Please understand that I am not happy about the existence of Ebola, but it has brought more awareness and debate to several important health care issues in the U.S. Here are my top five: Ebola has brought attention to workflow and EHR. The initial reports that critical information did not flow from the registration/triage desk…
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Ebola, Ignorance, Stupidity
The cases of Ebola in the U.S. have brought a sharp focus onto a recurrent and enduring problem in our country – one that has plagued all industries, but now brings a sharp focus onto health care. The problem is error reduction. The initial blame placed on the second Ebola infected nurse, who flew a…
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Why this Generation of Physicians Will Not Be the Same as the Others
During my training days, one of my finest memories of roundsmanship was watching two esteemed senior physicians in the same specialty duke it out for the better treatment regimen of a patient. After spending hours in the library tediously searching the indexes of every major American journal and textbook for references to the disease in…
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Ebola: What History Questions Should Always Be Asked?
The recent discovery of a case of Ebola in the U.S. made me wonder: since the patient was seen twice, why was it missed the first time? The symptoms as listed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) can include fever (>38.6o C), severe headache, muscle pain, weakness, diarrhea, vomiting, and unexplained hemorrhage.…
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