MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'experiment'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:03:29 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5174739&cid=t_138357_122_f&fid=34736&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FChannelN-PodcastsPoweredByOdiogo%2F%7E3%2F4gWxLl2NVYc%2F Milgram’s Obedience to Authority Experiment Morality and responsibility for violence are explored in a re-enactment of Yale psychologist Stanley Milgram’s famous experiment on obedience to authority. Under the close supervision and direction of a professor, participants are told to administer increasingly dangerous electric shocks to a person in another room, under the pretense that it’s an experiment about learning and memory. They hear screams and protests from the “learner” pretending to be receiving shocks, but when the professor tells them to continue, most do, even after believing the “learner” may have died as a result. In Milgram’s first study, 65 percent went on to deliver the maximum 450 volt shock. Variations were conducted over th... Channel N blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5174739 Mon, 29 Aug 2011 12:30:35 +0100 5174739 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5096109&cid=t_138357_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F08%2Fdebt-ceiling-deal-could-endanger-health.html A story about the recent political deal to raise the Debt Ceiling entitled "Deal could endanger health care law" appeared in the Politico (hat tip Drudge Report):Deal could endanger health care lawBy JENNIFER HABERKORN | 8/3/11 11:28 PM EDT Politico.comThe debt ceiling agreement could jeopardize millions of dollars, and perhaps billions, in initiatives from President Barack Obama’s health care reform law if the super committee can’t come up with required spending cuts.Many of the pots of money in the law — one of the Democrats’ most prized pieces of legislation — could get trimmed by the debt deal’s sequestration, or triggered cuts. The funds for prevention programs and community health centers, grants to help states set up insurance exchanges and co-ops, and money to help sta... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5096109 Thu, 04 Aug 2011 15:11:00 +0100 5096109 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5096110&cid=t_138357_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F08%2Ftime-for-summer-vacation-at-onc-and.html A Microsoft Developer's Network (MSDN) blogger "Family Health Guy" a.k.a. Sean Nolan writes in a July 31, 2011 post entitled "Time for a summer vacation at ONC" that:I’ve spoken at some length about my enthusiasm for the current leadership at HHS and ONC. President Obama has both directly and indirectly engaged some really gifted individuals to help us address healthcare challenges through the use of information technology --- which is awesome ... I’ve had the good fortune to participate in a few of these, and it’s been some of the most rewarding work of my career. Truth is, I’m not used to seeing such great work out of government. So I’m a bit reluctant to throw out what could be perceived as a negative message --- but after my own two-week vacation thinking about it I’m convi... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5096110 Thu, 04 Aug 2011 02:38:00 +0100 5096110 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5062199&cid=t_138357_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F07%2Feprescribing-assuming-issues-like-this.html No surprise here to anyone with engineering sense (e.g., in my case, arising from my decades of experience in amateur radio, operating many different brands and types of extremely complex radio equipment):American Medical News (American Medical Association)Upgrading e-prescribing system can bump up error riskSome of those risks can put patients in jeopardy in the first few weeks of implementation, a study finds.By PAMELA LEWIS DOLAN, amednews staff. Posted June 13, 2011.Switching to new or upgraded electronic-prescribing systems may pose patient safety risks during the transition period, despite the advanced clinical decision support tools offered by the newly implemented technology.Let me translate this euphemism: "Patient safety risks" = risks that patients will be maimed or killed.Many ... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5062199 Sun, 24 Jul 2011 13:04:00 +0100 5062199 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5008145&cid=t_138357_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FjXYSHkY0CKg%2F By Michael F. CannonThe Oregon Health Insurance Experiment is the first experiment since the dawn of time that randomly assigns some households to receive health insurance (Medicaid) for purposes of comparing their medical consumption, health outcomes, and financial security to similar households that do not receive Medicaid coverage.  Some of the nation’s top health economists have released the first batch of results from the OHIE. At National Review (Online), I summarize the OHIE’s first-year results and offer the following analysis: Supporters of President Obama’s health-care law may tout these benefits, but the OHIE does not provide the vindication they seek. First, despite being eligible for Medicaid, 13 percent of the control group had private health insurance — s... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5008145 Thu, 07 Jul 2011 12:46:38 +0100 5008145 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4934365&cid=t_138357_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F06%2F15%2Fonline-law-and-mind-experiments-2%2F The Latest Online Study Clearinghouse Experiment The following experiment was just posted on our Law and Mind Science Online Study Clearinghouse, a repository for web studies pertaining to law and mind sciences. Self and Social Judgment Participants will provide information about events that have happened to them in their lives. In addition, participants will answer questions about their opinions on, and judgments about, social policy issues. It should take participants approximately 15 minutes to complete the survey. Go to: lawmind.law.harvard.edu (Source: The Situationist) The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4934365 Wed, 15 Jun 2011 04:01:57 +0100 4934365 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4921529&cid=t_138357_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F06%2F10%2Fperceptions-of-income-distribution-and-preferences-for-redistribution%2F This study examines how individuals form these perceptions and posits that systematic biases arise from the extrapolation of information extracted from reference groups. A tailored household survey provides original evidence on the significant biases in individuals’ evaluations of their own relative position in the distribution. Furthermore, the data supports the hypothesis that the selection process into the reference groups is the source of those biases. Finally, this study also assesses the practical relevance of these biases by examining their impact on attitudes towards redistributive policies. An experimental design incorporated into the survey provides consistent information on the own ranking within the income distribution to a randomly selected group of respondents. Confronting ... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4921529 Fri, 10 Jun 2011 04:10:49 +0100 4921529 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4893796&cid=t_138357_134_f&fid=35179&url=http%3A%2F%2Fscottsdiabetes.com%2F2011%2F06%2Fdiabetes-basketball%2F Diabetes and exercise is something incredibly hard to manage.  It is difficult to get my blood sugar where I want it for exercise, and even harder to get it to stay there.  For many people, managing blood sugars before, during, and after, is so hard that they just don’t exercise.  I don’t blame them.  It introduces a million new variables. I shot some video during basketball of me checking my blood sugars and talking about what was going through my head at the time. I still ended the day at 277 mg/dl.  Do I blame it on a few too many gulps of Gatorade?  Maybe a temporary basal rate reduction that was too aggressive? Who knows.  I’m extremely lucky that I enjoy basketball enough to keep working through the hard blood sugars to find a way to play.   Diabetes an... Scott's Diabetes Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4893796 Thu, 02 Jun 2011 00:33:08 +0100 4893796 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4753913&cid=t_138357_134_f&fid=35187&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FDiabetesDaily%2F%7E3%2FkbFAQqrVH50%2Fwhat-makes-your-diabetes-tick.php Manage your diabetes by understanding what makes your blood sugars go up and down. Sounds simple, doesn’t it?Not exactly. Trying to dissect blood sugar readings can be frustrating. But don’t fret: Ginger Vieira is here to help. Ginger, a type 1 diabetic, is the author of Your Diabetes Science Experiment. The book is geared towards those with type 1 diabetes or type 2 diabetes and using insulin.And pay attention, Ginger’s a champion power lifter, so she knows a little something about staying fit!What’s a “Diabetes Science Experiment?”