Last week was Match Day, when graduating medical students found out where theyÛªll be doing their training. Just over 42% of the family medicine residency slots went to seniors receiving their M.D.s from U.S. med schools. Forty nine percent of the slots went to foreign medical school graduates and others....
Author Archives: anthony
End of Life Care Less Costly When Physicians Communicate
In a follow up to yesterdayÛªs guest post about end of life care and the engagement of health care providers comes this. The March 9 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine reports that patients with advanced cancer who discuss end-of-life care with their physicians appear to have lower health care...
Advance in Long Term Care Management
Read my guest blog in Advance in Long Term Care Management about how health professionals handle the end of life care of their patients.
Be Observant of Observational Care or Face Medicare Non-Payment
There is a new category of patients that private insurers and Medicare are using called “observation” patients. Typical patients for observational care include those with chest pain, asthma attacks, kidney stones, dehydration, dizziness and mild trauma. These patients are a step up from an emergency department patient but not classified...
Social Networking for Physicians – Good for Medicine or Bad? A Second Opinion You Might have an Opinion About
Physician Danine Rydland, MD was searching for a drug that would suppress her patient’s menstruation in preparation for her hysterectomy. But she didn’t know exactly what to prescribe. Unsure of how to proceed, Rydland requested permission from the patient to post a description of the condition and history on Sermo,...
Who’s Reading Your Scan?
I am sure you have heard of radiologists in Australia reading the scans you had today at your hospital or imaging center. The upsurge in imaging studies, demand for fast turnaround and a shortage of radiologists has prompted this. For some that spells opportunity. Telerays, a Houston company, has started...
WhoÛªs Reading Your Scan?
I am sure you have heard of radiologists in Australia reading the scans you had today at your hospital or imaging center. The upsurge in imaging studies, demand for fast turnaround and a shortage of radiologists has prompted this. For some that spells opportunity. Telerays, a Houston company, has started...
If Your Doctor Asks Say No!
To what you ask? In this era of transparency, doctorsÛª ratings are all the rage. In a case of freedom of speech meets the bureaucracy, Dr. Jeffrey Segal, IÛªm afraid to say from my state of North Carolina has made a business of helping doctors monitor and prevent online criticism....
Community Based Services Key But Can We Pay For Them?
A new report from the AARP shows that nursing home residents, beds, and occupancy rates have remained nearly constant in the last five years, even though the older population has increased. Specifically, the report finds that spending for long-term care services is not a primary force behind escalating Medicaid costs....
Resident Wandering Leads to Death
Sarah Wentworth, 89, died at an Itasca, NY nursing home after she wandered into the courtyard and froze to death. A nurse assistant has been charged with negligence in the death of the 89-year-old nursing home resident. Before dawn on February 5, Wentworth wandered down a hall and out a...