Portland Mercury: Recommended article from Doc Slagathor

Doc Slagathor (br3nth3rr@gmail.com) has sent you the following from Portland Mercury:

Message: Hilarious! I can only aspire to his blogging genius.

RE: article
"Frank Cassano's "Blogtown in Review""
http://blogtown.portlandmercury.com/BlogtownPDX/archives/2011/10/21/frank-cassanos-blogtown-in-review

(To view the article, please click the above link.)

You say tomato, I say tomato

This is an eloquent response to having his book censored

Charles Bukowski on Censorship

I was somewhat surprised that his wording was so calm, his writing is usually much more forceful. He is a classic writer.

Doc Slagathor

Why physicians need to regain control of the medical industry/culture.

New buzzwords 'reduce medicine to economics': Physicians lament the devaluation of clinical judgment in today's health care world

I agree with the authors for the most part. My concern is that many of my colleagues seem to have the same contempt for and distrust of "evidence based medicine". We have an overwhelming amount of information available to us now and new recommendations and guidelines appear on a frequent basis. Evidence based medicine is very helpful when trying to wade through it all. It gives us rational algorithm's for approaching the diagnosis and management of diseases. Physicians have training in the evaluation of research studies and usually have a basic understanding of statistics and probability. As long as we use those skills when evaluating the latest evidence we will continue to serve our patients well. Evidence based medicine should not be used as the be all and end all when it comes to making our clinical decisions. It should serve us as the best available and current evidence but, like all the scientific pursuits, the recommendations and treatments are likely to change as new data comes to light. That is the process of science, continuous modification and improvement of our understanding and application of medical knowledge.
At the end of the day I am still a doctor, not a provider, and I plan to continue treating patients, not create a market for consumers.

The Heartbreak of EMR's

     As we started our new practice in July I knew it was time to jump into the amazing digital world of electronic medical records.  I did what I thought was my due diligence and reviewed the systems that were recommended by colleagues as well as others that caught my eye.  I settled on the Advanced MD program as it promised the usual customizable templates, patient and provider reminders, tracking for the Meaningful Use money available from Medicare, etc., etc.. In addition, we had been using their practice management software already.  I watched the webinars, training videos, and worked with their trainer on setting up the system.  We went live with it 2 weeks ago and I have lost my patience with it.  The templates I created do not work properly and the trainer doesn't know why.  It has E&M calculator which is designed to help determine the proper code for a visit based on the amount of work I do. It doesn't work.
           I am switching to Practice Fusion.  It is free, intuitive, and doesn't require me to learn computer programming.  Luckily the practice is slow so I have the time for trial and error. The experiment continues.

Pfft, why waste money on battered women?

Sent to you via Google Reader

Pfft, why waste money on battered women?

Topeka, Kansas is considering decriminalizing domestic violence in order to save money. I don't care how big your budget problems are – this shouldn't even be up for debate. Even if you're looking at this from cold, Machiavellian reasons, it costs the state more money in medical aid and lost work hours to let women (and more rarely but not negligibly, men) keep getting abused.

But legalizing marijuana? What a preposterous idea!

B Herr