“With diabetes, you are trying to narrow out variables to understand why your blood sugar is what it is, what caused it and what you can do next time to prevent a high or low from happening again,” says Ginger. “You need to take the time and focus... Diabetes Daily blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4753913 Wed, 20 Apr 2011 14:00:00 +0100 4753913 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4742603&cid=t_138357_134_f&fid=35187&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FDiabetesDaily%2F%7E3%2FkbFAQqrVH50%2Fwhat-makes-your-diabetes-tick.php Manage your diabetes by understanding what makes your blood sugars go up and down. Sounds simple, doesn’t it?Not exactly. Trying to dissect blood sugar readings can be frustrating. But don’t fret: Ginger Vieira is here to help. Ginger, a type 1 diabetic, is the author of Your Diabetes Science Experiment. The book is geared towards those with type 1 diabetes or type 2 diabetes and using insulin.And pay attention, Ginger’s a champion power lifter, so she knows a little something about staying fit!What’s a “Diabetes Science Experiment?”“With diabetes, you are trying to narrow out variables to understand why your blood sugar is what it is, what caused it and what you can do next time to prevent a high or low from happening again,” says Ginger. “You need to take the time and focus... Diabetes Daily blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4742603 Wed, 20 Apr 2011 14:00:00 +0100 4742603 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4734479&cid=t_138357_134_f&fid=35187&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FDiabetesDaily%2F%7E3%2FkbFAQqrVH50%2Fwhat-makes-your-diabetes-tick.php Manage your diabetes by understanding what makes your blood sugars go up and down. Sounds simple, doesn’t it?Not exactly. Trying to dissect blood sugar readings can be frustrating. But don’t fret: Ginger Vieira is here to help. Ginger, a type 1 diabetic, is the author of Your Diabetes Science Experiment. The book is geared towards those with type 1 diabetes or type 2 diabetes and using insulin.And pay attention, Ginger’s a champion power lifter, so she knows a little something about staying fit!What’s a “Diabetes Science Experiment?”“With diabetes, you are trying to narrow out variables to understand why your blood sugar is what it is, what caused it and what you can do next time to prevent a high or low from happening again,” says Ginger. “You need to take the time and focus... Diabetes Daily blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4734479 Wed, 20 Apr 2011 14:00:00 +0100 4734479 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4676732&cid=t_138357_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F04%2Fmedicaremedicad-cuts-spend-money-on.html There has recently been much debate about how to save this country from European-style financial ruin. From "GOP 2012 budget proposal cuts taxes on rich, cuts Medicare in the future", Examiner.com, April 3, 2011:On Tuesday House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) is expected to release the Republicans’ 2012 budget proposal. Currently Democratic and Republican leaders are trying to negotiate a compromise on the 2011 budget would make some cuts to discretionary spending. Republicans have said they would not be able to propose really significant cuts to lower the deficit until 2012. According to reports, the GOP proposal would dramatically cut taxes on corporations and the rich, while also making significant cuts to Medicare and Medicaid.I propose the cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, ... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4676732 Sun, 03 Apr 2011 17:57:00 +0100 4676732 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4642690&cid=t_138357_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F03%2F28%2Fthe-power-of-the-situation%2F From Discovering Psychology: This program explores psychologists’ attempts to understand human behavior within its broader social context. It also examines how beliefs and behavior can be influenced and manipulated by other people and subtle situational forces. Related Situationist posts: “Video on the Original Milgram Experiment,” “The Situation of Stanley Milgram’s Obedience Experiments,” “Milgram Replicated on French TV – ‘The Game of Death’,” “A Shocking Situation,” “Zimbardo on Milgram and Obedience – Part I,” “The Case for Obedience,” “Replicating Milgram’s Obedience Experiment – Yet Again,” “Jonestown (The Situation of Evil) Revisited,” “Milgram Remake,” and “The Milgram Experiment Today?.” (Source: The Situatio... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4642690 Mon, 28 Mar 2011 05:59:50 +0100 4642690 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4560203&cid=t_138357_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F03%2Ffuture-pathways-for-e-health-in-nsw.html Prof. Patrick has now added a new section to his report on health IT in NSW Australia, entitled "The Future Pathways for e-Health in NSW." It is available at this link (PDF).It inoculates against most of the 'Ten Plagues' that bedevil health IT projects (such as the IT-clinical leadership inversion, lack of transparency, suppression of defects reporting, magical thinking about the technology, and lack of accountability of the bureaucrats).Emphases mine:In Short Term ( 0-3 months)1. Halt further rollouts of Firstnet or other CIS systems. The current roll-out programs use significant efforts in training staff for a system that is counterproductive to patient well being.2. Complete a full and thorough risk assessment analysis and usability of the software. The CIS report indicates there are a... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4560203 Tue, 08 Mar 2011 13:16:00 +0100 4560203 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4560363&cid=t_138357_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F03%2F08%2Fonline-law-and-mind-experiments%2F This study is concerned with the attitudes people hold about the punishment of criminal offenders. It takes less than 10 minutes to complete The relationship between risk-taking and on campus crime This study aims to investigate the relationship between risk-taking and being the victims of various on-campus crimes. Current Attitudes of the Criminal Justice System This short questionnaire examines participants’ views about the criminal justice system and how well it achieves its foundational goals. Have You Been Questioned for Jury Duty Within the Last Year? This study was designed to explore how people view the voir dire process. Go to: lawmind.law.harvard.edu (Source: The Situationist) The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4560363 Tue, 08 Mar 2011 04:01:30 +0100 4560363 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4560207&cid=t_138357_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F03%2Fdr-scot-monteith-on-best-compromise-on.html I have posted two guest posts by Dr. Scott Monteith, a psychiatrist/informaticist, at the Jan. 2011 post "Interesting HIT Testimony to HHS Standards Committee, Jan. 11, 2011, by Dr. Monteith" and the Dec. 2010 post "Meaningful Use and the Devil in the Details: A Reader's View".Here is another, with his permission. He is responding to a talking point from a health IT commentary website that was distributed among the AMIA evaluations special interest group readership.Dr. Monteith asks some very probing questions. He writes:I would like to respond to what I see as being one of the most important and challenging “real-life” issues confronting clinicians, and is captured in this excerpt [below, from the multi-vendor sponsored site HISTalk - ed.]:HisTALK: ... Somewhere between “we vendors ... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4560207 Mon, 07 Mar 2011 17:17:00 +0100 4560207 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4512439&cid=t_138357_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F02%2F24%2Fplms-launches-online-experiment-clearinghouse-website%2F The Online Study Clearinghouse PLMS is proud to introduce the Law and Mind Science Online Study Clearinghouse, a repository for web studies pertaining to law and mind sciences. Located at lawmind.law.harvard.edu, the site is intended to provide a user-friendly way for researchers and those interested in the field to post and take web-based studies, and to allow aspiring researchers to use our past studies database to help design their own research. Researchers who post their studies with the Clearinghouse will also have the option of being featured on The Situationist, PLMS’s popular blog. Please join PLMS in using this exciting new tool to further the interdisciplinary study of law and mind sciences. lawmind.law.harvard.edu (Source: The Situationist) The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4512439 Thu, 24 Feb 2011 04:01:55 +0100 4512439 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4428970&cid=t_138357_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F02%2Fupdated-reading-list-on-health-it.html This article is a first of its kind, a comprehensive analysis of the liability risks associated with use of clinical IT. The authors point out that the potential benefits of computerization could be substantial, but EHR systems also give rise to new liability risks for health care providers that have received little attention in the legal literature. - Meaningful Use and Certification of Health Information Technology: What About Safety? Sharona Hoffman and Andy Podgurski. Case Research Paper Series in Legal Studies Working Paper 2010-34, October 2010. - Finding a Cure: The Case for Regulation And Oversight of Electronic Health Records Systems, Sharona Hoffman and Andy Podgurski. Harvard Journal of Law & Technology 2008 vol. 22, No. 1 - Emerging Trends in Electronic Heal... