Grand Rounds Vol. 6, #51: Hot Topics

Welcome!

The theme of this week’s Grand Rounds is hot topics in healthcare communication. Since this is also the last issue of summer, I’m including photos from my summer vacation to Yellowstone National Park, a hotbed of geothermal activity. (Just for fun see if you can identify Yellowstone’s mascot, the American bison, hidden in one of the photos.)

Sharpening Communication Skills

Mind the gap. Toni Brayer, MD, author of Everything Health, considers why the communication gap between physicians and patients persists despite the fact medical education has placed greater emphasis on interpersonal communication.

Why would a good doctor give his/her patients useless answers? Read Dr. D’s post at Ask an MD to get some straight talk on how much information patients really need.

At Other Things Amanzi, Bongi wields communication skills as deftly as a Jedi Master with a light saber while he simultaneously saves a patient’s life and manages relationships with senior colleagues.

Bedside manners: Jacqueline, a medical librarian, revisits the concept of etiquette-based medicine as the basis of effective caregiver patient relationships in her blog, Laika’s MedLibLog.

Technology Troubles

Tweeting from the OR? It’s more common than you think. Elaine Schattner, MD of Medical Lessons contemplates the value of Twitter as a legitimate communication tool for physicians.

Physicians using Facebook may want to rethink their privacy settings after reading Walter van den Broek’s post at Dr Shock MD PhD . This post explores how the personal use of social networks can undermine the professionalism of physician-patient relationships.

A tale of two technology nightmares. The Happy Hospitalist describes how continual notifications from the automated radiology reporting system interfered with patient care. Is it worth it? Herbert Mathewson, MD at HUB’s List ponders this question after a computer glitch caused him to struggle for days just to make minor changes to the infusion rate of his patient’s medication.

Is there an app for that? Electronic health records are definitely a hot topic in healthcare and Michelle Wood at Occam Practice Management turns up the heat by considering how to balance usability with universal design.

Finally, Louise at Colorado Health Insurance Insider reminds us that capital investment in items like technology should not be made at the expense of spending on patient care.

Wanted: Healthcare Reformers

Mike Feehan, at Insure Blog makes a compelling case for physicians becoming more active in health policy formulation. Meanwhile Dr. Alan Dappen at Get Better Health appeals to the adventuresome by suggesting that primary care physicians reshape healthcare by abandoning traditional reimbursement contracts in favor of a retainer practice supported by technological enhancements.

And The Winner Is….

I close with a link to the winning entries of the poetry contest sponsored by Dr. Charles at The Examining Room of Dr. Charles. These poems exemplify compassionate care, a concept near and dear to the Schwartz Center. I hope you’ll be as moved as I was.

Thanks for visiting Bedside Manner’s edition of Grand Rounds I hope you’ll join us as a regular subscriber. Next week’s host is Pallimed.org.

(Find the bison? The dark figure in the foreground of Photo #4 is actually a bison, not a rock, enjoying a sauna!)