Back in the glory days of black and white television, Dr. Welby walked into a hospital room, provided a diagnosis, and told his patient what to do. As patients insisted on more of a role in decisions that affect them, often we now find ourselves in the position of our physicians providing options and asking …
Emergency. Dictionary.com defines it this way: “a sudden, urgent, usually unexpected occurrence or occasion requiring immediate action. “ In my healthcare experience lifetime, perhaps nothing has changed more than the role of the hospital emergency room. In my youth the hospital had two roles: caring for very ill or post-surgery patients needing nursing care until …
Healthcare Directives and Planning The call came late on a Thursday. The husband of a long married couple had suffered a stroke 2 weeks earlier. He had lost the ability to swallow and the doctor at the hospital had urged surgery to place a feeding tube directly to his stomach before transferring him to a …
An advertisement arrived in my mail recently from a local hospital system offering a special promotion on “heart disease, stroke, and aneurysm prevention package testing.” The tests included were extensive, and the mailing screamed not to wait to schedule these “life-saving screenings.” And, by the way, these tests are normally valued at over $2100 but …
Before you jump in…Re-thinking preventive health screening Read More »
A year ago, my 27-year old son injured his knee playing soccer. After months of conservative treatment and continued pain, an MRI showed a fracture in the cartilage in his knee, an uncommon problem for a person his age. We worked together to prepare for his appointment with a well-referred orthopedic surgeon, and my son …