Archive for May, 2009
By Jackie
Two pediatricians out of Indiana University decided, rather on a whim, to initiate a study evaluating some common medical myths that have been circulating through both the patient and medical community for decades. Their findings actually made sense – no, you really don’t need to drink 8 glasses of water each day to be healthy, and that chewing gum, it will not take 7 years to digest. But what the two physicians found most interesting was the reaction they received from the public. People were angry that some of the most basic health facts acquired during childhood from mom & dad and even their pediatricians were, in fact, false. Turns out, people tend to believe tidbits that originate from those “in charge,” even if the health claim has absolutely no scientific support.
It’s a fascinating look into belief formation. It’s so often and with such certainty that we recite these health facts that it’s no wonder there was such a public outcry. According to a York University psychologist with whom Newsweek spoke on the topic, if the belief is couched in common sense, we’re apt to go along with it. And experts say these myths will likely stick around for years to come. Of all the important health and medical information we’re constantly fed and expected to process, reversing notions around the effects of reading in the dark seems rather benign.
The pediatricians have incorporated their 66-myth findings into a book (Don’t Swallow Your Gum!) that will be published next week. The authors say they don’t expect readers to walk away from the book with a full medical education but instead a willingness to question the doctor’s expertise. File this one under patient empowerment.
May 29th, 2009
By Cheri
It’s back to the nature versus nurture debate. A recent study published in the European Journal of Neuroscience comes to the conclusion that the way in which the brain develops leads to some people being anti-social and others to be more sociable.
The research was done by having more than 4,000 men born in Finland in 1966 to fill out a series of questions about their people skills. From there, researchers compared MRI scans from 41 of the men and found strong associations between being more adept to social situations and the density of gray matter in two regions of the brain.
Undoubtedly, it would take more conclusive evidence and further studies to provide conclusive evidence. What are your thoughts on this topic-are we predisposed for certain characteristics or more influenced by our surroundings?
"Well-well look. I already told you: I deal with the god damn customers so the engineers don't have to. I have people skills; I am good at dealing with people. Can't you understand that? What the hell is wrong with you people?" Tom from Office Space
May 29th, 2009
By Cheri
In encouraging news from the American Cancer Society, cancer deaths declined 2% last year. While many doctors are calling this a modest improvement-it is one nonetheless. The decline is being attributed to several factors, including changes in habits (decline in smoking), earlier detection because of testing and awareness and better and more effective treatment options. Further details can be found in the AP’s article on the report.
What are your thoughts on the decline in cancer rates?
May 27th, 2009
By Jackie
CNN recently profiled a geriatric specialist out of Washington Hospital Center who co-founded the hospital’s first “Medical House Call Program.” Dr. Eric DeJonge spends his days in his car, traveling to more than 600 Washington-area elderly patients who cannot physically get to a hospital. Typically, he checks in on them once a month, providing one-on-one care to ensure medication compliance and really, just to let them know he’s there for them. 2009 meet 1930 – of course, with the addition of the Blackberry and advanced portable medical technology like the EKG and ultrasound.
According to a recent article in the Clinics in Geriatric Medicine, home visits by physicians dropped from 40% in 1930 to less than 1% in 1980. Patients began to prefer trips to the hospital where they could gain access to state-of-the-art technology and a range of medical experts. And of course, over the years, paperwork and billing became so arduous and time-consuming for physicians that the amount of time they had available to visit with patients in their home significantly decreased. Add to that the lack of financial incentive from insurance companies, and poof! The house call became a distant memory referenced only occasionally by our grandparents in a “remember when…” kind of way.
But with the baby boomers “booming” into senior life, Dr. DeJonge may be on to something. And it seems Medicare agrees – this month a new “Independence at Home” bill will be reintroduced, making it easier and more cost-effective for physicians to perform house calls. With a renewed commitment to “the patient,” this is a big step forward for our country’s healthcare system. Perhaps we can file this under Health 3.0?
May 27th, 2009
By Palmer Reuther
Racepoint’s very own Jackie Lustig is attending the Bio International Convention 2009 at the George World Congress Center in Atlanta. Here are her initial thoughts on the show:
“It’s a truly global event attracting scientists from all over the world. This year’s theme is “Heal, Fuel, Feed the World.” Among the exhibitors are Spain, Australia, Thailand, Brazil, Korea, France, Germany, Belgium and the states of Georgia, Massachusetts, California, North Carolina and Connecticut.
With traditional industrial manufacturing on the wane, governments at all levels have figured out that biotech is an industry that has the potential to bring well-paying jobs to their regions. The front page of the Atlanta Constitution Journal and the Georgia booth was a buzz with the news that the state is investing $400,000 to establish a biotech innovation center in the state – the first in the Southeast.
The exhibition also includes a number of biotech start-ups and the expected big boys. People we’ve talked to say that the mood is lot less ebullient than last year’s event in sunny San Diego. Due to the economic downturn, biotech funding has slowed dramatically. Most exhibitors have scaled back the number of people they’ve brought to Atlanta.
Sometimes it takes getting on a plane to meet interesting companies that are in one’s own backyard. Among the most innovative companies we met is Cubist, located in Lexington, Mass. Cubist was just ranked #1 in the annual Globe 100, Best of Massachusetts companies. It’s a great story of how persistence pays off and the ups and downs of new drug discovery.
