Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Grand Rounds Sept 1 Vol 5 No 50


Welcome to Grand Rounds Vol. 5 No. 50 @ Medicine & Technology. This week, I've asked medical bloggers to reflect on the theme of "medical safety and technology." We all want to see safer hospitals and avoid medical errors. Advances in technology may allow us to practice safer medicine if we leverage it appropriately. Technology may also improve public health and safety.

Bongi from other things amanzi writes about a "terrifying" experience during his psychiatry rotation at a maximum security ward. Let's hope that innovations in technology are keeping healthcare professionals safe while they work in dangerous settings like psychiatric wards and prisons.

Nancy from Teen Health 411 takes us on a journey as she outlines articles from Teen Health 411. You'll find several that deal with personal health and safety. As more teens embrace technology, let's hope they'll use it to learn about the ways they can improve their health.

At Henry's Webiocosm Blog, we see a cartoon about euthanasia and 'death panels' (we'll never see the end of cartoons on healthcare reform). Who's heard of a waiting list for dying? Perhaps someday in the future, some of these unpleasant aspects of medicine will be automated by robots.

Flavio writes on Pharmamotion about the pharmacokinetics, MOA, indications and adverse effects of serotonin 5-HT3-receptor antagonists. These drugs are used for the prevention of chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting (CINV). It's great to see how advances in drug development technology are leading to new and innovative compounds.

Jolie from The Fitness Fixer talks about some common medications that may cause musculoskeletal pain (and you just thought you were getting old). Don't ever stop taking any pills before you get a chance to speak with your healthcare provider. Use technology to send your clinician an e-mail, text message, or voice mail if you have any questions about your medications.

At How to Cope with Pain, we read about Using f-MRI To Measure Pain. Have you ever had a functional MRI? Maybe we won't need those pain rating scales anymore as technology evolves to simplify pain management.

Adam at Receiving writes about a recent interview with Detroit Receiving Hospital's Dr. Larry Schwartz, one of the countries preeminent medical student educators. As the healthcare system changes, how will budding medical students adapt? I'm sure all new grads will be much more tech-savvy compared to current physicians when it comes to electronic health records and computer use.

Dr. Shock blogs about the use of computers in the hospital. On ward rounds, the majority of tasks (57.3%) were completed using a generic Computer On Wheels, while 35.9% were completed using a tablet PC. I'm a huge fan of the tablet PC and it's great to see how computing technology is leading to safer hospitals.

InsureBlog's Mike Feehan takes to task Physicians for a National Health Program, explaining why their stance is so off-track. He makes a compelling argument of why we need real physician leadership. We especially need strong leadership as it relates to healthcare and the use of health information technology and I think we have a lot of that in this country.

Ryan at the ACP Internist writes about some of the uncertainties that surround the H1N1 vaccine. Some people may even refuse the H1N1 vaccine, but will that result in major public health safety problems? What's the use of an effective vaccine if it never reaches the masses?

Alison at Shoot Up or Put Up writes about how technology is great, but what happens when it lets you down and you're a diabetic away from home without a working insulin pump? Then you're in trouble and it becomes "one of those days..." Insulin pumps continue to evolve and perhaps we will soon see the day of a true artificial pancreas.

Paul at Medicine for the Outdoors writes about a national ambulance service in Nepal. Sounds like a fascination program that should appeal to many individuals interested in global humanitarian relief and international medicine. What kind of technology is available in the remote regions of Nepal? They'll need to depend on strong wireless communications to get up that high.

Toni blogs at EverythingHealth about the famous California kidnapping story of Jaycee Dugard. Wasn't that a fascinating story? I wish her the best as she re-enters the normal world. Let's hope that safety surveillance and other forms of technology will prevent this type of thing from ever happening again. Would you implant a GPS tracking chip in your child?

At the Cockroach Catcher, we read about her recent visit to the farmers’ market in Panama City. Despite all the advances in medical technology we've seen, nothing seems to compare with some of the fruits and vegetables we can get to keep us healthy.

Daryl at Listed As Probable blogs about how sports injuries are a combination of physical and mental components. Modern imaging technology makes it so quick and easy to diagnose injuries these days. Soon, we'll probably see portable X-ray machines and MRIs on the playing field. Can you imagine watching a football game and then seeing a radiographic image of the actual injury?

David at SharpBrains writes a review of a new study comparing medication vs. working memory training for kids with ADHD. Some kids are using computers to help them manage their ADHD. It's great to see how technology is helping these patients.

Lauren at the Novel Patient blogs about the way she got "a new look" at herself as goes through rounds of immunosuppressant medications. Despite advances in drug development, we still haven't found effective ways to cure certain diseases. How will that change as medical technology evolves?

Kerri at Six Until Me is on the brink of a new insulin pump and is talking to her readers about the pros and cons of their diabetes technology. So many new pumps, glucose monitors, and gadgets are popping up these days. As I wrote earlier, the days of an implantable artificial pancreas may be nearing.

Well, that wraps up Grand Rounds this week. Thanks for visiting. Next week, you'll find Grand Rounds Vol. 5 No. 51 @ Medic 999 (http://medicblog999.wordpress.com)

6 comments:

  1. Outstanding job, Doc!

    Thanks for hosting, and for including our post.
     

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great job. I can't wait to read all of the interesting posts from the other bloggers.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you for including my post. Some very interesting posts indeed.
    The Cockroach Catcher

    ReplyDelete
  4. About mistakes in hospital, the biggest preventative is discipline not the tech toys.

    By the way, has anybody tried bolting a handwashing station to that computer-on-wheels cart?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi everybody,
    I completely agree with you. I really like this article. It contains a lot of useful information. I can set up my new idea from this post. Thanks so much!

    ReplyDelete