Show 54 Wrap-up

Thanks so much to Symtym for coming on the show 54 (Download show here). I feel bad because he had this great opening planned. But, with the audio/video lag - the effect was lost, and he had to go to a landline and could not use skype from his end. Bummer, I kind of had the grand entrance mapped out in my mind. Oh well, maybe next time. (See video post above)

So, if you didn't know, he shared in his interview as a part of "mid-life crisis," he went and completed law school. And, now, he is awaiting his results after he recently took the bar. A question came up in the chat room if after law school - if he now sees some things differently like documenting in the chart, or privacy issues, or EMTALA issues. Check out the show for his answers.

Thanks to Theresa, Grunt Doc, and the Medical Quack for calling in and talking with Symtym. The show really gets animated about 50 minutes into the show. One of the best parts of the show is this type of interaction - more so than the chat room.

After about the 60 minute mark, Kevin Haynes called into the show. He is a service officer for the American Legion. And, he shared the story of a staff sergeant who is diagnosed with colon cancer. The staff sergeant is younger than I am and has two little girls. The local community has come together to help this family.

What Kevin wanted to do was to thank Grunt Doc and the readers of his blog for the help that they gave this family. The family were planned to go to Disney, but did not have the funds. Kevin sent an e-mail to GruntDoc who subsequently put it on his blog and the family was able to go on vacation.

I was very moved by this story, as well as the people in the chat room. Thanks Kevin for calling into the show and sharing their story. I'm going to try to have Kevin back to follow-up on this story. The organization that helped out is called Christian Youth Corps, Inc. I encourage all my Doctor Anonymous readers not only to read more of their story, but perhaps to share their story on your blog as well - like GruntDoc.

Finally, we had another great Ustream post-show tonight. We mainly talked about the story that Kevin shared. I also announced that I'll be at a conference next week in Dallas. And, that I have four shows in four days next week. What am I, nuts? Just maybe. Have a great weekend and week everybody! Happy Halloween!

Dr. A Show 54: Symtym

Thursday, October 30th, 2008 at 9pm Eastern Time

Just featured by the ACP Internist, The Doctor Anonymous Show is scheduled to welcome Tim who is an ER doc and author of the blog "Symtym: A Physician meandering medicine, law, and technology." Although, I have to admit that I'm a little confused - especially when I read this twitter saying that he is working tonight. I do know people like Dr. Val, Ramona, and ScanMan were very much looking forward to hearing from Tim. (Update: As sometimes happens on twitter, there was a little miscommunication. Symtym confirms his appearance to Dr. Val and to Medical Quack)

In addition to our conversation with Tim, we'll also be talking about said recognition for this show and my upcoming conference next week where I will be taking the show on the road and possibly doing FOUR shows in FOUR nights next week. What was I thinking? Finally, who knows? Maybe I'll have a Halloween costume on tonight.

If you do listen live, you can even take part in the chat room. It is truly "The show within the show." You can even call in and say hello. A great opportunity to interact with medbloggers you've only read about. And, you will be able to see me on the live webcam during the show! See you tonight!

For first time Blog Talk Radio listeners:
*Although it is not required to listen to the show, I encourage you to register on the BlogTalkRadio site prior to the show. I think it will make the process easier.

*To get to my show site, click here. As show time gets closer, keep hitting "refresh" on your browser until you see the "Click to Listen" button. Then, of course, press the "Click to Listen" button.

*You can also participate in the live chat room before, during, and after the show. Look for the "Chat Available" button in the upper right hand corner of the page. If you are registered with the BTR site, your registered name and picture will appear in the chat room.

*You can also call into the show. The number is on my show site. I'll start taking calls about halfway into the show. There is also a "Click To Talk" feature where you do not need a phone to call into the show - only a microphone headset. Hope these tips are helpful!

Show 54 Preview

The Doctor Anonymous Show is pleased to welcome Tim to show number 54 which will be Thursday, October 30th, 2008 at 9pm eastern time. (see video post above) His blog and website is called "from Symtym: A Physician meandering medicine, law, and technology." Tim is an Emergency Department physician, and you can get a little glimpse of his day by checking out his twitter feed. I did want to highlight a recent post called "Pay Faux Performance: Trauma":

Thirty year old female has heavy shelving fall on top of head causing a scalp laceration. Due to ER crowding, the patient is seen rapidly by the physician–in–triage and has CT head and neck ordered. She is then placed in the waiting room for two hours, without a cervical collar, waiting for an exam room.