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4428970 Wed, 02 Feb 2011 02:39:00 +0100 4428970 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4405729&cid=t_138357_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F01%2Fblogscan-by-feb-all-er-physicians-at.html At my Sept. 2010 post "The Ultimate Workaround To Mission Hostile Health IT: Humans (a.k.a. Scribes)" I had written that:The EMR is a technology that was supposed to improve clinical medicine (revolutionize it, some say). It was supposed to facilitate clinical medicine. It was not supposed to slow physicians and others down to the point of impairing their ability to practice medicine. However, the rosy predictions are not proving to be the case. Instead, we have the ultimate workaround to the health IT mission hostile user experience: [the medical scribe].On the HisTALK blog today, apparently one medical center agrees:By February, all ER physicians at DePaul Health Center (MO) will be using scribes for electronic medical documentation. Administrators hope to improve staff productivity as w... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4405729 Thu, 27 Jan 2011 18:01:00 +0100 4405729 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4382724&cid=t_138357_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F01%2Fyou-heard-most-of-this-first-on.html Conclusions There is a large gap between the postulated and empirically demonstrated benefits of eHealth technologies. [You've heard that here before - ed.] In addition, there is a lack of robust research on the risks [I believe it would be more accurate to say there's been a suppression of research and/or of publicity on the risks - ed.] of implementing these technologies and their cost-effectiveness has yet to be demonstrated [in other words, healthcare IT is an experimental technology. You've heard that here before, too - ed.], despite being frequently promoted by policymakers and “techno-enthusiasts” as if this was a given.[In other words, there's an irrational - or contrived - exuberance. You've heard that here before, too - ed.] In the light of the paucity of evidence in relation... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4382724 Fri, 21 Jan 2011 18:45:00 +0100 4382724 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4382964&cid=t_138357_180_f&fid=38609&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FDavidSeah-BetterLivingThroughNewMedia%2F%7E3%2Fv2ntpZA6S_Q%2F Had a big sweet potato leftover from Thanksgiving. Still seemed firm, so peeled it and sliced it into pieces about 4cm square and 3-6mm thick. Heated vegetable oil in 10″ heavy skillet (about 2mm deep) between “medium” and “medium high” on electric burner. Monitored temperature of oil and pan with RayTech MT4 as the slices cooked. I was looking for the point where browning started to occur, indicating caramelization. This started around 310-325 degrees. Noted that number of pieces in pan determined equilibrium of pan temperature (reinforcing the rule of thumb about “crowding the pan” when browning). About 6-minutes per side, at 325 degrees or so, produced reasonably browned and cooked sweet potato slices, which I blotted and then sprinkled kosher ... David Seah - Design, Development, Inspiration, Empowerment blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4382964 Fri, 21 Jan 2011 15:47:43 +0100 4382964 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4382965&cid=t_138357_180_f&fid=38609&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FDavidSeah-BetterLivingThroughNewMedia%2F%7E3%2FmlO6MbIhQGY%2F I’ve been interested in the thermal energy transfer characteristics of cooking lately. Took 9″ stock pot, 3.5″ of water, brought to rolling boil. Ginger slices, some salt, some cooking wine added, heat shut off. 1lb 4oz split chicken breast (2 pieces) added, covered with burner off, but remaining on it. 35 minutes elapsed. Standing temperature of water, measured with RayTech MT4, was 160 degrees. Chicken interior temperature 140ish degrees, which means it isn’t cooked to death though not high enough temperature to kill salmonella. Ya take your chances for the sake of taste. Ate with a bit of soy sauce and sesame oil. Delicious. Will derive energy estimates later. (Source: David Seah - Design, Development, Inspiration, Empowerment) David Seah - Design, Development, Inspiration, Empowerment blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4382965 Fri, 21 Jan 2011 15:36:30 +0100 4382965 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4382726&cid=t_138357_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F01%2Fmaude-and-hit-risk-mother-mary-what-in.html As I wrote at my last post "Healthcare IT Delirium":The field of health IT has become delirious.On top of an irrational exuberance (see this blog query) largely unsupported by the literature (e.g. here), the technology is experimental, its rollout is a grand national experiment in social re-engineering of medicine, there is no patient informed consent, nobody is in control, and nobody is taking responsibility for regulating the domain despite known risks. The results will very likely reflect the Wild West free-for-all that is now extant.It's worse.Some time ago I posted on a number of cases of health IT malfunction from the FDA's MAUDE (Manufacturer and User Facility Device Experience) database of medical device risks. See posts on MAUDE here and here.MAUDE data represents reports of adver... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4382726 Fri, 21 Jan 2011 15:28:00 +0100 4382726 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4377537&cid=t_138357_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F01%2Fhealthcare-it-delirium.html The delirium surrounding healthcare IT seems to be worsening.In an Aug. 2010 post "EPIC's outrageous recommendations on healthcare IT project staffing" I wrote that health IT company Epic, one of the largest, seemed to not care about healthcare or IT education or experience in its recommendations to hospitals on staffing of safety critical projects (i.e., the implementation of safety critical clinical cybernetic devices):Epic emphasizes that many hospitals can staff their projects internally, choosing people who know the organization. However, they emphasize choosing the best and brightest, not those with time to spare. Epic advocates the same approach it takes in its own hiring: don’t worry about relevant experience, choose people with the right traits, qualities, and skills, they say... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4377537 Thu, 20 Jan 2011 15:15:00 +0100 4377537 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4349548&cid=t_138357_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F01%2F14%2Fcan-you-remember%2F Social scientists sometimes distinguish between two general types of thinking – quantitative and qualitative. This web-based experiment is focused on memory and, more specifically, how making qualitative judgments influences quantitative memory.  To participate in the ten-minute survey, click here. (Source: The Situationist) The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4349548 Fri, 14 Jan 2011 05:42:19 +0100 4349548 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4331068&cid=t_138357_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F01%2F10%2Fgearing-up-for-the-launch-be-a-participant%2F As we mentioned recently, the Project on Law and Mind Sciences is currently in the final stages of designing an online study clearinghouse where researchers can post studies and find participants, and interested members of the public can, well, participate! We believe that this will be a great new resource for all those interested in the broad Situationist endeavor. In gearing up for the launch, here is a link to a new experiment that I’m running along with two researchers at Cambridge aimed at better understanding how people process information. Participate today!  Here! (Source: The Situationist) The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4331068 Mon, 10 Jan 2011 14:42:15 +0100 4331068 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4281282&cid=t_138357_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F12%2Funintended-errors-with-ehr-based-result.html As I wrote at "Report of an AMIA special task force on challenges in ethics, safety, best practices, and oversight regarding HIT", articles in the premier journal of Medical Informatics, the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association (JAMIA) on real and potential downsides of health IT appear to be becoming a trend.Another article just appeared in JAMIA as the result of a study of healthcare IT related errors: "Unintended errors with EHR-based result management: a case series"; Thomas R Yackel and Peter J Embi; JAMIA 2010 17: 104-107; doi: 10.1197/jamia.M3294.The article presents a series of health IT-related errors and categorizes them systematically, and thus adds to our knowledge on the issue of cybernetic clinical test results management. It also makes recommendations for... