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The dark side of social marketing to physicians

Fri, 24 May 2013 16:00:06 PDT

As a Swede, I know all about socialized medicine. I grew up with it and I learned my trade in it. I worked under budget constraints, treatment protocols and formularies in the late 70′s and early 80′s while American doctors were essentially practicing the way they wanted here.

I remember one of my surprises when I arrived in this country: I had learned in medical school that trimethoprim-sulfa was the drug of choice for urinary tract infections. Here, I was asked to consider what the bacteria looked like under the microscope and which antibiotics historically worked best for those bacteria. Even though the treatment choice was the same most of the time, I was encouraged to think it through for myself and not just follow convention.

Your patients are rating you online: How to respond. Manage your online reputation: A social media guide. Find out how.

Think of a soda ban like seatbelts

Fri, 24 May 2013 12:00:22 PDT

I’m sad that a New York judge struck down the 16-ounce size limit for sodas and some other sweet drinks. I think Mayor Bloomberg had the right idea.

I get that whole personal freedom argument (although the court just said that it was arbitrary and out of Bloomberg’s purview), that this was a “nanny state” idea. But honestly, when it comes to obesity, we may need nannies to save ourselves—from ourselves.

Think of it like seatbelts. Car manufacturers make them to keep us safe, but theoretically it’s our choice whether to use them or not, right? I mean, whose business is it if we want to take the risk of flying through the windshield if someone runs a light and rear-ends us? It’s our life (or death), isn’t it?

Your patients are rating you online: How to respond. Manage your online reputation: A social media guide. Find out how.

What is the excuse for not taking action on Alzheimer’s?

Fri, 24 May 2013 10:00:26 PDT

Having early-stage Alzheimer’s, I get extraordinarily sentimental when I hear the words of songs when I go for early morning walks with my headphones on.

Yesterday morning, I heard the song, “Memories,” and some of the lyrics hit my heart, soul and mind. I looked up the lyrics on the Web: “Daylight (and the sun was about to rise soon after at that time), I must wait for the sunrise, I must think of a new life, and I mustn’t give in, when the dawn comes, tonight will be a memory too, and a new day will begin …”

Your patients are rating you online: How to respond. Manage your online reputation: A social media guide. Find out how.

A proton therapy center opens: A radiation oncologist reflects

Fri, 24 May 2013 08:00:57 PDT

When I was a radiation oncology resident in Boston in the early 80’s, a few brilliant minds in physics and medicine came up with the notion that it would be a good idea to treat certain cancers with a beam of protons. Protons are the positively charged particles which are created with a hydrogen atom is split into its component parts, a proton and an electron. When accelerated towards a human being by means of a cyclotron, the proton has a unique characteristic compared to the regular x-ray beams we radiation oncologists use—it rolls into the body creating very little disturbance at the surface, comes to a stop at the tumor to do its damage, and unlike an x-ray, or photon as we say in the business, it does not exit the body leaving injured cells in its wake. It just stops.

Your patients are rating you online: How to respond. Manage your online reputation: A social media guide. Find out how.

English is the second language of medical documentation

Fri, 24 May 2013 06:00:26 PDT

A guest column by the American College of Physicians, exclusive to KevinMD.com.

English is the international language of medicine, according to many. Regardless of whether that is true, what is becoming increasingly clear is that English is the second language of medical documentation. For those of you who blame EHRs for this, the replacement of English by something else started in the pre-EHR era, but EHRs certainly accelerated it. The use of English in medical documentation is a casualty of the payment system, regulatory agencies, performance measurement, the tort system, time pressure, and, yes, EHRs.

Your patients are rating you online: How to respond. Manage your online reputation: A social media guide. Find out how.

Don’t call me a health care consumer

Fri, 24 May 2013 04:00:33 PDT

The highly charged political debates about reforming American health care have provided tempting opportunities to rename the people who receive health services. But because the impetus for this change has been prompted by cost and quality concerns of health care payers, researchers and policy experts rather than emanating from us out of our own needs, some odd words have been called into service. Two phrases commonly used to describe us convey meanings that mischaracterize our experiences and undervalue our needs: “empowered patient” and “health care consumer.”

Your patients are rating you online: How to respond. Manage your online reputation: A social media guide. Find out how.

Transitional care programs are ripe for innovation

Thu, 23 May 2013 16:00:09 PDT

Right now hospitals around the country are being asked to reckon with some stark realities regarding readmissions. $17 billion a year is spent on readmissions for Medicare patients alone, and 75% of those readmissions are considered to be preventable. Of all Medicare patients who are admitted to a hospital, 18 percent will be readmitted in 30 days and of those, 50 percent will not have seen a primary care physician in the interim.

Your patients are rating you online: How to respond. Manage your online reputation: A social media guide. Find out how.

Family medicine residents need to learn reproductive healthcare

Thu, 23 May 2013 14:00:50 PDT

Jennifer was one of my first patients as a new doctor, and she came to see me about an unintended pregnancy. A single mom to a rambunctious 5-year-old girl, Jennifer was struggling economically and battling depression. We talked about the options available to her: continuing the pregnancy and preparing to parent another child, offering the baby for adoption or having an abortion. She chose to continue with the pregnancy, and I worked with her over the following months as she struggled with the discomforts of pregnancy, excessive weight gain and the anxiety of having to raise two small children on her own.

Your patients are rating you online: How to respond. Manage your online reputation: A social media guide. Find out how.

It’s time to treat mental illness in the ER with dignity

Thu, 23 May 2013 12:00:06 PDT

We doctors who specialize in psychiatry have a sacred trust. We are given the opportunity to talk to people who are hurting every day, people who trust that we will listen to them, try to understand them, not laugh at them, and not think that they are stupid, crazy, or horrible. A tall order, granted, given that we hear stories that sometimes border on the unimaginable, bizarre and otherworldly. This is a privilege. I believe that with all my heart, even on the days that I am the most busy and bone-tired and wondering why I chose to do what I do. My interaction with my patients, that sacred emotional bond between the hurting and the helping, is paramount. If we forfeit that, what do we really have to offer?

Your patients are rating you online: How to respond. Manage your online reputation: A social media guide. Find out how.

The impact of outdated communications technologies in healthcare

Thu, 23 May 2013 10:00:28 PDT

As a physician, I experience first-hand the impact that internal communication at a hospital—both good and bad—has on patient care.

If I am able to quickly access clinical systems, analyze patient information and collaborate with colleagues, I can diagnose and interact with the patient much more efficiently and effectively. Conversely, breakdowns and inefficiencies in the communications process can inhibit the delivery of quality patient care by bogging down workflows, creating delays and disrupting the care team’s collective thought process.

Your patients are rating you online: How to respond. Manage your online reputation: A social media guide. Find out how.