health care

Beth Israel medical teams to take more time outs

adamg — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 12:25:23 -0400

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center CEO Paul Levy posts the memo he sent hospitalwide following that incident in which doctors operated on the wrong side of a patient. Apparently, the team failed to do one last "time out" to ensure "right patient, right procedure, right side."

... What a horrifying story. What important lessons. We learned that when teams are busy and distracted, it makes it easier to overlook something. We learned that key safety steps, like the "time out," need to occur every single time, since even one failure can be serious. We learned that serious events rarely relate to the performance of any single person. We learned that we have vulnerabilities that we were not even aware of, and that there are surely others out there.

Actually, we re-learned all these things, because none of these observations are new and all of them apply to the entire work place. ...

But Levy adds that things went right following the mistake - the surgeon reported it immediately when he realized what had happened, hospital quality-care staffers began an immediate investigation, the surgeon and others apologized to the patient and senior medical staff agreed to inform the entire hospital about what had happened.

How not to do an ultrasound

adamg — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 08:58:34 -0400

The Duck reports:

... When you led me to the examination room, you never once explained what you were doing. You pointed me to the table. You turned on your machines and squirted my belly with some sort of cold jelly. You didn't try and make me comfortable or even acknowledge why I was there and what you were supposed to be looking for. You asked me how much liquid I had had to drink (the directions were "come with a full bladder") and then told me my bladder was too full. You poked and pushed but otherwise ignored me. HELLO? That's my PELVIS you're pushing? HELLO? Can you see me? ...

And then the exam actually started ...

Susan's Story

adamg — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 08:53:52 -0400

Susan's Story is a blog about a patient who traveled a long way to get to a local hospital:

This is the story of Susan Nabukenya. Susan is a 14-year-old Ugandan girl who just arrived to Boston for life-saving plastic surgery at Boston Shriners. Susan was burned from her chest to her toes when she stepped too close to a cooking fire and her kerosene-stained dress ignited. She has lived with burn contractures and open wounds for four years and was forced to drop out of school. She had lost all hope. Until now. Join us as we journey with Susan towards a brighter future. ...

Via Paul Levy.

What it's like having outpatient heart surgery at Mt. Auburn Hospital

adamg — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 19:47:48 -0400

Tell Him Fred describes:

... Run a catheter through the femoral artery, up into the heart, to begin exploration. Oh, you can feel that? Yeah, isn’t that a messed up sensation? A tube running through your whole circulatory system? Yeah, it’s weird. ...

Ow bone pain

adamg — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 12:49:25 -0400

Krissy reports on a visit to the Newton-Wellesley emergency room last night:

Last night Matt sprained his ankle really badly and we thought it was broken. ... The Celtics game was on the TVs in there, and it really felt almost like I was in a sports bar as opposed to an emergency room waiting room. People in pain were discussing the game, wheeling over in wheelchairs to see the screen, asking the score.

Finally: A good reason not to ban drug companies from wining and dining doctors

adamg — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 16:36:59 -0400

Or not.

Blue Mass. Group posts a copy of a letter from a caterer to his state rep complaining that if drug companies are barred from buying fancy meals for doctors, minimum-wage earners will be thrown out of work and entire restaurants will be forced to shut down.

Really. Go read it.

Say what?

adamg — Wed, 21 May 2008 20:18:02 -0400

Adam Reilly whips out a white glove, slaps the Wall Street Journal with it and challenges the paper to prove its contention today that Boston media now refer to our state health-insurance system as "the new Big Dig."

Oh, and careful, Rupert: Reilly's done the research.

How Ted Kennedy saved his life

adamg — Wed, 21 May 2008 09:52:38 -0400

Berryjooks recalls when he was in a terrible out-of-state car accident with no health insurance:

... I ended up in New England Memorial in Stoneham, and within a couple of days the doctors there told my parents that there wasn't anything more they could do for me.

A friend of the family called Ted's office and explained the situation, and that same afternoon the State Police came and escorted me to the New England Baptist Hospital and delivered me into the care of one of the most amazing and talented liver surgeons in the country, Dr. Kenneth Warren. The rest, as they say, is history.

Without Ted's intervention, I wouldn't have made it. Children, grandchildren, none of that would have happened.

And who was I?

Just some constituent. ...

Meanwhile, Cleary Squared remembers when his father was diagnosed with a malignant glioma:

... Radiation, plus the gliomas, effectively scrambled my father's brains, and caused other complications such as hematomas, headaches, and loss of physical coordination. By September 2005, he was wheelchair bound, but still somewhat lucid, and actually looked like he was getting better. However, once the cancer spread to his spine, we knew it would be a matter of time. We planned his funeral in October, thinking he'd survive until at least after Christmas. He died two days before Thanksgiving, after celebrating his 35th wedding anniversary, at the age of 63. ...

Talking to your kids about Sen. Kennedy's brain tumor

adamg — Wed, 21 May 2008 09:39:19 -0400

Dr. Gwenn advises.

Would you trust Google with your medical records?

adamg — Tue, 20 May 2008 10:09:40 -0400

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is an initial partner with Google on a GMail-like system designed to give consumers easy access to all their medical records - and background information on any conditions, drug interactions and the like (and also targeted ads?). Medical Center CIO John Halamka explains the system, including ways patient data will remain confidential.

Mark Baard, a Beth Israel patient, immediately signed up. Didn't work - his records didn't transfer over.

... I deleted my Google Health account after this failed experiment. I will eat my hat if the data have truly been deleted from Google's databases.

Any possible benefits to consumers from Google Health clearly outweigh the privacy risks at this point. ...