Doctors: It’s Not What You Say, But How You Say It
Most physicians will be thrust into the role of patient or caregiver at some point during their careers. Unfortunately, it’s not until this occurs that many become fully aware of the finer points of excellent care and communication. Take for example, the simple act of reporting test results to a patient. We do this every day, but may not realize that how we frame the information is as important as the data themselves.
I came to realize this on a recent hospital visit when I was in the role of healthcare proxy for a loved one with heart disease. Not only did various physicians present information with different degree...
Source: Better Health - December 28, 2015 Category: American Health Authors: Dr. Val Jones Tags: True Stories Cardiac Electrophysiologist CHF Ejection fraction Heart Disease How To Relay Information What Does It Mean? Cardiologist Source Type: blogs
When Elderly Parents Suck The Life Out Of Their Kids
My patient’s son stood vigil outside her hospital room day and night. His eyebrows were frozen at an anxious angle. Although his mom was healing well from her injury, I could see that he was worried about next steps. He asked staff repeatedly about his mom’s pain management, and reviewed every therapy session she attended.
His mom, on the other hand, was deceptively charming. She was a thin, well-groomed elderly woman who knew how to exact empathy from others. When I looked into her room from a distance she appeared comfortable, lying in her hospital bed covered in a quilt that her son had brought her from home...
Source: Better Health - November 9, 2015 Category: American Health Authors: Dr. Val Jones Tags: True Stories Aging Parents Caregiving Discharge Planning Elderly Manipulation Nursing Home Personality Disorder Source Type: blogs
Pain Management And Why It ’ s So Personal
Most of my patients think about pain medicines in terms of the symptoms they treat. “This is my headache medicine, and this is my arthritis medicine,” they often say. Healthcare providers are more likely to categorize pain medicines by the way they work: some are anti-inflammatory, some affect nerve endings, and others influence how the brain perceives pain. But the truth is that no matter how you classify pain medicines, there is no way to know if they’ll help until you try them for yourself.
Most people don’t realize that pain management is personal. Research is beginning to help us understand why people ...
Source: Better Health - October 20, 2015 Category: American Health Authors: Dr. Val Jones Tags: Health Tips Opinion Acetaminophen How To Treat Pain Ibuprofen OTC OTC Pain Medicines Personalized Medicine Side Effects Which Pain Medicine Is Best Source Type: blogs
Pain Management And Why It’s So Personal
Most of my patients think about pain medicines in terms of the symptoms they treat. “This is my headache medicine, and this is my arthritis medicine,” they often say. Healthcare providers are more likely to categorize pain medicines by the way they work: some are anti-inflammatory, some affect nerve endings, and others influence how the brain perceives pain. But the truth is that no matter how you classify pain medicines, there is no way to know if they’ll help until you try them for yourself.
Most people don’t realize that pain management is personal. Research is beginning to help us understand why people ...
Source: Better Health - October 20, 2015 Category: American Health Authors: Dr. Val Jones Tags: Health Tips Opinion Acetaminophen How To Treat Pain Ibuprofen OTC OTC Pain Medicines Personalized Medicine Side Effects Which Pain Medicine Is Best Source Type: blogs
New Study Suggests Gender, Race, And Age Gap In Responsible Use Of OTC Medications
Millions of Americans use over-the-counter medicines; in fact, about 35% of Americans use OTC medications on a regular basis. A recent national survey of 2,038 U.S. adults suggests that many Americans are not in touch with the risks associated with OTC medications, and don’t feel compelled to review OTC drug facts labels carefully. As I have discussed on this blog previously, excessive medication use (regardless of whether they are prescription or OTC) can be dangerous.
Some of the survey’s key findings include:
2 in 5 respondents believe that OTC dosing instructions are suggestions, not directions
While all age g...
Source: Better Health - October 16, 2015 Category: American Health Authors: Dr. Val Jones Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs
Living Your Best Life, Even In The Hospital
My patient was an elderly farmer with severe vascular disease. He had advanced leg artery narrowing, had survived multiple heart attacks, and was admitted to the hospital after a large stroke. He was incredibly cheerful, vibrant, and optimistic. He had a very large, loving family who took turns attending to him, and encouraging him with each small improvement in his leg and arm strength. They knew his neurological exam better than his doctors.
I was amazed at his recovery, given the size and location of his stroke (and his advanced age), I had suspected that he would end up wheelchair bound. But he was determined to walk a...
Source: Better Health - October 6, 2015 Category: American Health Authors: Dr. Val Jones Tags: True Stories Family Support Healing Attitude Hospital Living Your Best Life Music Rehabilitation Singing Stroke Source Type: blogs
What Causes A Toxic Hospital Culture?
Hospital culture is largely influenced by the relationship between administrative and clinical staff leaders. In the “old days” the clinical staff (and physicians in particular) held most of the sway over patient care. Nowadays, the approach to patient care is significantly constricted by administrative rules, largely created by non-clinicians. An excellent description of what can result (i.e. disenfranchisement of medical staff, burn out, and joyless medical care) is presented by Dr. Robert Khoo at KevinMD.
Interestingly, a few hospitals still maintain a power shift in the other direction – where physici...
Source: Better Health - September 30, 2015 Category: American Health Authors: Dr. Val Jones Tags: Opinion Be The Change Culture Good Hospitals healthcare How To Lead Leadership Physician Burn Out Work Environment Source Type: blogs
Advice To Physicians: Don’t Just Do Something, Stand There
My newly admitted patient was at the end of a very long struggle with a devastating genetic disorder. He had been treated by some of the finest experts in America for his rare disease, and had come to my rehab unit for aggressive physical and occupational therapy. He was exhausted, but mustered the energy to tell me (probably the 100th physician to treat him) his complicated story.
