Showing posts with label physician. Show all posts
Showing posts with label physician. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

The New Teamwork Approach To Medicine: A Case Study


The Doctor's Team Will See You Now by Laura Landro.  The Wall Street Journal.  February 17, 2014.

A family health practice is used to illustrate how a team-oriented approach is supplanting the one-on-one doctor-patient relationship.

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

License To Practice Medicine Does Not Always Line Up With Record Of Good Care

Thousands Of Doctors Practicing Despite Errors, Misconduct by Peter Eisler and Barbara Hansen.  USA TODAY.  August 20, 2013.

(1)  By law "adverse actions" by any of the nation's 878,000 licensed doctors must be filed with the _________________ for the purpose of monitoring by state medical boards.

(2)  Of the nearly ____________ doctors who had their clinical privileges or taken away more than __________ never were fined or subject to a license action by a medical board.

(3)  Nearly ________ doctors cited as an "immediate threat to health and safety" did not have their licenses restricted or taken away.

(4)  Roughly ________ physicians were responsible for 10% of all the payments for malpractice settlements.  However in some malpractice cases some doctors may settle without _________ in order to avoid______________.

(5)  Three factors cited by medical professional leader that slow prompt action by medical boards are laws,  _____________ and __________.

(6)  True or False:  Medical board disciplinary practices and regulations vary greatly from state to state.

(7)  True or False:  All hospitals promptly file reports when a physician is disciplined.

(8)  _______ % of hospital had never reported to the National Practitioner Data Base any action restricting or revoking a doctors clinical privileges as of 2011.

(9)  Physician discipline hits a bottleneck in the hospital ____________ committee according to a physician who served as chief of medical staff in two hospitals.




Saturday, July 13, 2013

What Can Happen When Doctors Badmouth Other Doctors

Doctors Badmouthing Other Doctors by Pauline W. Chen, M.D.  The New York times.  July 11, 2013.

(1)  Doctors are taught that shifting blame to other doctors ___________________________.  (3 answers)

(2)  Sometimes criticizing another physician to a patient might be a way to fortify ________________ (2 answers).

(3)  ___________ can often lead physicians and others to fail to regulate themselves.

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

American Medical Association Opposes Force Feeding At

AMA Opposes Force Feedings At Guantanamo by Carol Rosenberg.  The Miami Herald.  April 30, 2013.

The president of the AMA in his letter to Secretary Hagel cited his organization's long-time support for the World Medical Association Declaration of Tokyo which states:  "Where a prisoner refuses nourishment and is considered by the physician as capable of forming an unimpaired and rational judgment concerning the consequences of such a voluntary refusal of nourishment, he or she she shall not be fed artificially."

Friday, April 26, 2013

Protocols For Email Responses In Medical Practices

Patient Email Satisfaction Starts With Managed Expectations by Pamela Lewis Dolan.  American Medical News.  April 22, 2013.

New problems arise with the reality that patients can message physicians at any time.  The article considers patient satisfaction, health care decision making, expectations, and use of answering service among other issues in light of this new reality.  

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Cardiologist Admits Fraudulent Billings Totaling $19 Million

Prominent Tri-State Cardiologist Admits Record $19 Million Billing Fraud Scheme That Exposed Patients To Unskilled And Unnecessary Treatments.  7th Space Interactive.

The fraud is apparently a record for New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.   The FBI and the Inspector General of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and many other investigative agencies were involved in the investigation.  He ordered the same tests for all patients and falsified patient charts among other misdeeds.  Read this account.  It truly is mind-boggling.

Saturday, April 6, 2013

A Smartphone Physical Exam

The Smartphone Physical:  The Evolution Of The Checkup.  TEDMED Blog.  April 5, 2013.

Overview of devices to perform body analysis, blood pressure, visual acuity, Oxygen saturation and others.  For a demo visit www.smartphonephysical.org

Thursday, March 21, 2013

The Face Of Future Health Care

The Face of Future Health Care by Reed Abelson.  The New York Times.  March 20, 2013.

A profile of Kaiser Permanente as a model for the future of medicine.  Among the features highlighted include (1) how it combines an insurance plan with its own hospitals in an integrated service model, (2) better coordinated care through electronic and computer systems, (3)  emphasis on prevention, (4)  moving care away from the hospital and doctors' offices to home via the Internet, (5)  physicians paid salaries.    Problems faced by the system are also discussed

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Group Doctor's Appointments: Meeting The Doctor Shortage And Improving Results?

Group Appointments With Doctors:  When Three Isn't A Crowd by Michelle Andrews.  Kaiser Health News.  March 19, 2013.

A study published in December indicated that the nation will need 52,000 new physicians by 2025.  Many new strategies are being employed to meeting this demand.  Group appointments is one of those strategies.  Often used for patients with the same chronic conditions the session may last up to 2 hours.  Issues such as insurance, relative effectiveness, as well as patient and physician reaction are addressed.

Friday, March 15, 2013

Telling The Truth To Patients

When Is The Right Time To Tell The Patient The Truth?  by Val Jones, MD.  The Doctor Blog.  March 14, 2013.

The physician/author presents several reasons why patients are not immediately provided a full explanation of their condition.  The Dr. Jones argues that the physician should immediately tell the patient about test results and convey the physician's thought processes at every step so that a plan of action can be developed ASAP.

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Silicon Fingers Used To Thwart Hospital Biometric Attendance Check: Physician Arrested

Doctor 'Used Silicone Fingers' to Sign In For Colleagues.  BBC News Latin America & Caribbean.  March 12, 2013.  '

The Brazilian doctor used the six silicone fingers with the fingerprints of six colleagues to defeat the hospital's biometric attendance sign-in device.

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Transforming Medicine While Producing Middle Class Jobs In the Process

The Robot Will See You Now by Jonathan Cohn.  Atlantic Magazine.  March 2013.

Among the insights of this article is the possibility that healthcare technology, in contrast with other industries, will result in expanded mid-level employment.  Implementation of technology in other industries hollowed out mid-level employment.  In healthcare such occupations as physician assistant, nurse practitioner etc could, under this scenario flourish while the role of physician will evolve toward more of a "super-quality-control officer."

Friday, January 4, 2013

Membership Financed Medical Practice In Duluth: An Alternative To Insurance

Insurance-free Doctor Prefers Quality Over Quantity by Keith Farmer.  Gwinnett Daily Post.  January 4, 2013.

This profile of a Gwinnett County physician provides key facts about his practice and highlights what the physician sees as advantages of the membership approach to primary care.  Charges include $35 per month membership and $15 per visit fee for members.  Appointments are scheduled for 45 minutes per patient and overhead for the practice is low.  There are only two employees, the physician and a receptionist.

Thursday, December 27, 2012

AMA Issues Principles For Physician Employment

AMA Principles for Physician Employment.  The American Medical Association.

Doctors Warned on 'Divided Loyalty' by Robert Pear.  The New York Times.  December 28 2012.

The original source document of the policy and a news report about the report are linked above.  The AMA addresses the potential conflicts of interest that can arise as medical practices are bought by hospitals.  The purpose of the statement is to protect the professional autonomy of doctors.  From 2000 to 2010 the American Hospital Association says that the number of doctors employed by hospitals grew by 32 percent, to 212,000.  The AMA also addresses non-compete agreements which are sometimes required for situations when a doctor leaves the employ of a hospital.