If you would like to plan a heart attack in your future, here are some easy-to-follow steps to get you there in just a few short months or years:

1) Follow a low-fat diet.
2) Replace fat calories with “healthy whole grains” like whole wheat bread.
3) Eat “heart healthy” foods like heart healthy yogurt and breakfast cereals [...]

Here’s how real-time claims adjudication – or instant payment of claims for doctors works.
The doctor has an EHR. A data entry clerk in the office enters the claim. The claim is submitted through the EHR. And Presto! The doctor is paid.By the time the patient reaches the check-out desk, the doctor [...]

A procalcitonin assay has recently been approved for use in the United States. Unfortunately many hospitals do not run the assay in house. The principles behind procalcitonin and the current state of use are covered in a recent review in LabMedicine (reproduced in full text at Medscape).
PCT seems to be useful as an [...]

The practice of law is a veritable minefield of deadlines and rules. Deadlines probably cause lawyers to lose more sleep than anything. Lawyers should purchase case management software to help them monitor deadlines and prepare properly for motions and hearings. Another technique for taking the worry out of practice is to file a Motion for [...]

The health care bill’s passage sets a framework for reform. It will roll out over the next 10 years. How it goes and where it stops no one knows. It will require multiple mid-course corrections and compromises. It may result in the political transformation of American medicine and the remaking of [...]

Via STLMedia.

The word “disruptive” usually has a negative connotation. It usually means an unwanted, unwelcome, or unexpected break in normal routines.
But as applied to medicine, the word “disruptive” is now coupled with the word ”nnovation.” A “disruptive innovation” has come to mean doing things in a better, simpler, faster, [...]

One of the most common reasons people come to my office is to correct high cholesterol values without Lipitor. (Substitute “Lipitor” with Crestor, simvastatin, Vytorin, or any of the other cholesterol drugs; it’s much the same.)
In the world of conventional healthcare, in which you are instructed to follow a diet that increases risk for heart [...]

When a patient presents in atrial fibrillation, the time of onset impacts treatment decisions. In patients who lack tachycardia awareness estimation of the time of onset is difficult. This study suggests we can take advantage of proBNP kinetics to estimate time of onset. Not something to change practice yet, but interesting:
Results Mean [...]

June 21 – This is the first day of summer. Health reform storm clouds, harbingers of political lightning strikes, loom on the horizon. How bad the storms will be and what form they will take is unknown, but here are thoughts on their shape and ferocity.
• Summer Storm One, the inevitable [...]