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Tag Archives: health care
With health care reform under the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), doctors will become more overworked. To get better health care, you may have to see nurse practitioners. I agree with a recent editorial in the New York Times http://nyti.ms/VOJsWe which says that trained nurse practitioners may be able to replace physicians as the point of contact for prescribing care in many circumstances.
But these professionals do not have the depth of training and experience of physicians….
Healthcare in America is becoming more complex. As described by M. Smith and coauthors in their recent article, “What’s Needed Is a Health Care System That Learns,” each Medicare patient now has an average of 7 doctors in 4 different practices, and each doctor must interact with over 200 other physicians to care for all of the practice’s Medicare patients. It is expected that the increase in chronic conditions by 26% between 2000…
The end of the year is quickly approaching, which typically means open enrollment time for employer-based health plans, as well as Medicare, is also approaching. Now more than ever is the time to seriously consider your options for health care, and to know what is best for yourself.
Health care and the health care industry are changing fast. Not only are health plans altering their covered benefits and adjusting their premiums, but physicians are changing…
I’m often asked whether or not a person should take vitamins. You probably have asked yourself this very question. You’ve also likely read countless articles say why you absolutely should take vitamins, and heard just as many reports about why you should absolutely never take vitamins. What is a person to believe?
Dr. J. Gaziano and coworkers studied over 14,000 male physicians for a period of over 14 years. Half of them took multivitamins, and…
You can find out what is in your doctor’s medical notes about you, and reading it can save your life. In a recent study by Dr. Tom Delbanco and coauthors, patients were invited to see their doctor’s record of a recent office visit. About 80% of patients looked at the notes. Compared to patients who did not look at…
Every patient has experienced this, leaving a message at the doctor’s office, expecting the doctor to call back. They never do, or worse, they call much too late. You’re frustrated, stressed, angry and just confused. Really, how hard is it to call back with an answer?
Responding to you calls, questions and concerns is part of…
The cost of prescription medications have been rising at an alarming rate. Many patients now refuse to take their medications, or are unable to because of costs. They delay reordering their medicines or cut down on the amounts of medicines that they are taking, putting their health…
The other day, a patient came to see me and complained about breast imaging center in the Los Angeles area. “You sent me to have a biopsy of an abnormality that was found on a breast MRI scan, and they told me that they would not do it because I had not had my first scan at their facility. They actually wanted me to completely repeat the previous scan, even though I had a DVD…
Can you trust the medicine you’re taking? Thanks the recent fungal meningitis outbreak (allegedly due to tainted drugs), people everywhere are taking more time to examine their pills and potions they ingest, even asking their physicians whether or not they even need the drug. And they should question!
It’s vitally important to be considerate of everything pharmaceutical you put in your body, but it can be difficult to know what to ask. To be more…
You may think you’re getting “good” health care, but I can almost guarantee you’re not getting the best. Even if you think you are, it may be rapidly changing due to health care reforms. Surviving American Medicine provides you with everything you need to navigate the current war zone that is health care in America by providing expert tips and insights that will ensure you get the best care possible.
Health care reform is all…