Why Not Tweet When You Are In the Hospital and Not Feeling Well?

Being isolated in a hospital room leaves you vulnerable to doctors who may be inappropriate, rude and even abusive. You might consider that having the capacity to call for help – to Tweet – is empowering. Health care #911, and very public! But…

Posted in Blogs, Communication, Empowered Patient, Future of Medicine, health care delivery, Life as a Doctor, Life as a Patient, Media, Privacy, Social MediaTagged , , , , , , 4 Comments on Why Not Tweet When You Are In the Hospital and Not Feeling Well?

Should People With Health Problems Talk About their Conditions?

Do you need to explain to the person on the checkout line or, say, a mother organizing a bake sale, why your back hurts? Or why you need a seat on the bus?

Posted in Communication, Essential Lessons, from the author, journalism, Life, Life as a Patient, PrivacyTagged , , , , , , , , 8 Comments on Should People With Health Problems Talk About their Conditions?

The ‘Journal’ Asks, Should Patients Have Identification Numbers?

Today’s Wall Street Journal includes a special Big Issues health care section. A post on their blog caught my attention: Should Patient Have Electronic Identification Numbers? The idea is that people who use health care would each be assigned a universal patient identifier, or UPI. This unique number would link to a person’s health records. […]

Posted in from the author, Future of Medicine, Health IT, Policy, PrivacyTagged , , , , , , , , , Leave a Comment on The ‘Journal’ Asks, Should Patients Have Identification Numbers?

Thoughts, on Getting My Photo Taken at a Medical Appointment

A funny thing happened at my doctor’s appointment on Friday. I checked in, and after confirming that my address and insurance hadn’t changed since last year, waited for approximately 10 minutes. A worker of some sort, likely a med-tech, called me to “take my vitals.” She took my blood pressure with a cuff that made […]

Posted in Essential Lessons, Future of Medicine, health care delivery, Health IT, Life as a Patient, Patient-Doctor Relationship, PrivacyTagged , , , , , , 2 Comments on Thoughts, on Getting My Photo Taken at a Medical Appointment

Crowd-Sourcing a Medical Puzzle

The Times ran an intriguing experiment on its Well blog yesterday: a medical problem-solving contest. The challenge, based on the story of a real girl who lives near Philadelphia, drew 1379 posted comments and closed this morning with publication of the answer. Dr. Lisa Sanders, who moderated the piece, says today that the first submitted […]

Posted in Communication, Diagnosis, Future of Medicine, Health IT, Ideas, Medical Education, PrivacyTagged , , , , , , , 3 Comments on Crowd-Sourcing a Medical Puzzle

Quote of the Day, on Health and Discrimination in Hiring

From an article in today’s New York Times on hiring discrimination against people who smoke: “There is nothing unique about smoking,” said Lewis Maltby, president of the Workrights Institute, who has lobbied vigorously against the practice. “The number of things that we all do privately that have negative impact on our health is endless. If […]

Posted in health care costs, Life, Patient Autonomy, Privacy, Public Health, Quote of the DayTagged , , , , , , Leave a Comment on Quote of the Day, on Health and Discrimination in Hiring

The Transportation Safety Authority Screens Travelers Inside and Out

I’ll be staying near my home in Manhattan this week. But if I did have plans to travel by airplane for the holiday, I think I’d be apprehensive about the new screening procedures implemented by the Transportation Safety Authority (TSA).

My concern is not so much with the scanners…Rather, I’m worried about screening errors – false positive and false negative results, and about harms – physical and/or emotional, that patients and people with disability may experience during the screening process.

Posted in Life, Life as a Patient, Medical News, Privacy, TravelTagged , , , , Leave a Comment on The Transportation Safety Authority Screens Travelers Inside and Out

Why Physicians Shouldn’t Tweet About Their Patients Or O.R. Cases

As a patient who’s been there, under anesthesia more times than I care to remember, I can’t imagine anything much worse than knowing while I’m unconscious my doctor might be on-line or even just dictating tweets instead of concentrating on me, my arteries and veins and spine and…

Posted in Communication, Health IT, Life as a Doctor, Medical Ethics, Privacy, Social MediaTagged , , , , , 6 Comments on Why Physicians Shouldn’t Tweet About Their Patients Or O.R. Cases

Henrietta’s Cells Speak

“One of the ways that I gained the trust of the family is that I gave them information.” (R. Skloot, a journalist, speaking about her interactions with Henrietta Lacks’ family, Columbia University, 2/2/10)

Posted in Books, Communication, Essential Lessons, Ideas, Informed Consent, Life as a Patient, Medical Education, Medical Ethics, Oncology (cancer), Patient Autonomy, Patient-Doctor Relationship, Privacy, Reviews, Science, Women's HealthTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment on Henrietta’s Cells Speak
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