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4281282 Wed, 22 Dec 2010 21:04:00 +0100 4281282 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4265859&cid=t_138357_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F12%2F15%2Fwhen-sorry-is-not-enough%2F Barely a week goes by without one or other public figure apologizing for a disaster of monumental proportions. There’s an endless parade of politicians, business leaders, celebrities and others appearing on TV and in print, to own up and say sorry for what they’ve done wrong. We’ve come to expect this: just as night follows day, so public apology follows misdemeanor. Sometimes these apologies seem genuine and heartfelt, other times they’re perfunctory and insincere. But does any type of apology really help the healing process? The penitent hope their red-faced admissions of guilt will bring absolution, but can saying sorry really be enough to restore their credibility? High Expectations for the Power of ‘Sorry’ In private life we also have very high exp... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4265859 Wed, 15 Dec 2010 11:39:41 +0100 4265859 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4230139&cid=t_138357_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F12%2Fis-healthcare-it-solution-to-wrong.html In a study published in the Nov. 25, 2010 New England Journal of Medicine entitled "Temporal Trends in Rates of Patient Harm Resulting from Medical Care", Landrigan N Engl J Med 363;22, it was found that medical error rates were not dropping:In a study of 10 North Carolina hospitals [from January 2002 through December 2007], we found that harms remain common, with little evidence of widespread improvement. Further efforts are needed to translate effective safety interventions into routine practice and to monitor health care safety over time.Unfortunately, I don't believe that the article differentiated between computerized hospitals and paper-based ones. Nor were the subject hospitals selected on the basis of computerization or non-computerization:We conducted a retrospective study of a st... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4230139 Sat, 04 Dec 2010 15:46:00 +0100 4230139 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4219701&cid=t_138357_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F12%2Feconomist-information-privacy-microsoft.html At The Economist, an online "debate" entitled Health 2.0 has been posted (link). It poses a debate between two experts.In this case, the debate is between Peter Neupert, Corporate vice-president, Microsoft Health Solutions Group, vs. Deborah Peel, MD, Founder, Patient Privacy Rights and leader of the Coalition for Patient Privacy.The readers are asked to vote upon whether they agree or disagree with this statement:This house believes that any loss of privacy from digitising health care will be more than compensated for by the welfare gains from increased efficiency.Note the phrase "will be."Readers are also permitted to post comments.My response was as follows:30/11/2010 19:16:26 pmDear Sir, The premise of this entire debate is logically fallacious, in fact begging the question. This state... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4219701 Wed, 01 Dec 2010 15:30:00 +0100 4219701 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4200632&cid=t_138357_122_f&fid=36582&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FSharpBrains%2F%7E3%2F5mmtPdWD4bg%2F If you’ve spent any time on YouTube over the last few years (and you know you have), you’ve likely seen the video of the invisible gorilla experiment (if you’ve somehow missed it, catch yourself up here). The researchers who conducted that study, Dan Simons and Chris Chabris, didn’t realize that they were about to create an instant classic—a psychology study mentioned alongside the greats, and known well outside the slim confines of psych wonks. Milgram taught us about our sheepish obedience to authority; Mischel used marshmallows to teach us about delayed gratification; and Simons and Chabris used a faux gorilla to teach us that we are not the masters of attention we think we are. The duo’s new book, The Invisible Gorilla, and Other Ways Our Intuitions Deceive Us, is every... SharpBrains blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4200632 Wed, 24 Nov 2010 21:13:26 +0100 4200632 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4183257&cid=t_138357_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F11%2Favatar-fails-no-not-cameron-movie-but.html A story "Designed for Efficiency, New Computer Software at Health Dept. Misfires" by The Bay Citizen senior writer Katharine Mieszkowski appeared in the New York Times today regarding San Francisco's Dept. of Public Health."Misfires?"That's a mild term indeed. This story follows a script very familiar to Medical Informatics professionals:Poorly designed and implemented healthcare IT causes clinical and other chaos; Vendor and implementation leaders claims "glitches" and "teething pains" and blame the users for inexperience and/or incompetence; Vendor promises relief in the "next version"; These principals hope it all "goes away" until the system implodes on itself and needs replacement, starting the cycle anew, and/or-The principals hope newspapers stop paying attention to the chaos caused... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4183257 Fri, 19 Nov 2010 14:56:00 +0100 4183257 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4086230&cid=t_138357_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F10%2Fmedical-center-has-more-than-6000.html As I have written at Healthcare Renewal before, computerized physician order entry systems (CPOE's) are known to present risks to patients through induction of medical errors.This technology is held out to be ready for national diffusion, right up to the POTUS. Per ONC director Blumenthal in the July 13, 2010 NEJM:The widespread use of electronic health records (EHRs) in the United States is inevitable. EHRs will improve caregivers’ decisions and patients’ outcomes. Once patients experience the benefits of this technology, they will demand nothing less from their providers. Hundreds of thousands of physicians have already seen these benefits in their clinical practice.Vendors deny major problems with their CPOE and other health IT products.The true story is a bit more complex.Fortunate... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4086230 Wed, 20 Oct 2010 15:35:00 +0100 4086230 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3911651&cid=t_138357_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F08%2Fcerners-blitzkrieg-on-london-wheres-raf.html In the Battle of Britain in WW2, the Royal Air Force (RAF) heroically repelled a foreign invasion of the UK.The Supermarine Spitfire, key defense tool in the Battle of Britain. (Worked without major glitches.)Now, the invasion is American, and the battlefield is healthcare...I have often said health IT remains an experimental technology. However, the technology is being inexplicably force-fed with a vengeance to hospitals by IT companies and governments, force-fed with respect to the actual evidence of benefit.In the case of the NPfIT in the UK, we have items such as those below from a 2009 government report "The National Programme for IT in the NHS: Progress since 2006 - Public Accounts Committee." Emphases in italics mine: The termination of Fujitsu's contract has caused uncertainty amon... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3911651 Fri, 27 Aug 2010 12:46:00 +0100 3911651 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3913179&cid=t_138357_122_f&fid=34736&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FChannelN-PodcastsPoweredByOdiogo%2F%7E3%2FaeP9hF2GtqU%2F Experiment Psychology – Change Blindness Change blindness and selective attention: what it is, with a cognitive psychology experiment to demonstrate. (Source: Channel N) Channel N blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3913179 Fri, 20 Aug 2010 18:52:26 +0100 3913179 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3798516&cid=t_138357_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F07%2Fopen-question-on-moral-authority-and.html P { MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px } BODY { SCROLLBAR-ARROW-COLOR: #3f52b8; SCROLLBAR-DARKSHADOW-COLOR: #fafafa; SCROLLBAR-BASE-COLOR: #f7f7f7; SCROLLBAR-HIGHLIGHT-COLOR: #cecfce; SCROLLBAR-TRACK-COLOR: #fffbff } As a result of my mother's health IT-related cerebral hemorrhage and resultant multi-month hospitalization (as mentioned here and here), with transfers to nursing homes then back to acute care due to setbacks, I recently had the chance to observe her care in a small community hospital.This was a hospital that, in her last several days there before going back to a nursing home for rehab, went live with a major vendor CPOE. The CPOE was brought in from a parent large hospital where the CPOE had been in use several years.Just by passing the nursing station/doctor's cha... