I’m not sold on laughter as a clinical therapy and I think it’s strange that everything to do with illness has to be measured by its therapeutic value. That said, I think it’s encouraging to see hospitals adopting these sorts of programs – it speaks to the concerns in this earlier post. I’m all for [...]
Sat, November 29 2008 » Uncategorized » No Comments
Several years ago my drug regimen included Cipro (fluoroquinolone) and prednisone (a corticosteroid). One day, I noticed my neck was sore, despite no apparent injury. I tried icing it, heating it, OTC creams, compression wraps, even a new office chair, but nothing seemed to help. In fact, it got worse, until one Sunday morning it [...]
Wed, November 26 2008 » Uncategorized » No Comments
As a follow-up to my post on medical homes, let me point out that I’m not the only one who thinks ‘physician’s assistant’ is unduly condescending:
Maybe in the early 1970s, PAs mostly assisted their physician employers, supervisors, and mentors directly, by extending their eyes, ears, and hands. And maybe in the early days of every [...]
Tue, November 25 2008 » Uncategorized » No Comments
Grand Rounds is up at Canadian Medicine. Thanks to Sam for putting it together, although I do have a quibble with his presentation of my post. For the record, that post hinges on the distinction between “tort reform” and “malpractice reform”; I am not arguing that “tort reform is certainly needed”. And thanks to Sam [...]
Tue, November 25 2008 » Uncategorized » 1 Comment
NY Times editor Dana Jennings offers 10 Lessons of Prostate Cancer, but it’s striking how generic his lessons are. You don’t need prostate cancer – or any cancer – to know that not all techs are created equal, or that humor is all around you, or that nurses can be tremendously helpful. Any serious illness [...]
Tue, November 25 2008 » Uncategorized » 1 Comment
Kevin, MD asks: what do patients think of the medical home? Well… I can’t speak for all patients, but I can certainly pretend I do.
So Kevin links to Maggie Mahar’s post about medical homes, which she describes thusly:
… primary care should be more “team-based,” with “many functions from the 15-minute visit” offloaded to medical “extenders” [...]
Mon, November 24 2008 » Uncategorized » No Comments
In a discussion on another blog, about one of my posts here, a commenter suggested I was the sort of person who watches too much Gray’s Anatomy. As a matter of fact, I don’t – not willingly, anyway. I share a television with someone who watches it occasionally, but I try to find other things [...]
Mon, November 24 2008 » Uncategorized » 1 Comment
I’ve been meaning to point out this story for a while: Girl wins right to refuse heart
Hannah, who has a hole in her heart, had been offered a transplant in July 2007 but said she did not want to go through with it after taking advice from doctors….
Hannah previously suffered from leukaemia and her heart [...]
Sat, November 22 2008 » Uncategorized » No Comments
Uwe Reinhardt has written his second post on the question, “Why does U.S. Health care cost so much?”
[...]The McKinsey Global Institute estimated that excess spending on “health administration and insurance” accounted for as much as 21 percent of the estimated total excess spending ($477 billion in 2003). Brought forward, that 21 percent of excess spending [...]
Fri, November 21 2008 » Uncategorized » No Comments
Yglesias and Klein both comment on the news that insurers support mandated coverage. The insurers may pretend that covering everybody is a huge burden to their business, but it seems to me more like their briar patch.
Klein, in particular, points out that insurers want only healthy people in their plans, and not sick people. That [...]
Thu, November 20 2008 » Uncategorized » No Comments
A novel crime against decency by Duncan Cross
