Posted by Guest Blogger on Fri, Dec 04, 2009 @ 02:11 PM
By Chris Hannan
Paris Hilton does it. President Obama famously did it.
And now for an increasing number of emergency physicians, "Twitter" is becoming the technology of choice for gathering and sharing a wide variety of up-to-the-minute medical information between colleagues and even patients. Twitter - whose 140 character format encourages brevity - enables physicians to have real-time discussions from the emergency room, or virtually anywhere.
I encourage you to read an excellent article from the Annals of Emergency Medicine http://bit.ly/jJRLp that discusses the growing uses for Twitter - and why it's fast becoming an important "tool" in the ER.
For the uninitiated, Twitter enables physicians to communicate with colleagues and provide instant feedback on everything from emergency procedures to discussions on medical trends. Twitter allows for more transparency to what goes on in the physician's world, and enables both patients and other doctors to interact with one another in a quick, convenient way. And an important point for non-techy types, it's easy to join and easy to use.
So should medical professionals be adapting and using emerging technology such as Twitter? In my opinion, the answer is yes.
Have you gotten on the bandwagon yet? If so, how are you using it? Are you finding it beneficial? And if not, why not? I'd appreciate hearing your experiences.
Posted by Guest Blogger on Fri, Dec 04, 2009 @ 12:47 PM
By Marty Ogle, M.D.
As a practicing emergency department physician, I've been following the nation's healthcare reform debate very closely. I'm sure doctors, nurses and healthcare professionals in hospitals and emergency rooms throughout the country are doing the same.
While I certainly have my opinions on how I would like the healthcare reform issue to play out, I've also been taken aback by the news coverage - which has often been inflammatory at best and hysterical at its worst. Just give me the news and forget about the rant, please. What I want to know is: are we going to get healthcare reform? And if so, what's it going to look like?
If you're as frustrated with the quality of the news coverage as I am and would like a great source of information, go online to the NPR site. It's thoughtful, unbiased and provides excellent coverage and debate. You'll find it at: http://tinyurl.com/NPRhealthcare where you'll have access to a variety of articles, a blog, and videos on everything from "what healthcare reform means to consumers" to following the healthcare debate in congress. No hysterics, just the facts. And facts are what we need most these days.
I urge you to visit the site - and please forward any of the sites or resources that you think provide good, solid non-biased healthcare reform news. We're all in this together, so let's stay informed
Posted by Guest Blogger on Thu, Dec 03, 2009 @ 04:57 PM
By Joel A. Stettner MD.
Now that the healthcare reform discussion has taken center stage, what about the "Major Healthcare Issue" that preceded it last year? By that I mean the novel H1N1 outbreak, more popularly known as "swine flu".
With fall quickly approaching, the issue will likely be on the front burner again. But a recent article in the Washington Post states that most Americans are not very concerned about swine flu.
While we Americans are well known for our short attention spans, should we be more worried? Or are we too entranced by other distracting issues such as Sarah Palin and her "Death Panel"?
The CDC reports that from April 15, 2009 to July 24, 2009, there were a total of 43,771 confirmed and probable cases of novel influenza A (H1N1) infection in the U.S. Of those, 5,011 people were hospitalized and 302 people died.
The tone of the report does not convey a sense of concern by the CDC. In fact, they have completely discontinued their confirmed and probable case counts, though aggregate national reports of hospitalizations and deaths are continuing. Their recommendations for avoiding the pitfalls of an H1N1 outbreak include avoiding sick people, washing hands frequently and covering faces with tissue when sneezing. Final recommendations on vaccination are still pending, as are details on vaccine availability.
However, the World Health Organization sees it differently. According to a recent report http://bit.ly/FYdVF the global spread of H1N1 swine flu will endanger more lives as it speeds up in the coming months. They're telling governments to boost preparations for a swift response and are predicting an explosion in case numbers.
