Browsing the archives for the research category

C.T. This

How and when do new medical technologies become the ‘standard of care?’ A recent study showed that the use of CT scans in hospital emergency departments rose sixteen percent between 1995 and 2007. The only thing that surprises me about this is that it’s not more. Way more. I remember the first time I actually [...]

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5 Comments Posted in emergency room, patient experience, research, technology
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Thank you for Not Smoking

How well does e-smoking approximate the real thing? Hope you had a pleasant Thanksgiving. GlassHospital was on the road again, taking the kids to visit the hometown of Cleveland, health mecca of the eastern Midwest. Had Thanksgiving dinner at my aunt and uncle’s. My aunt is a culinary master; she loves to pull out all [...]

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6 Comments Posted in global health, health & wellness, lifestyle modification, preventive health, primary care, research
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Making Nice

Over the summer, a couple of news stories stood out to me as examples of lemons and lemonade: First, the prix du citron: Tony Hayward of BP, after his company’s oil rig ‘malfunctioned’ and poured millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. He had a few choice doozies. You probably remember: The Gulf of [...]

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6 Comments Posted in humor, patient experience, research
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Fundamental Question

Every once in awhile amidst the weekly deluge of medical articles comes a show-stopper that has the potential to change the way we practice. Rarer yet is the article that not only changes how we practice, but calls into question why we do what we do. This recent article from the New England Journal of Medicine [...]

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4 Comments Posted in health care reform, patient experience, research
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Doc, How Long Have I Got? [UPDATED]

[Editor's note: I've truncated this post because it was picked up by Slate for their Medical Examiner column. Check it out over there & feel free to comment there and here! -GH] A year ago, U.K. officials released convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi to Libya on humanitarian grounds, based on a prediction that he [...]

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5 Comments Posted in books, death & dying, patient experience, research
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