Too many Native women are dying due to complications from pregnancy and childbirth – deaths that should be preventable with the right intervention and care. More
In the mountains of North Carolina, black women are fighting a national health care crisis by helping each other have healthier pregnancies. More
Fewer than half of U.S. primary care providers receive information from specialists about changes to their patients’ care plans or medications, compared with at least seven of 10 in Norway, France, and New Zealand. Overall, U.S. physicians are among the most likely to offer health IT tools to better communicate with patients, but problems of interoperability have led to challenges. More
As a palliative care physician at the University of California San Francisco's Cancer Center, Miller draws on his own experiences to help people with their physical, emotional and spiritual pain at the end of their lives. More
A majority of residents met burnout criteria. Several identified factors (eg, stress, sleepiness, medical errors, empathy, CCC, and self-compassion) suggest targets for interventions to reduce burnout in future studies. More
We remember Louise Lown, social worker, peace activist, and beloved wife of Bernard Lown, who passed away on Friday. More
"Street medicine" programs, like one in Atlanta, seek out people living in back alleys and under highways. The public health outreach improves patients' health and is cost-effective, hospitals find. More
How usable are electronic health records, compared to other types of technology we use every day? More
Caregiving involves significant time and emotional work, yet much of this work is invisible. In his new book, The Soul of Care, Dr. Arthur Kleinman shares his story of caring for his wife, Joan, who was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's Disease. More
Health care systems are not always built to accommodate caregivers into the care team, but including caregivers into the conversation can provide essential information to clinicians about the patient's health. More
A 2019 study of more than 2,100 U.S. mothers found that 1 in 6 reported “mistreatment” during childbirth, including being ignored, threatened or berated, or losing their autonomy. Women of color were even more likely to report such experiences. It can be hard for parents to speak up after a difficult childbirth. But a small number of health care providers and others are beginning to encourage them to speak up — and to provide feedback about their experiences. In some cases, the process is helping give parents closure, and may even bring about change. In other cases, looking forward may prove better than looking back. More
A recent study shows the impact of asking "Do you want everything done?" for critically ill patients and their family members. More
Some 20 years ago, pulmonologist Marc Moss was working in the intensive care unit when a patient went into cardiac arrest. Moss and others tried to revive the man, but he did not survive. As doctors often are, Moss was pressed for time and he asked several medical students to stay with the deceased patient and fill out the necessary paperwork so that Moss could return to another patient he’d been seeing. Not long after, he noticed one of the students crying. More
It’s not so much whether one EMR is better than another — they all have their breathtaking assets and their snarling annoyances. What is really becoming clear to me is the uncomfortable realization that there are actually three of us in the room now: the patient, me, and Epic. What started out as a tool — a database to store information more efficiently than the paper chart — has inserted itself as a member of the medical team. What used to be a tango between the doctor and patient is now a troika. More
Many microaggressions are gaffes where the perpetrator is making a misguided attempt at humor. I vividly recall the time I was in training many years ago, and I told my supervising physician about my pregnancy. He responded good-naturedly: “Pregnant? How did you even find the time? We must not be working you hard enough!” I remember mustering a feeble smile, not quite knowing how to respond to his misplaced humor. More
This is not the story of my leukemia diagnosis, nor of my subsequent stem cell transplant. Those are harrowing stories that make excellent Facebook click bait: “A mother of three!” “A doctor herself!” “Diagnosed at Christmas!”
It is more mundane than that. It is the story of being chronically ill, while working among the well. It is the story of being diseased while wearing the healer’s white coat. It is, most painfully, being fully human among those who know human bodies most intimately.
Imagine a health-care system in which doctors and nurses are so exhausted and beaten down that many of them work like zombies — error-prone, apathetic toward patients and at times trying to blunt their own pain with alcohol or even suicide attempts. That is what America’s broken health care system is doing to its health workers, according to a 312-page report released Wednesday by the National Academy of Medicine, one of the country’s most prestigious medical institutions.
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What a new study tells us about implementing shared decision making for older adults with multiple chronic conditions. More
I still remember the first time I said those three little words. Growing up in a loving Welsh family, I’d heard them said many times. But the first time they roll off your tongue will always be different. You try to choose your moment, but sometimes the words take you, and the listener, by surprise. If “I love you” are the three most important words in life, then “I don’t know” are the three most important in medicine. They’re also the most underused. Their power comes from admitting that doctors don’t, and can’t, know everything.
A new study examines the definition of informed consent and finds that patients want to know much more than clinicians usually tell them. More