New AHA Obesity Statement Urges Clinicians to Think Beyond Clinical Treatment and Prevention
Think bigger: that's the thrust of the American Heart Association's (AHA) new scientific statement on obesity prevention [1]. To have any meaningful impact on the obesity epidemic, clinicians need to go beyond clinical prevention and treatments for obesity and use influence and advocacy to effect social and environmental change, authors of the statement say.
Salivary Duct Clips Control Drooling in Neurologically Impaired Children
Interruption of major salivary ducts using vascular clips controls saliva and improves quality of life in neurologically challenged children, according to a report in the May issue of the Archives of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery.
Did Low Payments in Ambulatory Care Spawn the Hospitalist Movement?
One of the most interesting developments in American healthcare in the past decade is the emergence of hospitalists: internists whose sole job is to manage hospitalized patients, and who never venture into the more traditional outpatient setting.
Quest Diagnostics and Google Empower Patients and Physicians to Share Diagnostic Test Results Online
MADISON, N.J., May 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Patients and physicians have a new way to share diagnostic laboratory data online, thanks to Quest Diagnostics and Google Health, a product launched today by Google. More than 100,000 physicians in the U.S. who use Quest Diagnostics' family of Care360(TM) connectivity products will be able to securely provide diagnostic […]
Quest Diagnostics Is Named ‘Best Employer For Healthy Lifestyles’
Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE: DGX), the leading provider of diagnostic testing, information and services, announced today that the National Business Group on Health (NBGH), an association of more than 300 large U.S. employers, has presented its 2008 Best Employers for Healthy Lifestyles Gold Award to the company for its HealthyQuest employee wellness program. In its […]
Aggressive Malpractice Environments Dictate How, Not Where, Neurosurgeons Practice
New research suggests aggressive medical malpractice environments do not influence where neurosurgeons practice but may cause them to limit their practice, which may result in a critical erosion of care in some of the most critically neurological patients.
Misdiagnoses Caused in Part by Overconfidence
Most of the time a medical diagnosis is on point. But misdiagnoses do occur, and an overly confident doctor may be partly to blame, a new review suggests.
Religion Should Be Considered in Using Porcine and Bovine Surgical Products
Patients of Jewish, Muslim, and Hindu faiths may not accept the use of porcine or bovine products during surgical procedures and, therefore, surgeons should make it very clear in the informed consent process whether such products may be used, Australian researchers report.
What Every Physician Should Know About the RUC
Introduction To paraphrase Winston Churchill, never have so many physicians and other health care professionals owed so much to so few. The "few" in this case are the 29 members of the American Medical Association/Specialty Society Relative Value Scale Update Committee, or RUC (rhymes with "truck") for short. The RUC's recommendations to the Centers for […]
Safe STEP Program Effective for Getting Older Hospitalized Patients Home
An innovative program helps elderly patients avoid the pitfalls associated with making the transition from hospital to home, Param Dedhia, MD, instructor in the Collaborative Internal Medicine Service, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Baltimore, Maryland, reported here at Hospital Medicine 2008, the Society of Hospital Medicine annual meeting.
