Here's a tip for dealing with patients who are hard of hearing and either don't have hearing aids or don't have them in at the time, usually while they are inpatients in the hospital. Take your stethoscope and let them wear the earpieces.

Incision and drainage of an abscess is painful, but it is also painful to pack and repack until the site has healed. I have found that after the initial packing is removed, instilling lidocaine without epinephrine using a syringe without the needle lessens the discomfort and anxiety of repacking considerably.

Systemic inflammation has been identified as a risk factor for the development of heart failure in population studies. In the 5-year prospective MESA study, researchers from Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore recorded a baseline nonspecific marker of systemic inflammation, C-reactive protein (CRP).

Researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston presented results from the PROTECT (ProBNP Outpatient Tailored Chronic Heart Failure) study. NT-proBNP (b-type natriuretic peptide) is a biomarker released from myocardial tissue in response to high levels of wall stretch and has been studied as a marker for decompensated systolic heart failure.

In the next few minutes, nationally recognized expert, Dr Robert Schoen, will discuss the latest findings on Lyme disease.

You could argue that medicine was never meant to become a for-profit business the way selling cars, cosmetics, and fast food are businesses. And yet, in the United States, health care has become a for-profit business. The story of how this happened is complex, but decisive elements include the advent of Medicaid and Medicare in 1966 and the widespread availability of employer-sponsored health insurance.

In this podcast, Dr Katz will discuss one of his recent studies that looked at risk factors for revision surgery after total hip replacement.

Twitter updates

Two skin carcinomas that are in close proximity can be removed in a single excision.

Based in Atlanta, Elizabeth Woodcock is a speaker and author with more than 20 years of experience in the practice management industry. Author of ten best-selling books, she holds an MBA from The Wharton School. Learn more at www.elizabethwoodcock.com. You can also reach her directly at elizabeth@elizabethwoodcock.com.

#onc_figure_border{ width: 175px; float:right; display:block;clear:right; border-left: 1px solid #a5a5a5; padding: 2px 0px 10px 10px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px;}

While currently receiving chemotherapy with mitoxantrone for Gleason grade 7 prostate cancer, a 64-year-old man presented with rectal bleeding.

Be creative with performance rewards. Give movie tickets to employees who go “above and beyond” the call of duty.

Here is a tip that can help you cover all the elements of the review of systems: Ask the question as you examine the relevant body part.

Maintain a “murmur log” to record compliments and complaints from your patients.

Assign one clinical staff member to check the expiration dates on all prescription samples once a month, and keep a log of these inspections.

At sites where cosmesis is critical, such as on the face, use aluminum chloride and pressure for hemostasis rather than electrocautery.

I advise patients with diabetic neuropathy to break in new shoes gradually.