Quick, name the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) criteria for strep pharyngitis. That next patient you see, tell me when their last labs were done, what health maintenance they are due for or have already done, what their medication list is, what their chronic problems are, allergies, and when you last saw them and for…
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Paving the Path to Pennsylvania’s Health Care Information Highway
What if you are seeing a patient for a follow-up from the ER, and with a click or two, you could find out what happened, what tests they had, and what you needed to know as you saw them the next day? A patient recently discharged from the hospital? A new patient you’ve never seen…
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Why Technology Makes Me a Smarter Physician
I have always had ectopic brains. Those are the external resources we use to reference stuff that physicians need to know. As a resident, it was pockets full of manuals – the Washington Manual, Handbook of Pediatrics, etc. Frankly, I always had trouble remembering a lot of the micro-minutiae that come with practicing medicine. My…
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The Unintended Consequences of Today’s Health Delivery Model
Efforts in the name of efficiency and cost reduction have unintended consequences. When I was in practice, I admitted, or at least followed, all my patients in the hospital. There were no issues of aftercare, because I discharged them with appointments to see me within a day or two (rarely more). I knew what medications…
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