory
Hospitals can be dangerous and inefficient; therefore it is easy to connect with Atul Gawande’s recent New Yorker essay “BigMed” suggesting that the streamlined, production processes found at the Cheesecake Factory can and likely will be applied to healthcare. Yet hospital care should not be confused with the full spectrum of healthcare. One must make the distinction between the cognitive process of medical diagnosis occurring in exam rooms, with the procedural basis of surgical care and hospital recovery. While Dr. Gawande has provided a wonderful revealing portrait of cost-effective, fast, food preparation ...
Source: Better Health - August 15, 2012 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Dr. Val Jones Tags: Health Policy Opinion Atul Gawande Cheesecake Factory Healthcare Quality Medical Errors New Yorker Process Improvement Source Type: blogs

Praising Marijuana Prohibition
The view from the White House. As regular readers of Addiction Inbox will know, I am on record as favoring some form of decriminalization for marijuana. But I also write regularly about the difficulties of marijuana addiction and withdrawal. And I have been critical of the operational strategies employed by the medical marijuana movement in the several states in which it now operates. What I have not done, to date, is offer up the official view of a drug policy analyst from the Obama administration who straightforwardly favors a continuation of the legal prohibition against marijuana. One of the architects of the c...
Source: Addiction Inbox - August 15, 2012 Category: Addiction Authors: Dirk Hanson Source Type: blogs

Making patients with devices less dependent on doctors
New Medical Devices Get Smart in today’s Wall Street Journal tells an encouraging story about how patients with prosthetics are gaining more autonomy from physicians. It features a man who lost his leg in a motorcycle crash and has a prosthetic. Used to be whenever he bought a new pair of shoes he’s have to go to the orthopedist to make adjustments to his prosthesis –otherwise he’d have discomfort and an awkward gait. Now he can make adjustments himself using a smartphone as a controller, or even let the prosthesis adjust itself. Advancements like this have real potential to improve the quality of...
Source: Health Business Blog - August 14, 2012 Category: Health Managers Authors: David E. Williams of the Health business blog Tags: Devices Technology Source Type: blogs

Cutting the last support
When you are diagnosed with cancer, your doctors want to know everything about you - every sneeze it seems like - as you go through treatment with them. Then as you get through the surgery and then chemo and then radiation they stop following you. With breast cancer, many women get five years of hormonal treatment on top of everything else. At each stage where you move on through treatment, it seems there is always another doctor there to hold your hand and be on top of potential r-words (which is our biggest fear).At the end of active treatment - after surgery, chemo, and radiation - many cancer patients emotionally start...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - August 14, 2012 Category: Cancer Tags: cancer treatment oncologist Source Type: blogs

Preventing Diabetes: Steps You Can Take
By Amy Campbell Last week I reviewed the definition of prediabetes, as well as risk factors for developing Type 2 diabetes. I also listed the "diagnostic criteria," as they're called in the medical world, for both prediabetes and diabetes. We know that about 26 million people in the US have diabetes (90% to 95% have Type 2 diabetes), and a staggering 79 million people have prediabetes, which is about one-third of adult Americans and half of adults aged 65 years and older. People who have prediabetes are 5 to 15 times more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes than people who don't. We also know that once you get Type 2 diabet...
Source: Diabetes Self-Management - August 13, 2012 Category: Diabetes Authors: Amy Campbell Source Type: blogs

My Presentation to the Health Informatics Society Of Australia: "Critical Thinking on Building Trusted, Transformative Medical Information: Improving Health IT as the First Step"
Discussion led by Australian investigative journalist and popular political TV program (Australian Broadcasting Corporation's "Q&A - Adventures in Democracy") host Tony Jones.I don't have a picture of my panel moderated by Tony Jones at present, but here is another panel at HIC 2012. Click to enlarge.I will highlight several key points I made in my keynote and on the panel:Critical thinking is essential at all times in healthcare ... or your patient's dead.Critical thinking is not mindless criticism; on the contrary, it is reflective, inquisitive, logical thinking that is focused on deciding what to believe or do.Healt...
Source: Health Care Renewal - August 10, 2012 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Tags: Health Informatics Society of Australia healthcare IT risk HIC 2012 HISA Tony Jones Source Type: blogs

Meet the Pioneer Advisory Group
BY BRIAN C. QUINN, PHD, TEAM DIRECTOR, PIONEER PORTFOLIO -- @quinnhealth Luke had Yoda. Sherlock Holmes had Watson. Franklin had Eleanor. Advisers can play an important role in innovation. They offer knowledge and vision. They bring an outside perspective. And, they often have networks of colleagues with additional experience and expertise. RWJF’s Pioneer Portfolio is in the business of identifying and exploring new ideas and approaches that help shape the future of health and health care and accelerating those that have the potential to create breakthroughs. We recognize that the kind of innovation that can create trans...
Source: Pioneering Ideas - August 10, 2012 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Authors: RWJF Blog Team Tags: About Pioneer Conversations with Pioneers Source Type: blogs

DePuy EXPEDIUM and VIPER Pedicle Screws for Scoliosis Now Cleared for Adolescents
DePuy Synthes Spine (now part of J&J) received FDA clearance to offer its EXPEDIUM, VIPER, and VIPER 2 pedicle screw systems for treatment of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS).The devices already had clearance to be used on adults with scoliosis.Read More
Source: Medgadget - August 9, 2012 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Gene Ostrovsky Tags: Neurological Surgery Orthopedic Surgery Source Type: blogs

Ulrich Medical Launches New Spinal Implant System in the United States
Chesterfield, MO–based Ulrich Medical USA, Inc. has announced the U.S. launch of its Golden Gate lateral plate system for anterior surgical stabilization of the anterior/anterolateral thoracolumbar spine (T1-L5). The titanium device can be used to treat degenerative disc disease, excessive lordosis, scoliosis, and other conditions.“This product is intended to provide anterior column stabilization after the removal of a vertebral body and can be used with an endoscopic or open approach,” explained Hans Stover, Ulrich Medical USA’s president and CEO.Read More
Source: Medgadget - August 9, 2012 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Brian Klein Tags: Neurological Surgery Orthopedic Surgery Source Type: blogs

Codman’s Medstream Infusion System for Spinal Drug Delivery Gets FDA OK
Codman, now a part of Johnson & Johnson, just announced FDA clearance for its MEDSTREAM Programmable Infusion System, a drug pump that delivers baclofen to the spinal canal in a very controlled manner. The system, that already has European approval, is designed to help address chronic spasticity in patients suffering from stroke, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury and those post stroke suffering from excessive muscle contractions.The implant has a ceramic pump system that doesn’t have any gears, motors, or rotating components, so it is not prone to wear and tear. The pump is also MRI compatibl...
Source: Medgadget - August 8, 2012 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Gene Ostrovsky Tags: Anesthesiology Medicine Neurological Surgery Neurology Orthopedic Surgery Pain Rehab Source Type: blogs