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3798516 Wed, 28 Jul 2010 19:27:00 +0100 3798516 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3790952&cid=t_138357_180_f&fid=38619&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FALifeCoachsBlog%2F%7E3%2FVAiDiOF0CHs%2F I am about to embark on an interesting experiment and I was wondering if you’d like to come along for the ride? I’ve been complaining about not having enough energy for somewhere in the region of 30 years, maybe even longer. In that time I’ve done very little to remedy the situation unless whining and complaining about it can be counted as taking action and I have my doubts. A few months ago my doctor told me he thought it might be a dairy intolerance that was causing some stomach issues I was experiencing. He casually pointed out that it was thought by some scientists as many as 75% of all people may be either intolerant or full-on allergic to lactose and that often worsens as we age. Now that’s a lot of people if its true. In fact it’s about 210 million people in a country that... Life Coach Blog: The Discomfort Zone : blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3790952 Mon, 26 Jul 2010 17:18:41 +0100 3790952 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3776337&cid=t_138357_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F07%2Fnational-program-for-health-it-in-us.html The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has begun to address deficient clinical IT usability. A PDF with presentations on the topic from the recent NIST conference on HIT usability is here (warning: very large, 26 MB).There is a critical "meta-issue" that's being ignored regarding usability, though, yet it is the elephant in the living room. First, I will detail the elephant, then ask the simple, logical question that arises (the "inconvenient" question that nobody seems to be able to give a straight, non-marketing-spin answer to). Here are the details of the elephant.First, poor usability ---> increased risk to patients.This is a first principle; it is not open to debate.Now: If NIST is just now getting involved in "improving HIT usability" (the improvement of which s... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3776337 Wed, 21 Jul 2010 14:14:00 +0100 3776337 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3772200&cid=t_138357_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F07%2Fbarry-chaiken-md-mph-lets-be-patient.html At an interview of Barry Chaiken, MD, MPH, FHIMSS, former Chairman of the Board of health IT trade group HIMSS and chief medical officer of Imprivata, a company specializing in healthcare IT security, Chaiken pleads for the following special accommodations for Health IT relative to other medical sectors:... We’re still learning, in healthcare, about that user interface. We’re still learning about how to put the applications together in a clinical workflow that’s going to be valuable to the patients and to the people who are providing care. Let’s be patient. Let’s give them a chance to figure out the right way to do this. Let’s give the application providers an opportunity to make this better.[Why are the health IT applications bad to begin with, I ask? - ed.]I note the followin... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3772200 Tue, 20 Jul 2010 14:33:00 +0100 3772200 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3823006&cid=t_138357_113_f&fid=38494&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcuretogether.com%2Fblog%2F2010%2F07%2F14%2Fjust-released-%25e2%2580%2593-curetogether-guide-to-back-pain%2F . . You are a part of this. It’s a new kind of health book that puts real-world data before authority, and teaches you how to make better decisions for your health. Inside, you’ll find 7 insight-filled sections to help you navigate your way through Back Pain. Download your copy here, or read on for more details. . The Story Health books are usually written by experts who offer authoritative information about conditions, symptoms and treatments – people who usually don’t live with the condition themselves, but nevertheless tell you what you should do because they know best. This book is different. It’s based on the real-world experiences of patients. Our approach is not to tell you what to do, but to give you the hard data and the education to help you make your own decisions �... The Collective Well blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3823006 Wed, 14 Jul 2010 19:41:45 +0100 3823006 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3753915&cid=t_138357_113_f&fid=38494&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcuretogether.com%2Fblog%2F2010%2F07%2F14%2Fjust-released-%25e2%2580%2593-curetogether-guide-to-back-pain%2F . . You are a part of this. It’s a new kind of health book that puts real-world data before authority, and teaches you how to make better decisions for your health. Inside, you’ll find 7 insight-filled sections to help you navigate your way through Back Pain. Download your copy here, or read on for more details. . The Story Health books are usually written by experts who offer authoritative information about conditions, symptoms and treatments – people who usually don’t live with the condition themselves, but nevertheless tell you what you should do because they know best. This book is different. It’s based on the real-world experiences of patients. Our approach is not to tell you what to do, but to give you the hard data and the education to help you make your own decisions �... The Collective Well blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3753915 Wed, 14 Jul 2010 19:41:45 +0100 3753915 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3750096&cid=t_138357_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F07%2F13%2Fordinary-heroes-and-the-science-of-good-and-evil%2F “I did what anyone could do, no big deal to jump on the tracks.” – Wesley Autrey, New York City’s “subway Superman” On January 2nd, 2007, 50-year-old construction worker Wesley Autrey was waiting with his two young daughters for the train at the 137th Street and Broadway station in the Harlem section of Manhattan. Also waiting was 19-year-old film student Cameron Hollopeter, who began having a seizure. Autrey borrowed a pen and used it to keep Hollopeter’s jaw open. Understandably wobbly post-seizure, Hollopeter fell onto the tracks. Autrey saw the lights of the oncoming train, gave a stranger his daughters to hold, and jumped down. He protected Hollopeter by lying on top of him. The height of their bodies on top of each other is 20-1/2 inches; the t... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3750096 Tue, 13 Jul 2010 16:35:36 +0100 3750096 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3746857&cid=t_138357_122_f&fid=36582&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FSharpBrains%2F%7E3%2FEID5-wTAlF0%2F We often hear interest from people of all ages in being participants in the cognitive research we are doing in our UCSF lab. However, all of our experiments to date have been focused on under 20 year olds and the over 60 age group, and many people fall in between. Well, we have just launched our first experiment aimed at exploring the impact of distraction and multitasking on performance across the lifespan, with a large enough number of participants to allow for gender comparisons. So, we are reaching to people of all ages with the opportunity to be participate in this cool new experiment. This is a behavioral study using a video game that we created and developed to evaluate these skills. It sets the stage for both a brain training and brain recording experiment to follow. Taking part re... SharpBrains blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3746857 Mon, 12 Jul 2010 11:29:57 +0100 3746857 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3490587&cid=t_138357_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F04%2Fshort-open-letter-to-national.html P { MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px } BODY { SCROLLBAR-HIGHLIGHT-COLOR: #cecfce; SCROLLBAR-ARROW-COLOR: #3f52b8; SCROLLBAR-TRACK-COLOR: #fffbff; SCROLLBAR-DARKSHADOW-COLOR: #fafafa; SCROLLBAR-BASE-COLOR: #f7f7f7 } SPAN#misspelled { BACKGROUND: url(8.2.176.2/themes/base/squiggly.gif) repeat-x 50% bottom; PADDING-BOTTOM: 1px } Sent: Wednesday, April 21, 2010 7:17 AMTo: David.Blumenthal@hhs.govCc: fschulte@huffpostfund.org; 'Ross Koppel'; 'Justin Starren'Subject: Re: "As Doctors Shift to Electronic Health Systems, Signs of Harm Emerge" Dear Dr. Blumenthal, In the Apr. 20, 2010 article "As Doctors Shift to Electronic Health Systems, Signs of Harm Emerge" at http://huffpostfund.org/stories/2010/04/doctors-shift-electronic-health-systems-signs-harm-emerge#ixzz0ljMzNOzD you are quoted as sa... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3490587 Wed, 21 Apr 2010 11:18:00 +0100 3490587 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3479636&cid=t_138357_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F04%2Fhealth-information-technology-basics.html I have never before seen a document like the one entitled "Health Information Technology Basics", by the Institute for Health & Socio-Economic Policy, California Nurses Association and the National Nurses Organizing Committee. It is available at this link (PDF).It is long but contains rather interesting views on the issue of health IT, management and clinicians (nurses).I find the following passages of particular interest as they reflect views we express on this blog, and attack the notion of cybernetic miracles being wrought:Skill is the ability, drawn from education and experience, to do something expertly. It can also be defined as the effective exercise of professional judgment in non-routine situations.Following prescribed rules, as a machine would, makes an employee competent to ... