Good doctors have excellent clinical and science-based problem-solving skills, but there’s increasing pressure on these care providers to improve their people skills, too. A recent report on KaiserHealthNews.org (KHN) explained that many medical centers, and private practices, are trying to relate better to patients partly because it delivers better health care, and partly because….
Continue ReadingArchives for October 2015
Why Industry Drug-Assistance Programs Are a Sham
You probably heard about the recent price hike for a drug critical to AIDS patients when the manufacturer sold it to an evil hedge fund manager who promptly marked it up 5,000%. This prompted Los Angeles Times columnist Michael Hiltzik to revisit programs sponsored by pharmaceutical companies that purport to help people who can’t afford….
Continue Reading‘Tis the Season for Flu
Autumn marks the beginning of flu season. It takes a couple weeks after you get the flu vaccine before it’s completely effective, so get vaccinated now. Last year was a notably rough flu season because a mutated strain of the virus developed after the vaccine, which generally is manufactured over several months, was distributed. As….
Continue ReadingMy Date with a Wearable Heart Monitor
Here’s another device you probably don’t need. Or do you? That’s the question Austin Frakt, who writes for the New York Times, tried to answer for himself when his cardiologist told him that one of his heart’s chambers sometimes pumped when it shouldn’t. The doctor had been “99.9% certain” that it wasn’t worrisome, and doctor….
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