Here’s what happens when you give so much attention and influence to such a crude instrument.

Following quality measures can make or break a hospital’s reputation, especially if they are being widely advertised. Patients often make health care choices based on whether doctors following quality measures.

However, as these measures are currently constructed, they often ignore the nuance surrounding many cases.

Emergency Read more »

by Jenny North

There are very few foods in the world that can claim to be superfoods. Superfoods must have many more benefits besides just providing enough calories and some nutrition. However, there are some foods that are able to be elevated to superfood status because of the incredible benefits they can deliver.

Acai berry is one of these foods. With its ability to do everything from increase weight loss to fighting off disease, Read more »

The regulator says that Hertfordshire-based Aquote, whose policies are supposed to pay for locum cover in the event of sickness, is unauthorised and trading illegally.

‘We don’t have a figure (for how many practices are affected),’ said a spokesman. He added that ‘from an unauthorised company it will be difficult to get your money back.’

Dr Henry Murray, a GP at the Newburgh Surgery on Tayside, bought Read more »

by Peter Wood

Total Cleanse is another colon cleanse product that has gained quite a bit of attention (or at least that has been heavily marketed on the internet) lately. So naturally it was on my list of colon cleanse products to review. As you’ll soon find out, the Total Cleanse review started out neutral and went south real quick. This is a brief version of my full review that you can find on my website.

Naturally, when reviewing Read more »

Patients on Medicare and Medicaid tend to utilize the health care system more frequently.

Combined with the fact that an increasing number of physicians are closing their doors to such patients, the so-called “safety net” clinics and hospitals are finding themselves with much more work than they can handle.

In this case in California, one such clinic was seriously considering shutting its doors to Medicare.

A physician Read more »

Figures from the Office of National Statistics show an increase in teenage pregnancy rates from 40.9 conceptions per 1,000 15 to 17 year olds in 2006 to 41.9 per 1,000 for 2007.

The extra funds will be used to support the teenage pregnancy strategy, with 7 million assigned to raising the awareness of long acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs).

10 million will be invested in local health services to ensure contraception Read more »

According to a recent study looking at the Medicare population, the answer appears to be yes.

MedPage Today reports a study showing that elderly white patients had colon cancer screening rates ranging from 39 to 47 percent, compared to 29 to 38 percent in blacks and 23 to 33 percent in Hispanics.

First off, all those rates are dismally low. There should be no reason that colon cancer screening rates are below 50 percent.
Read more »

by Brandon Geberinger

A partial abdominoplasty is called a scarless tummy tuck. This method is done by a cosmetic surgeon. Scars will be less visible with this type of tummy tuck. The best candidates for a scarless tummy tuck are those who tried diet and exercise but still cant firm up or improve the loss of elasticity in their abdomen. Pregnancy, age or rapid weight gain can cause loss of elasticity. This procedure works best if your problem Read more »

Louise McMenemy, the BMA Medical Student Committee lead said: ‘We are concerned about the obstacles that lie in the path of many pupils from lower socio-economic backgrounds who want to study medicine’.

The BMA also believes that universities should publish their strategies of how they intend to widen participation.

‘It is important for the NHS, students and society that we have a medical workforce that Read more »

The Medical Defence Union (MDU) says the DoH may seek this information in future as part of the performers’ list regulations, although these have yet to be published.

The MDU warns that placing too much reliance on such information is likely to stigmatise doctors, as information about negligence claims is not a useful indicator of poor performance.

Dr Karen Roberts, MDU medico-legal adviser, said: ‘When you Read more »