I received one of those politely worded letters from a major insurance company recently informing me of how it thought I was doing caring for one of my patients. It includes warm language such as “We value our relationship with you,” though their medical director who signed this letter has never...
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A study in the New England Journal of Medicine several months ago presented findings on a new medicine to prevent a deep vein thrombosis, which is a blood clot in one of the larger veins of the leg. These clots are usually more of an annoyance than dangerous, though the worst...
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A young man streaks down the basketball court with only one man to beat. A subtle head fake to the right causes his opponent’s weight to shift ever so slightly. The dribbler crosses the ball from his right hand to his left, dips his shoulder just past his opponent’s, and pushes...
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A commenter (I believe a physician) on one of my posts wrote the following: I can prevent heart attacks and strokes (caused by atherosclerosis – “blockage”) in people (minimal cost) who have NO symptoms. If I wait for their heart attack or stroke – it costs a WHOLE lot more. The...
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The science is a little complex, but the reporter should still get the bottom line right. A story by Time.com entitled Study: Putting More People on Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs Could Save Money was published Sept. 27, 2010. It referenced Stanford researchers who published a study on the cost-effectiveness of statins to treat...
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