Should not the ordering of CT of the neck raise the possibility of neck injury? Is not the standard of basic trauma care to have the neck immobilized and the injured placed supine? Is this defensive medicine raising a faux concern and rendering a faux performance?

Cannot catch the show live? That's ok, because each and every Doctor Anonymous Show is available for download on my BlogTalkRadio page. And, if you have iTunes, you can click here to subscribe to my iTunes feed. So, that you, the Dr. A loyal listener can check out the show anytime! Plus, if you listen live, you can participate in the chat room, and even see my shining face on the webcam. How cool is that? I know. See you for the show!

First Snow of 2008

As I twittered yesterday, the first "official" snow around here already happened. But, now, here is "official" documentation of the thing. I tried to take an iPhone picture of the thing, but that was an epic fail. However, I did have my trusty flip mino, and turned it on. What I got is the video above. I mean it's not even Halloween yet. Yeesh! So, if you like snow, here you go! If not (like me), then, oh well....

Election Day 2008

I can't believe that we're this close to election day now. Personally, I just want to get this thing over with so that we can get on with our lives. I mean, it's felt like years since this whole process started - probably because it DID take years for this thing to build up and will come to its pinnacle (hopefully) on November 4th. Unfortunately, many out there, including the Columbus Dispatch, state that attorneys will again be involved in this national election - especially here in Ohio.

Anyway, the video post above is just my public service announcement for all my Doctor Anonymous readers and listeners. Again this year, I chose to vote via absentee ballot. According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, I will be one of over 200,000 people who will cast votes early in Northeastern Ohio. So, don't forget to vote on November 4th!

Prez Health Care Policy Analysis

With 9 days left until the election, I'm actually starting to see articles that actually analyze the proposed policies of each of the presidential candidates. Imagine that? How about having an election based on differentiation of policy as opposed to personalities, or hype, or personal attacks, or anything else that you can think of.

Anyway, in today's Wall Street Journal online, the following is an excerpt from an article entitled, "Obama vs McCain: It's All About Your Money." In this article, there is analysis of policy issues like economic relief, income taxes, social security. Something this blog is interested in is the issue of health care. Here is that section below:

Sen. Obama proposes income-related subsidies for health insurance through a new national exchange, along with expanded access to Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program, and mandatory care for children. He would require employers that don't offer health coverage to contribute a percentage of payroll toward the national plan, with small businesses being exempt (and eligible for refundable tax credits on 50% of premiums).

Under this plan, premium payments for families would fall by about $185 and direct payments for health services by $253. The Lewin Group projects the Obama plan would reduce the number of uninsured by 26.6 million people in 2010, from 48.9 million.

Sen. McCain wants to replace the current income-tax exemption for health-insurance premiums paid by employers with a refundable tax credit of $5,000 per family ($2,500 for individuals). Any unused credit could be deposited into a Health Savings Account. His Guaranteed Access Plan (GAP) would allow people denied coverage to obtain insurance through state-run high-risk pools administered by private insurers, according to a report issued by the Joint Center for Political Economic Studies. Sen. McCain wants to allow people to purchase insurance across state lines, which could reduce the effectiveness of state regulations.

Under this plan, premium payments for families would increase by about $379 and direct payments for health services by about $105. "This would be more than offset by a net increase in tax subsidies of $1,570" and wage gains resulting from employer savings, the Lewin Group says. The Lewin Group projects that the McCain plan would reduce the number of uninsured by 21.1 million people.

The entire article is very good and I recommend it. However, in the specific area of health care, either candidate does not fully disclose how they will fully pay for their plan. We know that Congress approved at least $700 billion is going to banks and investment firms. 

But, what about health care, and I'm not talking about insurance companies, attorneys, and other people who don't work on the front lines of medicine. What about the docs? Oh yeah, both campaigns accusing the other side for proposing future medicare cuts. Yeesh, I should have studied to be a banking CEO....