Shout Outs

Updated 3/2017-- photos and all links (except to my own posts) removed as many are no longer active and it was easier than checking each one.


Pizaazz is the host for this week’s Grand Rounds!   You can read this week’s edition here.

Several key health care bowl games will be played in 2011. Their outcomes will affect the health and well-being of a hundred million Americans and help determine the timing of the nation’s inevitable economic double-dip. They’ll also help health insurance CEOs decide whether to re-decorate their offices with fur or linoleum, and who knows? They may even help Mrs. Farquhar find a PCP.  …………

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My first thought when I read Dr Rich’s title was in regards to HIPAA and privacy violations.   What about you?  Fugitive Busted By His Pacemaker (And His Doctor)

In Durango, Florida the week before Christmas, the FBI arrested fugitives Roger Gamlin, 62, and his wife Peggy, 54 at Mercy Regional Medical Center after a doctor determined their real identities through Roger’s pacemaker.

Wanted by the feds for 2 1/2 years on suspicion of embezzling millions of dollars from their south Florida title company, Roger and Peggy had been living quiet and unassuming lives as Ron and Nancy Jenner in Durango.  ….

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Via twitter and @kevinmd: Great read! NYTimes: The Doctor vs. the Computer http://nyti.ms/gd9QzN

Electronic medical records promise efficiency, safety and productivity in the switch from paper to computer. But there are glitches, as a patient of mine recently brought to light.  …….

Estimating my patient’s surgical risk and planning for his operative care is not a straightforward process. After our physical exam, I sit down to write a detailed evaluation, because I want the surgeons and anesthesiologists to fully understand the complexity of his situation.

As I type away, I feel like I’m doing the right thing, explicating my clinical reasoning rather than just plugging numbers into a formula. I’m midway into a sentence about kidney function when the computer abruptly halts……….

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The other side comes from db’s Medical Rants:  Resistance to change & electronic records

The growing literature on electronic records seems dominated by those who resist change, that is the majority of people!  Most human beings dislike change.  We prefer our comfort zones, doing things like we have always done them.  …………..

So I offer my first postulate – our current non-electronic medical records SUCK!!  ……………….

My academic colleague, Dr. Danielle Ofri (NYU), wrote this piece for the NY Times – The Doctor vs. the Computer

In it she tries to make the point that the new ways are not better.  Sorry, Danielle, but I disagree.  I remember trying to decipher other physician's handwriting.  …….

I happen to think she was making the point that EMRs aren’t perfect and have limitations.  Those limitations need to be addressed.

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I endorse reading DB’s Rants post:  Change marijuana laws – even Pat Robertson agrees.

I have written many times about this topic.  The rationale for criminal penalties for marijuana do not pass several tests.  First, this drug is much less harmful than alcohol.  …..  These laws are costing society dearly in financial terms and in general respect for the law.

Pat Robertson understands – Pat Robertson's Christmas Present to Marijuana Legalizers – and he states the issue clearly ……….

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I love this article which @burndoc tweeted:  How music can heal: A burn unit in Cleveland uses music to manage pain.   I often tell patients to sing if I notice they are starting to hyperventilate.  It helps regulate their breathing and calms them down.  I think there is definitely something to this.

A burn unit in Cleveland uses music to manage pain.

This story was originally covered by PRI's Studio360. For more, listen to the audio above.

After suffering extreme burns from a barbeque accident, Clifton Dobbs was taken to Cleveland MetroHealth Trauma Center for treatment. The burn unit at the center, run by Dr. Richard Fratianne, has been experimenting with music therapy to mitigate pain.   ………

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A feel good video:  Miracle Reunites Soldier and His Dog which notes the use of companion dogs as therapy for PTSD in returning soldiers.  The soldier refers to his dog as “Prozac with paws.”

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These photographs are amazing!  Via twitter and @Mtnmd “RT @hrana Pictures: "Vietnam's Mammoth Cavern" by National Geographic Magazine http://bit.ly/fla2UE”

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What do you think of this -- Wall Street Bull Crocheted?  I actually like it, but can’t say the same for all of Olek’s work.

NYC’s Crocheted Olek (a.k.a. Polish-born Agata Olek) hit up the Wall Street Bull and encapsulated it inside crocheted neon.