Archive for the ‘Doctor Patient Relationship’ Category

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From Wall Street to Main Street: Misdiagnosed

Thursday, September 2nd, 2010
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By Evan Falchuk

According to news reports actor Michael Douglas, perhaps most famous for his role of Gordon Gekko in Wall Street, is suffering from stage IV throat cancer.

He started complaining about symptoms to doctors earlier this year.  His doctors didn’t find anything to explain the problem until months later, when they discovered a walnut-sized tumor in his throat.  Even though doctors had originally told him they couldn’t find anything wrong, Douglas and his wife, actress Catherine Zeta-Jones were sure something wasn’t right.

Still, after months of feeling the pain creep up on him, of having a dry throat and hoarse voice, the news of his cancer came as little surprise to both Hollywood stars.

“It wasn’t a huge shock. I knew something was up. He knew something was up,” said Zeta-Jones.

It’s an all-too familiar story.  Being a rich and famous celebrity can make you special.  But when it comes to the right care, you’re as ordinary as the next guy.

(more…)

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Posted in Decision Support, Doctor Patient Relationship, Uncategorized | View Comments

Starving Doctors

Wednesday, September 1st, 2010
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By Evan Falchuk

If you’re into health care consumerism, and you like, well, me, you will enjoy my guest blog post at CDHC Solutions Magazine.

CDHC Solutions focuses on consumer-driven health plans.  Consumer-driven plans are a form of “high deductible” health coverage that is more popular than ever.

For whatever you want to say about these plans, one thing is clear: they don’t solve the fundamental problem of patients not having enough time with their doctors.

Here’s a taste of what I wrote:

Researchers have been trying to pinpoint the impact of this time starvation on the quality of medical care, and they’re finding disturbing results. A recent study in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that because of time pressures and related factors doctors deliver “error-free” care as rarely as 22% of the time. The researchers called this a “failure to individualize care,” which is a nice way of saying the doctors just weren’t paying enough attention to the needs of their patients.

Read the whole thing here.

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Posted in Doctor Patient Relationship, In the News | View Comments

Health Business Blog Podcast

Friday, August 13th, 2010
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By Evan Falchuk

David Williams, the Charlie Rose of the health care blogosphere, recently interviewed me.

You can listen to the audio of our wide-ranging talk on David’s always-interesting Health Business Blog.

We talked about health care reform, health IT, social media, health care quality, patient navigation, and the role of Best Doctors.

Give it a listen, and visit back to David’s blog regularly.

What’s your opinion on the subjects we talked about?

Posted in Decision Support, Doctor Patient Relationship, Electronic Medical Records, Healthcare Reform, In the News, Quality Care | View Comments

It’s Your Medical Record, But….

Wednesday, July 28th, 2010
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By Evan Falchuk

You have a right to your medical record.

It’s true – the record of every test and procedure you’ve had done, any films or studies, your doctors notes.  It’s all yours if you ask for it.

But it’s not that simple.

(more…)

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“I was shocked”

Tuesday, July 27th, 2010
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By Evan Falchuk

According to the Annals of Internal Medicine, doctors make the wrong medical decisions surprisingly often.

Using a “mystery patient” technique – in which actors pretended to be patients – researchers found that doctors made errors in complicated cases in 60% to 90% of cases.  Sixty to ninety percent. In uncomplicated cases, they made errors in nearly 30% of cases.

As one study participant put it, “I was shocked.”

(more…)

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Posted in Doctor Patient Relationship, Patient Misdiagnoses, Quality Care | View Comments

Docs: the Fix Isn’t In

Friday, June 18th, 2010
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By Evan Falchuk

Yesterday, the Senate yesterday rejected the so-called “doc fix.”   This means that doctors taking Medicare patients will now get 21% less pay for their work.

How’s that getting involved in politics working out for you guys?

Not so good.

But there’s a larger issue here.  Why do we keep trying to control health care costs by just mandating that less money be spent?

It’s failed for decades.  But like a losing gambler that is convinced that if he just keeps doubling down, he’ll finally come out ahead, people keep trying.  (more…)

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Posted in Doctor Patient Relationship, Healthcare Reform | View Comments

Muzzle the Patients

Monday, June 7th, 2010
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By Evan Falchuk

Some things are just part of the problem in health care.  The company “Medical Justice” is one such thing.  I’ve written about them before.

Medical Justice sees the medical malpractice crisis and devised a solution: muzzle the patients.

It’s as misguided as it is ridiculous.

(more…)

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Why Health Care is Not a Consumer Business

Friday, May 7th, 2010
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By Evan Falchuk

I gave a speech yesterday at the Midwest Business Group on Health’s 30th Annual Conference.  The MBGH is one of the country’s leading organizations on health care, and its members include the leading innovators and thought leaders on health care in America.  It was a privilege to present to them.

I spoke about why health care just isn’t a consumer business, in spite of all of the efforts to turn people into health care “consumers.”

Read the text of my remarks below the fold, it was a very interesting day.

(more…)

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Posted in Doctor Patient Relationship, In the News, Interesting Cases | View Comments

Beware Pathology Results

Tuesday, April 20th, 2010
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By Evan Falchuk

The Wall Street Journal’s Health Blog says that cancer lab tests “aren’t always right.”

They report on reports issued by two professional societies that point out that as many as 20% of a certain kind of test are inaccurate.  According to the Health Blog the problem is the tests “aren’t black and white, and rely on a pathologist’s judgment.”

Now, judgment is a critical factor in most everything in medicine, but perhaps nowhere else are the consequences of incorrect judgment so serious as in pathology.  As Dr. William Osler famously observed: “As is your pathology, so goes your clinical practice.”

But how widespread is this problem?

(more…)

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Does Paying Doctors More Lead to Better Quality?

Monday, March 8th, 2010
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By Evan Falchuk

The Jobbing Doctor, a primary care doctor in the UK, writes today about the British version of what Americans call “Pay for Performance,” or “P4P.”

He says something I’ve said many times before (like here, here, and here).  Which is this: incentives fail because they try to treat medicine as an assembly line process, when it’s not.

But what’s most interesting about his post is that it could have been written by a doctor from anyplace on the planet Earth.

(more…)

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Posted in Doctor Patient Relationship, Quality Care | View Comments

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  • "Medicine is learned by the bedside and not in the class room. Let not your conception of manifestations of disease come from work heard in the lecture room or read from the book: see and then research, compare and control. But see first."
    - Sir William Osler, MD
    The Father of Modern Medicine

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