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3479636 Sat, 17 Apr 2010 01:21:00 +0100 3479636 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3471888&cid=t_138357_113_f&fid=38494&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcuretogether.com%2Fblog%2F2010%2F04%2F15%2Fannouncing-the-curetogether-guide-to-depression%2F You are a part of this, too. Just like for Anxiety, this crowdsourced guide to depression is based on input from 1000 CureTogether members with Depression. Inside the book are insights about how to find out if you’re depressed, getting diagnosed, how to find a treatment that is most likely to work for you, running self-experiments, understanding cognitive bias in decision-making, and the latest discoveries from both patients and scientists around the world. The CureTogether Guide will help you navigate your way through Depression. Download your copy here. We hope it helps! (Source: The Collective Well) The Collective Well blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3471888 Thu, 15 Apr 2010 13:47:40 +0100 3471888 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3463541&cid=t_138357_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F04%2Fyet-another-study-shows-health-it-does.html We examined electronic health record adoption in U.S. hospitals and the relationship to quality and efficiency. Across a large number of metrics examined, the relationships were modest at best and generally lacked statistical or clinical significance. However, the presence of clinical decision support was associated with small quality gains. Our findings suggest that to drive substantial gains in quality and efficiency, simply adopting electronic health records is likely to be insufficient. Instead, policies are needed that encourage the use of electronic health records in ways that will lead to improvements in care. On that last point, I disagree; it's not the use of HIT that needs to be encouraged, it's the remediation of HIT that needs to be encouraged/enforced to make HIT useful. More ... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3463541 Tue, 13 Apr 2010 12:12:00 +0100 3463541 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3411070&cid=t_138357_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F03%2Fhospitals-under-knife-sacrificing.html A WSJ article on the financial condition of NY hospitals, and specifically a line by NY Mayor Bloomberg, caught my eye:Wall Street JournalMar. 26, 2010Hospitals Under the KnifeNew York City System Aims to Cut 2,600 More Jobs as State Funding DropsBy MICHAEL HOWARD SAUL and SUZANNE SATALINENEW YORK—The nation's largest public hospital system plans to slash its work force—including doctors and nurses—by about 10% over two years as government aid drops and the number of uninsured patients jumps.With its budget deficit set to top $1 billion, New York City's Health and Hospitals Corp. plans to eliminate 2,600 jobs in the fiscal year that begins July 1. That comes on top of 1,300 positions to be eliminated this year."No hospital system in the country is exempt from the crushing economics f... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3411070 Fri, 26 Mar 2010 18:06:00 +0100 3411070 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3403981&cid=t_138357_113_f&fid=38494&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcuretogether.com%2Fblog%2F2010%2F03%2F24%2Fjust-released-the-curetogether-guide-to-anxiety%2F . You are a part of this. It’s a new kind of health book that puts real-world data before authority, and teaches you how to make better decisions for your health. Inside, you’ll find 7 insight-filled sections to help you navigate your way through Anxiety. Download your copy here, or read on for the juicy details. . The Story Health books are usually written by experts who offer authoritative information about conditions, symptoms and treatments – people who usually don’t live with the condition themselves, but nevertheless tell you what you should do because they know best. This book is different. It’s based on the real-world experiences of patients. Our approach is not to tell you what to do, but to give you the hard data and the education to help you make yo... The Collective Well blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3403981 Wed, 24 Mar 2010 23:57:33 +0100 3403981 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3359091&cid=t_138357_113_f&fid=38494&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcuretogether.com%2Fblog%2F2010%2F03%2F12%2Fhow-to-run-a-successful-self-experiment%2F New relationship = more sex, new baby = more weight gain (Photo credit: juhansonin) “Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising which tempt you to believe that your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires courage.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson . Say you’ve chosen to try a new treatment or new intervention for your health. How do you really know how well it is working? The key is to run a self-experiment, to have the numbers tell you what’s happening. This is easier to do with some treatments than others, but here are 5 general principles that will help you do a successful self-experiment: . 1. One test at a time. Keep it simple. Don’t try to test too many new va... The Collective Well blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3359091 Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:58:54 +0100 3359091 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3358941&cid=t_138357_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F03%2Ffda-asks-hospitals-to-report-safety.html A theme of my writings on this blog and on my teaching site for the past decade has been mismanagement of healthcare information technology by an industry and people who have been operating for many years far beyond their qualifications and competencies. Technology requiring the highest levels of biomedical-IT cross disciplinary expertise has most commonly been designed, managed, implemented, led and defended by amateurs [see note 1].As a result of this mismanagement, the technology is not without its perils. The problem is that this industry suffers from constricted information flows for a number of reasons, and we do not know the magnitude of the perils. Even speculation is difficult since data is scarce. The technology remains experimental.After a commitment of tens of billions of econ... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3358941 Fri, 12 Mar 2010 02:25:00 +0100 3358941 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3208466&cid=t_138357_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F01%2F26%2Fthe-situation-of-mental-illness%2F From Wikipedia: The Rosenhan experiment was a famous experiment into the validity of psychiatric diagnosis conducted by psychologist David Rosenhan in 1973.  It was published in the journal Science under the title “On being sane in insane places.” The study is considered an important and influential criticism of psychiatric diagnosis. Rosenhan’s study consisted of two parts. The first part involved the use of healthy associates or “pseudopatients” who briefly simulated auditory hallucinations in an attempt to gain admission to 12 different psychiatric hospitals in five different states in various locations in the United States. All were admitted and diagnosed with psychiatric disorders. After admission, the pseudopatients acted normally and told staff that th... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3208466 Tue, 26 Jan 2010 04:01:03 +0100 3208466 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3175836&cid=t_138357_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F01%2Fmeaningfully-experimental-protocols-and.html Despite a massive push in our (yet-unnamed) U.S. national program for health IT in the past year (which I shall christen as the NPfIT in the HHS), nagging questions about healthcare IT remain.The first regards the Public Comment period on the "Meaningful Use" criteria for HIT, part of the Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Electronic Health Record Incentive Program Proposed Rule:This proposed rule would implement the provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) (Pub. L. 111-5) that provide incentive payments to eligible professionals (EPs) and eligible hospitals participating in Medicare and Medicaid programs that adopt and meaningfully use certified electronic health record (EHR) technology. The proposed rule would specify the initial criteria an EP and eligible ho... