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Patient Relations

Malpractice lawsuits drop with apologies and honesty

Ann W. Latner, JD November 13, 2009

Honesty really is the best policy, especially when it comes to taking responsibility and avoiding lawsuits.

Lab results can trigger malpractice suits

July 28, 2009

Physicians often fail to inform patients of their tests results—or to document that notification—raising the likelihood of a lawsuit, a recent survey suggests. Here's how you can avoid that fate.

Laughter is (still) the best medicine

Christina M. Surawicz, MD July 01, 2009

Over the years I have accepted humor as a coping mechanism for physicians. Humor has helped me to relieve tension, defuse tense situations, counteract grim aspects of medicine, and alleviate pain.

Insurance expert: Personality can be a factor in litigation

June 19, 2009

Physicians "must accept that behavior and personality play an absolutely critical role in the outcome of malpractice action," says Mark Gorney, MD. "Juries are at least as heavily influenced by their feelings about the players as they are by the facts of the case."

Low literacy hinders prostate cancer discussions

June 15, 2009

Clinicians should speak colloquially when discussing prostate cancer with low-income men, because most of them don't understand the most basic medical terms.

Medication errors can come from weight-y mistakes

June 09, 2009

Mistakes or omissions in obtaining patient weights caused almost 500 medication errors in Pennsylvania hospitals.

MPR drug database available to mobile devices

June 08, 2009

The popular service adds handhelds to its desktop and laptop offerings, including Blackberry and Palm.

Flu shot creates opportunity for colorectal screening

March 18, 2009

If one group of practitioners has its way, clinicians may find themselves handing out colorectal cancer screening kits along with immunizations next flu season.

The recession and charity care

March 06, 2009

Even in good times, primary-care physicians dedicate a certain percentage of their practice to caring for patients unable to pay their bills. What will happen to such care as the recession broadens and deepens? Our current poll question has generated some interesting commentary.

The computer will see you now

March 06, 2009

An insightful article by a physician appearing in The New York Times on why computerized patient records aren't always the best medicine: "The computer depersonalizes medicine....Before we embrace the inevitable, there should be more discussion and study of electronic records....The personal relationships we build in primary care must remain a priority, because they are intregral to improved health outcomes."

Hepatitis C treatment different for Hispanics

March 02, 2009

A new study has found evidence that ethnicity may determine how patients respond to treatment for hepatitis C. In an open-label, nonrandomized trial, Hispanic whites did not fare as well as white patients who were not Hispanic.

Positive spin pushes cancer screenings

February 13, 2009

If you want to effectively encourage African American patients to be screened for colon cancer, accentuate the positive. According to new research, emphasizing the risks of late detection can actually make these patients less likely to have the test.

Study: Less autonomy the path to better care

By Myra Dembrow February 05, 2009

Doctors should give up some of their independence and help develop evidence-based guidelines and protocols if they want to make headway against mistakes, a Johns Hopkins physician contends.

Rx for exercise boosts activity

By Myra Dembrow January 07, 2009

If you want to encourage your patients to exercise more, try writing a prescription. The tactic has been successful for women in New Zealand, a recent study reported in BMJ.

Routine HIV testing encouraged, ignored

December 01, 2008

A new guideline from the American College of Physicians calls on doctors to routinely encourage HIV screening for all patients older than 13 years, regardless of their risk factors. Similar recommendations from the CDC, however, are not being followed.

Physician shortage could be much worse--soon

By Delicia Yard November 21, 2008

Nearly half of 11,950 U.S. physicians surveyed plan to see fewer patients or stop practicing completely over the next three years, according to results of a national survey.

Study: Physicians overdiagnose asthma

By Myra Dembrow November 20, 2008

As many as 30% of people diagnosed with asthma don't have the disease, newly published research suggests.

When a doctor snubs PSA screening

By Ann W. Latner, JD November 17, 2008

Must physicians with doubts about the test's usefulness allow fear of liability to override their clinical judgment?

Weight gains boost odds for arthritic knees

October 22, 2008

A new CDC study predicts that more than four out of 10 Americans will develop osteoarthritis (OA) in their knees before age 85. Those odds rise with weight gained after adolescence, reaching almost 60% among obese adults.

A senior salute to the captain's chair

By David H. Dube, MD October 08, 2008

Easy chairs are anything but easy. A captain's chair with a firm seat that is higher than the standard height will aid the mobility-impaired senior citizen in maintaining the ability to transfer.

Patient responsibility in getting test results

Asked by Sandra Sabb, MD, Farmington Hills, Mich., and answered by John Y. Davenport, MD, JD June 02, 2008

Where does our liability end and the responsibility to follow up on abnormal test results (including Pap smears and mammograms) reside with our patients? For example, do we need to send certified letters to patients who don't follow up or to those who never get the recommended tests done in the first place?

Medication updates

Submitted by Jamshid S. Miah, MD, Baltimore August 14, 2007

Having your assistant update the patient's list of medications on every visit will keep you from overlooking them.

A reminder with teeth

Submitted by Elizabeth Westphal, MD, Marlborough, Mass. July 14, 2007

Coupling medications with daily oral hygiene, i.e., toothbrushing, helps patients remember daily or twice-daily medication. I have gone so far as to suggest patients tape their pill bottle or pill box to their tube of toothpaste.

Herpes simplex: Guide to recognition and therapy

By Craig G. Burkhart, MD, MPH December 04, 2006

Which diagnostic test do you choose? Which treatment? What can you tell patients about recurrence? Our author has the answers.

Antibiotics: When less is more

September 14, 2006

In medicine, as in life, more isn't always better. Short-course antibiotic therapy, currently emerging as an important dosing strategy for treatment of a number of bacterial infections, is a prime example. Although short-course therapy is gaining traction for many reasons, the main one can be summed up in just two words: antimicrobial resistance.