There are some big headliners at this event – Sir Elton John being the big, big draw. Unfortunately, our pass didn’t get us into his keynote… maybe next year.”
May 20th, 2009
By Cheri
Larry Weber, Chairman of W2 Group, recently interviewed Charlie Baker, president and CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare and prolific blogger at Let’s Talk Healthcare on “Market Edge with Larry Weber” about the hesitancy of healthcare companies to engage in social media. While this topic has been discussed frequently in social media circles, it was great to hear Baker’s perspective on this, since he was one of the first healthcare executives to embrace social media and open a dialogue with the community through his blog. Baker spoke about the importance of removing the nameless-ness and faceless-ness out of the healthcare industry and learning from the community. Overall, he feels that the delay from the industry is the fear of giving up control and having people write negative comments on the site. While this is of course a concern, he urges other leaders to start the dialogue and thinks that it will soon pick up steam. The interview can be heard at: http://www2.webmasterradio.fm/market-edge/
What are your thoughts about the future of transparency and dialogue in the healthcare industry?
May 19th, 2009
By Shannon
We as consumers have long since realized the power of the web in helping us educate ourselves on matters of our health. Whether it be the common cold, a pesky rash or the symptoms of swine flu, sites like WebMD having been helping us self-diagnosis for many years. But, with the rise in popularity of social networking, something interesting has taken hold in how the business side of healthcare leverages the web.
More and more, physicians and healthcare companies are turning online to interact, educate and inform. They now have, or can offer, unlimited access to the latest research, developments techniques and medical best practices. With anywhere, anytime access to this type of information, medical professionals across the world are now afforded the opportunity to learn in real-time, things that previously may have taken days, weeks, months or even years to reach them.
We’ve already seen sites like Doctor’s Channel, KevinMD and Science Roll become invaluable resources for medical professionals across the globe in essentially every field of medicine. And, healthcare organizations are also entering the fray, providing targeted sites to educate their constituents – consumers or professional – on the latest developments on certain disease states. Take a recent site from one of our clients geared at educating global infertility specialists on the best techniques for improving pregnancy rates, or the site Patients Like Me, which unites patients from across the world, in a ongoing research experiment to help shape future treatments and therapies for conditions like ALS, MS and Parkinson’s.
The web is having a tremendous impact on how everyone consumes and shares medical information. It will be interesting to see how this medium continues to impact healthcare for us the patient and how much physicians truly embrace these online tools.
May 18th, 2009
By Lynda
The Indy Star posted a great article yesterday summarizing John Lechleiter’s luncheon speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington this week.
The CEO of Eli Lilly advises that any changes the government makes this year should not make it harder for drug makers to develop new medicines, in fear that Obama’s health care reform will limit biotech and pharma companies’ ability to develop life-saving medicines.
In his opinion piece in the WSJ this week, Lechleiter included several powerful figures to support his statement including:
“Even in the last two decades of the 20th century, new medicines accounted for 40% of the increase in life expectancy in more than 50 countries, according to a recent study by Columbia University economist Frank Lichtenberg. In other words, for every year that life expectancy has increased, five months can be attributed to the availability of new medicines.”
Although Lechleiter acknowledges a government-managed healthcare system would not eliminate biomedical innovation entirely, he urges a market-driven system would provide more valuable health care including new, more effective medicines, devices and diagnostic tools.
What are your thoughts? Are there other best practices we can learn from surrounding supporting biomedical innovation in a government-managed system in other countries?
It will be in interesting to continue to follow Obama’s plans as it develops this year.
May 15th, 2009
By Palmer Reuther
More U.S. doctors are opting to become medical specialists rather than general practitioners (GPs) due primarily to the higher pay received for conducting focused medical care. The result is that there are much fewer GPs, the primary source of the nation’s health care, to meet the increasing needs of an aging population.
Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, Republican of Utah, said, “The work force shortage is reaching crisis proportions.”
This issue, which poses a major obstacle to Obama’s health care reform, is expected to be compounded by the millions of uninsured people who would gain coverage under legislation championed by the president. This would leave an even greater divide in the number of GPs and the patients they treat.
One of Obama’s proposed solutions, which aims to level the playing field would essentially pay GPs on par with medical specialists. While this plan would provide patients with more access to care, it would add greater financial strain to an industry that is already stretched and under constant scrutiny for spiraling costs.
This issue is heating up and we’ll be sure to keep an eye on any developments here.
May 7th, 2009
By Lynda
According to the 2009 Deloitte Survey of Healthcare Consumers, more than half (55 percent) of consumers would like to communicate with their doctor via email, and 57 percent would like to schedule appointments, buying prescriptions and completing other transactions.
Many consumers are already technologically plugged into their health. During the annual Health 2.0 – 1x conference here in Boston last week, Kaiser Permanente, a nonprofit health care system, announced that more than 3 million of its members are using MyHealthManager, their personal health record database which allows members to manage their healthcare online, including e-mailing physicians or changing or canceling appointments.
I would absolutely prefer to manage prescriptions or reschedule appoints via email. In fact, I have an outstanding call I need to return to my dentist who needed to last minute reschedule my appointment. I would have rescheduled by now if he had emailed me for sure.
What are your thoughts? As medicine moves deeper in the interactive, digital space, will it change the way you communicate with your PCP?
May 1st, 2009