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3175836 Thu, 14 Jan 2010 19:06:00 +0100 3175836 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3048193&cid=t_138357_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F12%2F02%2Fthe-situation-of-violence%2F From BBC’s Horizon: What makes ordinary people commit extreme acts of violence? In a thought-provoking and disturbing journey, Michael Portillo investigates one of the darker sides of human nature. He discovers what it is like to inflict pain and is driven to the edge of violence himself in an extreme sleep deprivation study. He meets men for whom violence has become an addiction and ultimately discovers that each of us could be inherently more violent than we think, and watches a replication of one of the most controversial studies in history, the Milgram study. Will study participants be willing to administer a seemingly lethal electric shock to someone they think is an innocent bystander? * * * * * * * * * For a sample of related Situationist posts about the situation of violenc... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3048193 Wed, 02 Dec 2009 04:01:10 +0100 3048193 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3044306&cid=t_138357_139_f&fid=38879&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FVirologyBlog%2F%7E3%2FpLSx_-o5roA%2F So far in my experiments to understand inhibition of rhinovirus replication by ZnCl2 I’ve found that at a concentration of 0.1 mM, viral plaque formation is inhibited but not sufficiently to be able to select resistant mutants. Attempts to use higher concentrations of the metal have consistently failed. When I initially I tried higher concentrations of ZnCl2 in the plaque assay (0.2, 0.3, 0.4 mM) the cell monolayers looked poor. I thought one reason for this apparent toxicity was that the HeLa cell monolayers were too sparse. Last week I repeated the experiment using plates of HeLa cells seeded with 2 or 2.25 million cells each the night before. I infected the cells with two different amounts of rhinovirus type 1a, added a semisolid overlay with or without ZnCl2, and incubated for fo... virology blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3044306 Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:36:36 +0100 3044306 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3022729&cid=t_138357_139_f&fid=38879&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FVirologyBlog%2F%7E3%2F1LdQplUyGXQ%2F Recently I began experiments to understand how zinc inhibits rhinovirus replication, and I promised to document my findings on the pages of this blog. Here are the results of the second plaque assay. In the last experiment I confirmed the finding that 0.1 mM ZnCl2 inhibits plaque formation by rhinovirus type 1A. Based on the results of that plaque assay, shown in the figure at left, I’ve decided that this concentration of zinc isn’t sufficient to completely inhibit viral replication. Although 0.1 mM ZnCl2 blocked plaque formation when 20 or 200 pfu were inoculated on cells, many plaques arose on plates inoculated with 2000 pfu. These cannot be viral mutants resistant to zinc – there are too many of them. If there are 2000 plaques on the untreated plate, and 200 on the pla... virology blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3022729 Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:27:58 +0100 3022729 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3016927&cid=t_138357_139_f&fid=38879&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FVirologyBlog%2F%7E3%2F5meqJhkqthM%2F The title of this post should not come as a surprise to readers of virology blog – it was shown in 1974 that zinc could interfere with replication of rhinoviruses (see “Zinc and the common cold“). I am referring to the result of my first experiment to study the mechanism of zinc inhibition – something I promised I would document on these pages. I am interested in understanding how zinc inhibits rhinovirus replication. Answering this question could lead to new ways to prevent common colds caused by these viruses. The first step was to reproduce the effect of zinc in my laboratory with my stocks of rhinovirus. I selected rhinovirus type 1a for my initial experiments because we’ve worked with this serotype in the past: we know the genome sequence and how the viru... virology blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3016927 Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:35:42 +0100 3016927 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2916382&cid=t_138357_134_f&fid=35187&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FDiabetesDaily%2F%7E3%2FsRApjVlbUq4%2Fexperiments-wake-up-bolus-breakfast-and-exercise.php I was really fighting the blues through the tail end of last week and through the weekend.  Really bad.  What really kicked it off for me was some job stuff that I thought was going well, but wasn't.  So once again I am looking for work.  Freelance, contract, full-time, part-time, a combination of all of the above - anything will help.  Since Cozmo closed down, this transition has been trying.  Most of all, it has been hard keeping depression at arms length.  With my current contracting gig crumbling away a little bit, I got pretty dang close and comfortable with depression again, and it sucks.  But depression is a weird monster, because as sucky as it is, there is a strange comfort in it.  Comfort is a bad word for it, because it is anything bu... Diabetes Daily blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2916382 Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:32:38 +0100 2916382 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2770141&cid=t_138357_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F09%2F06%2Fzimbardo-interview-at-the-believer%2F Philosopher Tamler Sommers was kind enough to post a link over at the Garden of Forking Paths to an interview he did with Situationist contributor Philip Zimbardo that appears in the latest edition of The Believer.  Here is the first question and answer from the interview: *** THE BELIEVER: I take it that one of the goals of the Stanford Prison Experiment was to build on Milgram’s results that demonstrated the power of situational elements. Is that right? PHILIP ZIMBARDO: It was really to broaden his message and put it to a higher-level test. In Milgram’s study, we don’t know about those thousand people who answered the ad. His subjects were not Yale students, although he did it at Yale. They were a thousand ordinary citizens from New Haven and Bridgeport, Connecticut, ages twenty t... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2770141 Sun, 06 Sep 2009 04:01:32 +0100 2770141 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2688943&cid=t_138357_165_f&fid=37959&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthskills.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F08%2F11%2Fhow-do-you-decide-when-to-stop-doing-something%2F This study by Karsdorp and colleagues, based at the Maastricht University, The Netherlands, manipulates mood and stop rules on task performance. Participants were people with upper limb pain, and were asked to carry out two physical tasks consisting of moving a weighted handle – one with their painful upper limb, and one with their nonpainful lower limb. Just prior to carrying out this task, pariticpants were asked to remember and give a detailed description of a positive or a negative event they had experienced in their life. Their experience was heightened by the interviewer asking for emotion-laden comments and descriptions, and lighting and music were also used to augment emotions. The stop rules were (1) ‘perform the task and ask yourself ‘have I made as many movemen... HealthSkills Weblog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2688943 Tue, 11 Aug 2009 09:00:08 +0100 2688943 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2477537&cid=t_138357_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F_uMTyA_h2Kc%2F Paul Starobin, the author of an informative primer on foreign policy realism, had an interesting piece in the weekend’s Wall Street Journal on the topic of breaking up the United States. Devolved America is a vision faithful both to certain postindustrial realities as well as to the pluralistic heart of the American political tradition—a tradition that has been betrayed by the creeping centralization of power in Washington over the decades but may yet reassert itself as an animating spirit for the future. Consider this proposition: America of the 21st century, propelled by currents of modernity that tend to favor the little over the big, may trace a long circle back to the original small-government ideas of the American experiment. The present-day American Goliath may turn out to b... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2477537 Mon, 15 Jun 2009 17:33:02 +0100 2477537 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2348437&cid=t_138357_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F04%2F16%2Fzimbardo-on-milgram-and-obedience-part-ii%2F Situationist Contributer Philip Zimbardo has authored the preface to a new edition of social psychologist Stanley Milgram’s seminal book Obedience to Authority. This is the second of a two-part series derived from that preface. In Part I of the post, Zimbardo describes the inculcation of obedience and Milgram’s role as a research pioneer. In this part, Zimbardo answers challenges to Milgram’s work and locates its legacy. * * * Unfortunately, many psychologists, students, and lay people who believe that they know the “Milgram Shock” study, know only one version of it, most likely from seeing his influential movie Obedience or reading a textbook summary. He has been challenged for using only male participants, which was true initially, but later he replicated his findi... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2348437 Thu, 16 Apr 2009 04:01:00 +0100 2348437 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2307461&cid=t_138357_88_f&fid=38129&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsandnsurf.medbrains.net%2F2009%2F03%2Fjack-barnes-and-the-irukandji-enigma%2F In 1964, Jack Handyside Barnes, his nine year-old son, and a local surf lifesaver were rushed to Cairns Base Hospital after developing Irukandji syndrome. Thus the riddle of what caused Irukandji Syndrome was solved; years of detective work had reached its climax in a dramatic and decisive episode of self-experimentation. Jack Barnes was both a [...] (Source: Life in the Fast Lane) Life in the Fast Lane blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2307461 Sat, 28 Mar 2009 21:00:05 +0100 2307461 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2269395&cid=t_138357_165_f&fid=37959&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthskills.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F03%2F16%2Fplacebo-and-social-observational-learning%2F In this study, hoping to investigate the effect of learning through observing someone experience placebo analgesia as compared with first-hand experience and verbal suggestion alone. The premise is that some placebo analgesia is influenced by expectancy, some by conditioning, some by reinforcement - and in this experiment, by social observational learning. Social observational learning is where an individual watches another person and learns through ‘vicarious learning’. In this experiment, the participants were asked to sit beside a person who had been trained to simulate the experimental session. This person ‘always rated as painful the stimuli paired to red light and as non-painful the stimuli paired to green light. In this way, he simulated an analgesic benefit follo... HealthSkills Weblog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2269395 Sun, 15 Mar 2009 18:18:58 +0100 2269395 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1711742&cid=t_138357_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2008%2F08%2F18%2Ftop-ten-online-psychology-experiments%2F Hundreds of online psychology experiments are going on at any given time, many cool and amusing to take part in. They’re great for researchers due to the ease and low cost of finding subjects, and because of that, more data. There are drawbacks, though. The University of Essex’s Department of Psychology points out: “… factors may cause the data to become less clear, for example: everyone uses different types of computers and monitors; we can’t be sure they have understood the instructions properly and we have no idea who is actually doing the experiments.” Debate is ongoing but the popularity of online studies keeps growing too. By design these studies are ephemeral, disappearing from the web once a deadline is reached or enough data collected. In this Top ... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1711742 Mon, 18 Aug 2008 08:41:30 +0100 1711742 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1411940&cid=t_138357_122_f&fid=36582&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FSharpBrains%2F%7E3%2F281148688%2F Here you are have the bi-monthly update with our 10 most Popular blog posts. (Also, remember that you can subscribe to receive our RSS feed, or to our newsletter, at the top of this page, if you want to receive this digest by email). In this edition of our newsletter we bring a few articles and recent news pieces that shed light on what "Use It or Lose It" means, and why we can start going beyond that to say "Use It and Improve It." The Neuron, The Brain, and Thinking Smarter New Neurons: Good News, Bad News: Dr. Bill Klemm, a professor of Neuroscience at Texas A&M University, summarizes the research on how new neurons are born and what they need to live long happy lives. Interviews with 16 Leading Scientists: Compilation of interviews with prominent neurosc... SharpBrains blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1411940 Thu, 01 May 2008 00:40:23 +0100 1411940 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1403043&cid=t_138357_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F04%2F28%2Flessons-learned-from-the-abu-ghraib-horrors%2F On April 28, 2004, four years ago, our nation, and the world, was shocked by the revelation of the abuse and torture of Iraqi prisoners by American soldiers. More surprising than the fact of the abuse, for soldiers often abuse their enemies in wartime, was the nature of the “trophy photos.” Both male and female Military Police posed smilingly, giving high fives over a pyramid of naked detainees; dragging some around on dog leashes; and forcing others into sexually degrading poses. An iconic image of torture emerged from the digitally documented depravity which was shown in a helpless prisoner standing on a cardboard box, head hooded, electrodes attached to his fingers, fearing that when his body weakened and he fell off the stress box, he would electrocute himself. Recall that the imme... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1403043 Mon, 28 Apr 2008 04:01:24 +0100 1403043 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1363753&cid=t_138357_87_f&fid=35052&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FWomensBioethicsBlog%2F%7E3%2F267831938%2Fnature-reports-use-of-brain-boosting.html According to a new report in Nature, one in five people surveyed have used drugs to boost their mental cognition - and while we know that most people using brain boosting drugs... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] (Source: Women's Bioethics Blog) Women's Bioethics Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1363753 Thu, 10 Apr 2008 17:01:13 +0100 1363753 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1338453&cid=t_138357_122_f&fid=36582&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FSharpBrains%2F%7E3%2F261077296%2F (hat tip: Mind Hacks). Let's try this classic experiment, conceived by Simons and Chabris for their study on sustained inattentional blindness (PDF), and now packaged in a nicer production. You will watch a brief video clip showing two teams, and your challenge is to count the TOTAL number of times that the basketballs change hands. Click Here to view the Basketball Experiment clip. You can read about the fascinating results here. Credit for pic: Haines World attention, Basketball Experiment clip, Brain games, Brain teasers, inattentional blindness, mind teasers, Psychology, Simons and Chabris (Source: SharpBrains) SharpBrains blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1338453 Mon, 31 Mar 2008 05:42:03 +0100 1338453 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1076488&cid=t_138357_85_f&fid=36194&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftesstermulo.com%2F2007%2F12%2F07%2Fwhat-that-philosophical-experiment-is-all-about%2F Remember the little philosophical experiment I posted several days ago? Okay, I’ll just repost the experiment here so you don’t have to go back and forth my site: Life dependency Dick had made a mistake, but surely the price he was paying was too high. He, of course, knew that level six of the hospital was a restricted area. But after he had drunk one too many glasses of wine with his colleagues at the finance department Christmas party, he had inadvertently staggered out of the elevator on the sixth floor and passed out on one of the empty beds. When he woke up, he discovered to his horror that he had been mistaken for a volunteer in a new life-saving procedure. Patients who required vital organ transplants to survive were being hooked up to volunteers, whose own vital organs... Prudence and Madness blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1076488 Fri, 07 Dec 2007 11:07:12 +0100 1076488 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1054916&cid=t_138357_85_f&fid=36194&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftesstermulo.com%2F2007%2F11%2F28%2Fa-philosophical-experiment%2F Do you like bending your mind this way and that? I’ve recently bought a book, a collection of one hundred philosophical puzzles that stimulate thought on a host of moral, social, and personal dilemmas. Author Julian Baggini presents abstract philosophical issues in concrete terms. He also suggests possible solutions (but not claiming which are more correct than others) and encourage readers to draw their own conclusions. I think you might want to take a look at it. The title of the book is The Pig That Wants to Be Eaten: 100 Experiments for the Armchair Philosopher. Have a taste of what’s inside the book and we’ll see how you’ll react to this one: Life dependency Dick had made a mistake, but surely the price he was paying was too high. He, of course, knew that leve... Prudence and Madness blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1054916 Wed, 28 Nov 2007 00:00:50 +0100 1054916