Well, just because. That isn’t a great answer for cranky toddlers with too many questions. It’s also an unacceptable but real reason why too many hospitalized patients get woken up in the middle of the night and subjected 24/7 to expensive, invasive, and often unnecessary tests and procedures. Abraar Karan (right), an internal medicine resident….
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Misdiagnosis: a medical menace to quality and safety of patient care
If patients weren’t already unhappy with drive-by medicine, in which clinicians spend on average of 15 minutes with them in an office visit, safety experts warn that too many doctors’ providing of harried care can worsen a medical menace that’s already hard to ignore: misdiagnosis. Figuring out what ails a patient and taking a correct….
Continue ReadingWhy are doctors and hospitals still bungling patients’ records requests?
Uncle Sam more than ever wants it to happen, and patient advocates are pushing hard, too. So, why, when technology can make it easier than ever to do so, must patients struggle still to get easy, convenient, low- or no-cost access to invaluable electronic records about their own health care? Judith Graham, a columnist focusing….
Continue ReadingDepression and suicide risk are side-effects in too many common drugs
Patients, doctors, and pharmacists may want to be more wary about more than 200 commonly prescribed drugs that not only treat an array of medical conditions but also carry depression and suicide risk as side effects. More than a third of Americans take the medications, and they report higher depression rates than those who don’t,….
Continue ReadingHigh-tech advances? They may prod you to get your medical records, asap
Although enthusiasts still wax on about how technology will improve lives, patients may want to be wary about purported advances that may end up complicating and even compromising crucial parts of their medical care — including how their medical records are kept and how payers decide if they’re covered. Let’s start with some kudos for….
Continue ReadingSunday pro football games aren’t the place to serve up genetic screening malarkey
Let’s give a hurrah for Maryland health officials — they threw a red flag at a high-tech startup that planned with the Baltimore Ravens football team to serve up a mass genetic screening test at a recent game. The blunt reality is this would have been genetic malarkey. This incident should serve as a reminder, caveat emptor,….
Continue ReadingWith health care in tumult, patients should get their own records, GAO advises
Although patients can protect their own health by getting copies of their medical records, few consumers get them, and fewer still take advantage of the federal government’s push to make records easily available electronically, one of Uncle Sam’s big public protection agencies reports. The U.S. Government Accountability Office also warns that tumult in the nation’s….
Continue ReadingHere’s how hospital billing is a sick system for patients, payers, and providers
Hospital care accounts for a third of the nation’s $3 trillion in annual spending for medical services. And not only are these charges increasing—and driving up health costs—they’re infuriating patients and their families. Who can make heads or tails of hospital bills? And if consumers do, will they discover billing practices that only anger them….
Continue ReadingHealth care takes some good steps forward
Yes, there can be progressive steps in health care—and with all the controversy and change going on in the sector it’s worth spotlighting some of these: Patients should get access to own health records, researchers say Three researchers—Dr. Harlan Krumholz of Yale Medical School (photo right), Connecticut lawyer Jennifer L. Cox, and Yale student Austin….
Continue ReadingMD’s tips on retail-clinic care offer a reminder of medical records’ importance
In the best of all worlds, none of us will need any time soon to race to a nearby urgent care center or to pop by the retail, walk-in clinics that have sprouted in neighborhood drug stores across the country. But if you do find yourself at one of these “doc-in-a-box” clinics, here is some….
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