Ah, a perfect question for comparative effectiveness research.

Surgeon Jeffrey Parks takes a look at a study looking at breast MRIs during the pre-operative workup of patients with breast cancer.

Essentially, surgical outcomes were not improved, and worse, “leads to a higher rate of unnecessary mastectomy, and is extremely expensive (about $1600 a pop, out of pocket).”

Although there are specific cases where a breast Read more »

Despite the fact that proton beam therapy for the treatment of prostate cancer is expensive, and its efficacy questionable, that didn’t stop local journalists from writing a puff piece touting its impending arrival in central Ohio.

Journalism professor Gary Schwitzer, however, takes them to task. He questions an advertisement in a local newspaper, and wonders why cost isn’t mentioned, nor any discussion of the benefits versus risks.
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by eric christopher

Does The Fat Loss 4 Idiots Really Work? The answer to this question lies beneath the secrets behind fat loss 4 idiots. Usually when something is a scam, you can spot it. I did a little bit or research and found out a few things about fat loss 4 idiots that I’d like to tell you.

The online weight loss industry is very huge and fat loss for idiots has stood out among the rest. A good reason as to why it has Read more »

Bad news for primary care advocates and the future of the proposed patient centered medical home.

Showing how difficult it is to coordinate care and focus on prevention, MedPage Today reports on a recent article from JAMA showing that, of the 15 Medicare pilot projects that used nurses to promote medication adherence and facilitate communication with doctors, only one reduced hospitalizations and none cut costs.

That’s a piss-poor Read more »

by Jeff Cline

What do most insurance agents dont want their customers to know.

1) Dont let your agent talk you into a low deductible health insurance plan, since most people never met their deductible.

2) Car Insurance Add ons are mostly profit for the car insurance carriers, like towing and rental.

3) It is a bad idea for most people to use LIFE insurance as an investment or retirement plan.

4) There Read more »

Although the number of female cardiologists have doubled over the past decade, women still represent less than 20 percent of the specialty.

The study (via MedPage Today) draws the ire of cardiologist Dr. Wes, who asks, “does the fact that the field of cardiology (especially interventional cardiology) requires exposure to xrays mean the field of cardiology is discriminatory against women?”

He wonders if the emergencies inherent Read more »

By the way it’s currently designed and implemented, it certainly seems that way.

Medicare seems intent on burying the P4P concept. Bob Doherty notes that “successful quality improvement programs provide regular feedback to clinicians on how they are doing. Rewards for reporting should be greater than the costs and hassles of reporting. The rewards should be predictable (if I do x, I will receive y). And the timing of providing the rewards Read more »

Primary care is associated with negative connotations such as bureaucracy, paperwork, and being perceived as the lowest physician on the totem pole. Or as this doctor puts it, “‘PCP’ now seems to be synonymous with overworked, underpaid ‘loser’ who at least by some people’s opinions aren’t carrying their weight.”

Taking a tip from marketers, how about re-branding the profession to a “pre-hospitalist.” (via The Happy Hospitalist) With the Read more »

by Alberta Dowse

When a woman has pregnancy signs, she instantly becomes very anxious to find out the truth, whether we’re talking about a desired pregnancy or not. The classic signs of pregnancy are not only old-fashioned, but many times unreliable – that’s why women turn to more professional methods, such as pregnancy tests, and that’s due to the fact that they’re both accurate and they give fast results.

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The specialist-heavy physician organization says all the right things regarding the proposed primary care medical home, but will their support withstand “budget-neutral” payment reforms?

An emergency physician comments that “current compensation mechanisms for health insurance in federal plans . . . doesn’t place any significant value at the physician spending time at the bedside,” and a urologist proclaims “the concept of the medical home Read more »