Bedbug Bites
The answer to yesterday's medical diagnostic challenge is #1 - Bedbug bites. Bedbugs frequently attack exposed areas of the skin and are attracted to humans' high body temperature. Cutaneous (skin)...
View ArticlePrimary Care Payment Struggles
The way doctors bill and get paid is a byzantine process and it is no wonder the "private practice" doctor is an endangered species. It takes a keen sense of business, a love of medicine-not money,...
View ArticleThe Best Jobs in Health Care
The health care sector is a good place to look for job opportunities and to plan career goals. The workforce is expected to increase 27% through 2014, compared with 14% for all industries combined,...
View ArticleWhat is the Diagnosis?
I love this weeks Image Challenge from The New England Journal of Medicine because I had a patient with these exact findings about a month ago. You be the doctor and make your best guess for the...
View ArticleThe Battle Sign
The answer to yesterdays NEJM diagnostic challenge was #2 - Fracture of the temporal bone. This patient has ecchymosis (bruising) behind the left ear. This is the classic "battle sign" that is seen...
View ArticleObama vs. Ryan at AARP
President Obama and Vice-pres nominee Paul Ryan went head to head at the recent AARP convention in New Orleans and addressed the group on Medicare and the Accountable Care Act (aka: Obamacare). Their...
View ArticleSkin Rash-Pityriasis rosea
My 17 year old son showed me the strange rash that was developing on his chest and back. It was itchy and each day seemed to be getting worse and worse. The rash spread around his back and under the...
View ArticleKnee Replacements on the Rise
According to a new study in JAMA, knee replacement surgery could reach 3.5 million a year by 2030 in the United States. Wonder why health costs are rising? We have new expensive technology that...
View ArticleDifferent Roles in Health Care
I was working late this week; making patient call backs, filling prescriptions, reviewing labs and finishing charts from the day. It was dark out and the medical office was quiet and empty. The...
View ArticleFallen Hero-Lance Armstrong
Reading the daily updates about the Lance Armstrong bicycle team doping scandal is like watching a train crash. It gets worse and worse and there is no turning back for America's sport hero, Lance....
View ArticleEverythingHealth Diagnostic Challenge
Hello Readers, This weeks Image Challenge from The New England Journal of Medicine is a good one. Also it is pretty common. The patients symptoms developed over a few hours and she came to the...
View ArticleAngioedema
The answer to yesterday's medical challenge was #1 angioedema. The patient had progressive swelling on the face and had previously had swelling of the larynx, trunk and extremities. A diagnosis of...
View ArticleGetting Used to Electronic Health Record
From this... To this I will start with full disclosure. I still use paper charts. While I think my practice of medicine is "uber"-up-to-date...the truth is it could be 1950 when you look at my...
View ArticleAmericans are Trying to Lose Weight
More than half of Americans (55%) say they are trying to lose weight according to a study by The International Food Information Council Foundation. From 1960 to 1980 the obesity rate remained stable...
View ArticleTechnology and Medicine
I love technology that lets me be a connected doctor and saves my patients time and money. I got an email from Justin last weekend because his foot was painful and swollen and it included the...
View ArticleSubdural Hematoma-One Patient's Experience
This email came from one of my patients this morning. I read your blog about technology helping you and wanted to share this story with you. My husband has had ongoing migraines for weeks that...
View ArticleHearing Impaired Tattoo
I love the creativity here. This young lady has bilateral hearing impairment. Great tattoo!!
View ArticleDifferences in Ethics of UK vs. US Physicians
A new report has come out from Medscape comparing marked ethical differences between United Kingdom physicians and US physicians. The study surveyed over 25,000 US and UK doctors on their beliefs...
View ArticlePrimary Care - Trying to Do Right
Winter is officially here and we are in the cold and flu season. This is the time that patients get sick with viral illnesses and primary care doctors get even more frustrated as they try to do the...
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