Tuesday December 15, 2009
There is only one time during the year that is almost as dangerous as July in a hospital -- and that is the period from December 20 to January 3rd or 4th.
Why? Because all the best doctors, surgeons, nurse practitioners, hospitalists, nurses and other professionals who impact your care -- the best staff -- takes time off during the holidays.
Not that a hospital will be short-staffed. It might be a little lean, but mostly it's staffed by temp workers or part-timers. They may be excellent at what they do! But because it's holiday time, and because everyone is more into being jolly, attending staff and practice parties, being festive... well....
Even teaching hospitals and academic medical centers can be problematic during this time. Residents and med students take vacation - -they've gone home for the holidays.
Do you blame them? I don't! Who doesn't like to take some time off during the holidays? There's a good chance you take time off, maybe using up your vacation days between Christmas and New Years?
I sounded this warning bell last year, and I'll probably sound it again next year. If you need to be hospitalized, even just over night, and you can fit it in before the 20th, or postpone it until after the first of the year? Then do it.
Keep yourself safe by checking your calendar twice.
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Monday December 14, 2009
Many of us at About.com have taken some time to put together thoughts about how events of the past ten years -- the first decade of the new millennium -- have influenced our topic areas.
I had to give it some thought -- because patient empowerment as a topic didn't really exist a decade ago. Not that patients weren't strong and empowered -- some most certainly were. But I wasn't. And most were not. And it hadn't really become a topic of discussion in the mainstream media - yet. Even today patient empowerment is a relatively new national concept.
So here's what I put together: A Decade of Patient Empowerment - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. From the IOM's report, To Err is Human, to the challenges of Healthcare Reform -- and now it's your turn to weigh in.
What do you think of my list? Did I miss anything important? Truth is - this is a project that would be much improved by your input. So please do add your two cents!
Then we'll save it -- and we'll pull it out of our virtual time capsule in 2019 to see how far we've come between now and then. With ANY luck, it will no longer be a topic that is necessary at all.
A Decade in Review - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly in Patient Empowerment
And here's where you can provide your input, too.
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Saturday December 12, 2009
Readers -- please meet my friend and colleague E-Patient Dave deBronkart.
The "E" in Dave's name stands for empowered and engaged (OK - electronic, too - but that's only a corner of his Es!). I want you to meet him because he is an Excellent Example (two more Es) of what can be accomplished when you take empowerment seriously.
Dave was diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2007. His cancer was so advanced that he knew it was terminal - months at most. While he had always been a pro-active patient, his diagnosis indicated that pro-active wouldn't be enough. That began Dave's major push to get the treatment he needed and deserved. And he must have done it right -- because 2 years later Dave is still with us, and cancer-free.
Today Dave writes and speaks, often in partnership with the doctor who worked with him, Dr. Danny Sands from Beth Israel Hospital in Boston. They work together to guide professionals -- providers and industry professionals -- to improve the experience for patients who do want to be engaged with their care decisions. It's important -- VERY important work.
Read about Dave (and Danny, too) in this article from Health Leaders Media. You can read some of Dave's work at his blog, or at e-patients.net, too.
I hope learning Dave's story gives you some confidence that participation in your own care reaps benefits that may be life changing - or as in Dave's case - live saving.
Can you put an E in front of your name, too?
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Photo © Dave deBronkart
Friday December 11, 2009
I'm a big fan of Brothers & Sisters, the Sunday night soap opera that stars Sally Fields, Calista Flockhart, and a host of others. Watching the trials and tribulations of this very loving, very involved, very supportive and highly dysfunctional family is a little like accessing the National Enquirer online - the fact that it is entertaining is (or was, until now!) my dirty little secret.
But I'm coming out of the Brothers & Sisters closet because last Sunday's episode provides us empowered patients with a good lesson; that is, that researching our doctors online is an important way to keep ourselves safe.
A brief synopsis about one of the story lines: Sally Field plays Nora Walker, the mother of five adult children. Her husband dropped dead in the family swimming pool in the first-ever episode of the show, and she's been the (not so) grieving widow since then. She has recently met, and fallen for Simon, a tall, handsome oncologist who is 12-15 years younger than she, and who seems to be the perfect man, staying by her side, surprisingly never having to actually WORK, and being wonderfully supportive through thick and thin...
Except....
Two of the children have decided to check him out - online. They've researched Simon's background and found that he had two malpractice suits in his record. That upsets them, and they tell their mother about it. But a third sibling, a lawyer, points out that it could be that those suits are not that big a deal. He explains that sometimes frivolous lawsuits are filed by people who never could have been healed or found improved health -- bottom line -- the Walker clan would really need to know much more before they could pass judgment on Simon about those lawsuits.
Then Nora learns that Simon doesn't really practice medicine locally anymore. He has started an investment charity in Equador (or somewhere in South America) and is trying to raise funds to build a hospital. Nora decides she wants to invest in his new charity and turns over a $100,000 check to Simon just as her children discover that Simon's background truly does have some major question marks... then Simon fails to show up at an important family event....
Tune in next January to see what happens next!
So -- it occurs to me -- I wonder how often a newly dating person googles the person he or she is dating? Or maybe you meet someone new at work, someone you might do business with - and you check him or her out online. We know employers check out potential employees, and who among us (another dirty little secret?) doesn't google ourselves? !!
And yet -- few of us ever check out the doctor we are making an appointment with, or the surgeon who will cut us open. Nope. We let another doctor refer us (not a good approach!) and we trust that doctor has our best interests in mind. In fact, that doctor has a friend in mind, or a colleague in mind, or a golf partner in mind... it's not about us patients. It's about them.
So take it from Rachel and Scotty Walker, the brother and sister who are doing a bit of investigation about Simon... check out those doctors! Here are some ways you can learn about their track records, and some ways you might uncover malpractice. You may find they are squeeky clean and a great choice. Or you may find they have records of patient deaths, addictions, money problems... you just don't know until you look.
Don't jump to conclusions, but don't take information at face value either. Your life and health will depend on the skills of the doctor who will diagnose and treat you. Doesn't it make sense to check him or her out?
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