By Evan Falchuk

I’m pleased to annouce that we’ve joined Dr. Val Jones’ Better Health network of health blogs.  Val is one of the true pioneers of health care blogging.  If you’ve not been there before, you should make it a regular stop or add Better Health to your reader.  Look for periodic posts from See First to appear on Better Health.

By Evan Falchuk

I recently spoke with Paul Howard, director of the Center for Medical Progress, about health care quality.  Paul has posted the podcast of our  conversation at Medical Progress Today.

By Evan Falchuk

I spent the last day and a half at the World Health Care Congress in DC.

This was my fifth big health care conference this year.  The WHCC had about 1,500 attendees, which was less than they hoped for but about the same as last year.  It’s a strong showing — most conferences (with the exception of those for health care IT) have been down 25% or more.  I noticed in the exhibit hall that the Era of Big Booths may be over — with one exception, every booth was small and simple.

At all of these events, employers regularly complain about health care costs and talk about things they are doing to control them.  You might think, given the new political environment in Washington, they would now be talking about ways the government could just eliminate those costs by taking over health care.  But in fact, employers are opposed to the idea.

It didn’t seem consistent to me, until I heard someone talk about France.

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By Evan Falchuk

I’m at the WHCC today in DC and have been twittering all morning on what I’m hearing. You can read the feed over at http://twitter.com/efalchuk.

By Fritz Hofheinz, M.D.

Medical care is complicated.  The normally functioning human body is an extraordinarily complex machine, which we are only starting to fully understand – never mind when that body is challenged by illness.  With this as a backdrop, it is not surprising that experts will differ on appropriate diagnoses and care of patients.  Therapies differ widely between different disease states (cancer vs. infection vs. chronic inflammation and autoimmune disease), these conditions are sometimes difficult to differentiate and the therapies between them are dramatically different.

The following case illustrates why multiple opinions for complex and ongoing cases are so important. (more…)

By Evan Falchuk

The shuttles from Boston to DC and New York are fascinating crossroads in the worlds of government, finance and even healthcare. Today I had the good fortune to meet Dr. Alvin Poussaint on the flight from Boston to DC. Dr. Poussaint is a renowned psychiatrist and Professor at Harvard Medical School, perhaps best known for his many collaborations with Bill Cosby, including as a consultant to the Cosby Show. They most recently worked together on their  acclaimed book Come on, People: On the Path from Victims to Victors, which is about helping Americans in the hardest suffering communities improve their lives. As it turned out, Dr. Poussaint was on his way to Washington to appear on Chris Mathews’ Hardball.

“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

Too often in healthcare, Dr. Osler’s warning is unheeded.  Patients are sped into treatment before it’s known what’s really wrong with them.  This failure to truly see may be the greatest driver of poor healthcare quality, but it is among the least talked about.

The purpose of this blog is to share our real-world experiences in helping patients see their way through the healthcare system.  We want to share the insights we have gained through their journeys, and what they mean for patients, doctors, and everyone else who cares about helping people get well and stay well.