Listening to this man, and examining his frail body, I realized that he had already explored every treatment option and avenue available. He had extensive conversations about his genetic variant, and which drugs could possibly modify his course....
Source: Better Health - September 24, 2015 Category: American Health Authors: Dr. Val Jones Tags: True Stories Caring Listening Medication Over-treatment Rehabilitation Source Type: blogs
When In Doubt, Ask A Family Member
Photo Cred: Max S. Gerber
I learned a valuable lesson recently about how difficult it can be to make the correct diagnosis when you see a patient for a very short period of time. In the acute rehab setting I admit patients who are recovering from severe, life-altering brain events such as strokes, head injuries, and complex medical illnesses. It is challenging to know what these patients’ usual mental function was prior to their injuries, and so I rely on my knowledge of neuroanatomy, infectious disease, and pharmacology to guide my work up. However, I have learned that asking the patient’s family members about...
Source: Better Health - September 9, 2015 Category: American Health Authors: Dr. Val Jones Tags: Health Tips True Stories ARU Autism Brain Injury Family Input Inpatient Rehabilitation IRF Mental Status Changes Stroke Source Type: blogs
Book Review: Is Empathy Learned By Faking It Till It’s Real?
I’m often asked to do book reviews on my blog, and I rarely agree to them. This is because it takes me a long time to read a book – and then if I don’t enjoy it, I figure the author would rather me remain silent than publish my true thoughts. Most of the reviews that I end up writing are unsolicited, but today is an unusual exception. A colleague asked me to read her book, “How To Be A Rock Star Doctor.” I got half way through when she checked in to see how things were going. I had to tell her that I didn’t agree with some of her advice to young doctors, and I worried that she would be d...
Source: Better Health - September 1, 2015 Category: American Health Authors: Dr. Val Jones Tags: Book Reviews Acting Empathy How To Be A Rock Star Doctor On Stage Outpatient Medicine Primary Care Tips Tips For Success Source Type: blogs
The Costs, And Maybe Cost Savings, Of Medication Non-Adherence
A Cat Playing Whack-A-Mole
Medication non-adherence is a hot button topic in healthcare. Physicians lament patient “non-compliance” with their medical advice, and policy wonks tell us that more than half of patients do not take their medications as directed. Missed opportunities to control chronic illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer surely do cost us untold billions of dollars and millions of quality life years lost annually in the U.S. But there is a flip side to the equation that no one is talking about. The costs of polypharmacy (over medication).
In my opinion, many Americans, especially t...
Source: Better Health - August 28, 2015 Category: American Health Authors: Dr. Val Jones Tags: Health Tips True Stories Accidents Dangers Drug Interactions Geriatrics Over Drugged polypharmacy Side Effects Source Type: blogs
Tips For Hospitals: Hiring Locum Tenens Physicians
This post originally appeared on The Barton Blog.
It’s both expensive and time-consuming to obtain temporary coverage for a hospital or medical practice. Locum tenens clients have every right to expect high-quality care from the locum tenens providers they hire; but even the very best locums may not perform to their full potential if their onboarding isn’t carefully planned.
As a locum tenens physician with licenses in 14 states, I have much experience with the onboarding process. Here are 12 tips for facilities eager to encourage smooth transitions, foster good provider relationships, and provide excellent patient ...
Source: Better Health - August 25, 2015 Category: American Health Authors: Dr. Val Jones Tags: Health Tips Barton How To Succeed Locum Tenens Success Temporary Coverage Tips For Onboarding Traveling Physicians Source Type: blogs
Confronting Scandalous Physician Behavior: The Annals Of Internal Medicine Takes The First Step
If you have not read the latest essay and editorial about scandalous physician behavior published in the Annals of Internal Medicine (AIM), you must do so now. They describe horrific racist and sexist remarks made about patients by senior male physicians in front of their young peers. The physicians-in-training are scarred by the experience, partially because the behavior itself was so disgusting, but also because they felt powerless to stop it.
It is important for the medical community to come together over the sad reality that there are still some physicians and surgeons out there who are wildly inappropriate in their pa...
Source: Better Health - August 17, 2015 Category: American Health Authors: Dr. Val Jones Tags: True Stories Abuse Annals Of Internal Medicine Child Rape Essay Misogyny OB/GYN Racism Scandalous Physician Behavior Sexism Source Type: blogs
When Great Healthcare Is Served With A Large Helping Of Unnecessary Mental Anguish
A wrist graft similar to what my friend's husband required.
I watched helplessly as a dear friend went through the emotional meat grinder of a new cancer diagnosis. Her husband was found to have melanoma on a recent skin biopsy, and she knew that this was a dangerous disease. Because she is exceptionally intelligent and diligent, she set out to optimize his outcome with good information and the best care possible. Without much help from me, she located the finest specialists for her husband, and ultimately he received appropriate and state-of-the-art treatment. But along with his excellent care came substantial (and ...
Source: Better Health - August 5, 2015 Category: American Health Authors: Dr. Val Jones Tags: True Stories Anxiety Bedside Manner Genetic Testing Healthcare Quality Oncology Source Type: blogs
Living La Vida Locum: This Is Why I Love Being A Traveling Physician
(Source: Better Health)
Source: Better Health - July 31, 2015 Category: American Health Authors: Dr. Val Jones Tags: True Stories Being A Doctor healthcare I Love My Job Locum Tenens Rural Medicine Underserved Areas Source Type: blogs