So which is it? Should we be concerned or should we consider the current H1N1 outbreak to be simply business as usual? My feeling is that this is a potentially serious disease (especially for the at-risk groups). I think that preparation for likely patient visit surges is very important; we must find ways to more rapidly see those with mild infections and quickly move admitted patients out of the ED. Preparation now could be critical as the traditional flu season approaches.
I look forward to your comments!
Posted by Guest Blogger on Thu, Dec 03, 2009 @ 11:26 AM
By David Englander, M.D.
I wanted to add my two cents to Dr. Borger's blog in the ER Forum on Tuesday re: potential funding losses to emergency health care by the Feds.
In California alone, more than 70 hospitals have closed in the past ten years due to financial pressures, even though demand for emergency care has dramatically increased.
Our state actually had the lowest national ranking (51st) in access to Emergency Care and received very low grades in other categories of the ACEP National Report Card on the State Of Emergency Medicine.
In 2003, both Democrats and Republicans came together and passed the Medicare Modernization Act (Section 1011), which included federal funding for mandated emergency care - $250 million per year to help hospitals and providers recoup a portion of the costs they incur for providing emergency medical care to patients who cannot pay their bills. This federal reimbursement has been particularly helpful to participating hospitals and providers in border states like California that are disproportionately burdened with providing care to undocumented immigrants. Unfortunately, this funding was temporary and recently expired.
Hospitals and emergency care providers should not be responsible for absorbing the costs of health care for undocumented immigrants. The federal government should bear this responsibility, as it is responsible for securing our borders.
As noted, last year the campaign to extend Section 1011 had bi-partisan support, evidenced in a May 2008 letter to legislative leaders endorsing a two-year extension of the provision under 15 signatures, including those of Barack Obama and John McCain. But that support has been supplanted by other issues.
Extending Section 1011 funding is an important issue that needs to be addressed before it "falls through the cracks". With increased overcrowding, state budget cuts (especially in California) and likely facility closures, it's impossible to believe that quality care will be there if another source of funding for hospitals and providers is withdrawn. Our legislators need to know that this is an important issue involving a wide range of people.
To read the complete article on the topic, visit http://tinyurl.com/moos4n. For insights into ways to reach your representatives, please read a very helpful blog re: Advocacy by Carlos Medina MD. Simply click on this link: http://www.cepamericablog.com/2009/08/be-an-advocate-get-to-know-your-legislators/
I look forward to your support and to seeing any comments you may have.
Posted by Guest Blogger on Thu, Dec 03, 2009 @ 11:23 AM
By Rodney Borger, M.D.
Well, the August Congressional recess has temporarily quieted the health care debate in Washington, D.C. But many doctors like me remain focused on how possible health care reform could affect our local public hospitals.
Lawmakers will soon resume the battle over how to expand coverage and how to fund it, but there is another pressing issue that doctors like me are very concerned about. It involves making sure our hospitals, doctors and nurses can continue to provide timely, quality emergency care to anyone who is admitted to one of our emergency rooms.
Right now, our ERs are in jeopardy of losing an important funding source from the federal government - funding that it has an obligation to provide.
Without the federal reimbursement that the 2003 Medicare law provides, our hospitals and health providers will simply not be able to offer the quality of care expected in our emergency rooms. That means patients will no doubt have to wait longer for treatment in increasingly overcrowded waiting rooms because of facility closures and staff and supply shortages.
Last year the campaign to extend Section 1011 had bi-partisan support. Today (a year later) I fear the issue may be overshadowed in the larger health care debate. I'm urging our representatives to consider the consequences of halting federal reimbursement for emergency care at a time when the need for care is greater than ever.
Extending Section 1011 funding is an issue that affects everyone who works in emergency rooms as well as those who may one day need emergency care. Your help is needed.
We need to act now! Please contact your federal representatives and urge an extension of Section 1011, so that we can continue to provide quality emergency medical care to anyone who needs it. If you have additional thoughts or suggestions, please send a comment - I'd love to hear them.