More articles from Commentary
- Short and sweet: Writing better consult notes in the era of the electronic medical record
Avoid repeating everything already in the record, but include your reasoning and teaching points.
- Diabetes management: More than just cardiovascular risk?
Inadequate glycemic control remains the leading cause of blindness, kidney failure, and nontraumatic lower-limb amputation.
- To improve our patients’ health, look beyond reducing readmissions
Focusing on the readmission rate diverts attention from more proactive ways to improve safety, quality, and value.
- Better care is the best defense: High-value clinical practice vs defensive medicine
Viewing every patient as a potential lawsuit is bad for patients, practice, and the health care system.
- Patent foramen ovale and the risk of cryptogenic stroke
There is no longer any doubt that patent foramen ovale can be the culprit in stroke, and closure is safe and effective.
- Changes to practice may help avoid ‘double trouble’
When draining large effusions, take precautions to prevent pneumothorax and reexpansion pulmonary edema.
- Niacin’s effect on cardiovascular risk: Have we finally learned our lesson?
For now, the renaissance of niacin as a means of lowering cardiovascular risk is only wishful thinking.
New cholesterol guidelines: Worth the wait?An appraisal of the controversial new guidelines, with case scenarios illustrating their advantages and shortcomings.
- The conundrum of explaining breast density to patients
Several states have mandated that, after mammography, patients be informed if their breasts are dense. Explaining what this means is a challenge.
- The overdiagnosis of pneumonia
We are hospitalizing more patients with “pneumonia,” but it has not improved outcomes.