Skin & Allergy News articles from August 2003

Skin & Allergy News archives from August 2003

NPF presses payers to cover biologics: perception of psoriasis is a problem.(News)
August 1, 2003... The insurance industry has been getting an earful from the National Psoriasis Foundation and dermatologists who want to see more extensive and consistent coverage of new biologic treatments for psoriasis. The National Psoriasis Foundation...

Case of the month.
August 1, 2003... A 64-year-old man had a stellate pit on the dorsal tip of his nose that measured less than 5 mm in diameter. The patient had a history of three lesions diagnosed as basal cell carcinoma, and a history of tobacco use. What's your diagnosis? ...

Etanercept up for FDA review to treat psoriasis: it could be the first anti-TNF biologic to earn agency approval for psoriasis: process can take up to 1 year.(News)
August 1, 2003... The list of approved biologic options to treat psoriasis may continue to grow, now that etanercept is under review by the Food and Drug Administration as a treatment for moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. Last month, Amgen and its...

Feds ease into enforcing HIPAA's privacy rules: compliance update: but 'informal persuasion' may not last.(News)
August 1, 2003... SAN ANTONIO -- After 3 months of required compliance for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, it appears that physicians are erring on the side of caution, while the government continues to err on the side of gentle...

Smallpox reappears in latest red book: first time since 1977.(News; American Academy of Pediatrics Red Book)(Book Review)
August 1, 2003... The newest edition of the American Academy of Pediatrics Red Book will have a chapter on smallpox for the first time since 1977, Dr. Julia A. McMillan announced at a meeting on pediatric trends sponsored by Johns Hopkins University in...

Vital signs.(News)
August 1, 2003... Percent Change in Private Health Care Spending Stabilizes Source: Center for Studying Health System Change [GRAPHICS OMITTED]

AMA rethinks priorities amid membership woes: organizational structure unchanged.(News)(American Medical Association)
August 1, 2003... CHICAGO -- With a reorganization plan on the cutting room floor, the American Medical Association may need to refocus on its priorities in order to boost ailing membership rolls. A special committee charged with reviewing the AMA's...

Medicare funding for office procedures.(AMA Briefs)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... The House of Delegates voted to work with Congress and the Department of Health and Human Services to transfer practice expense funding from Medicare Part A to physicians' offices so doctors can be reimbursed for practice expenses associated...

Medicare deductibles and copayments.(AMA Briefs)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... The AMA will seek federal legislation to require secondary insurers to pay Medicare deductibles and copayments, regardless of how much Medicare pays for the service. Short of that, the delegates voted to urge insurance companies to make such...

Clinical skills exam.(AMA Briefs)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... The House emphasized their opposition to the Clinical Skills Assessment Exam. More than 4 dozen delegates spoke against the exam's cost to medical students, cited a lack of evidence of the exam's effectiveness, and advocated letting medical...

Resident duty hours.(AMA Briefs)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... The House voted to encourage the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education to vigorously enforce 'its standards on resident work hours. Several residents and directors of residency programs spoke in favor of the reduced work hours,...

Boutique medicine.(AMA Briefs)(paying extra for personalized medical care)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... The House expressed concern about retainer fees to physicians. "The standard of care cannot depend on the patient's ability to pay," said Dr. Robert Sade, a member of the AMA's Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs that presented the report....

Graphic tobacco warnings.(AMA Briefs)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... The House of Delegates voted to support legislation to change warnings on tobacco products. The changes would include increasing the size of warnings to as large as half of the front of the package, printing color photographs of such images as...

House staff self-governance.(AMA Briefs)(improving labor relations)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... The delegates voted nearly unanimously to support the medical staffs of hospitals in California and Ohio in their fights against hospital administrators' efforts to rewrite medical staff bylaws, take over the medical staff dues account, nullify...

Confronting obesity.(AMA Briefs)(National Obesity Awareness Month)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Urged on by U.S. Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Julie L. Gerberding, the delegates voted to take steps to raise public awareness of the health risks of obesity and promote...

ACIP: smallpox vaccination expansion 'unwise': myocarditis/pericarditis cases cited.(News)
August 1, 2003... ATLANTA -- The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has advised the federal government not to expand the current pre-event smallpox vaccination recommendations. The decision, made...

FDA accuses Botox maker of false advertising: allergan admonished.(News)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... The Food and Drug Administration rebuked Botox Cosmetic manufacturer Allergan for three print advertisements that the federal regulator called "false and/or misleading," and the FDA demanded an end to the ads. The FDA issued a warning...

CTCL cases in children could be on the rise: registry considered.(News)
August 1, 2003... SEATTLE -- Some pediatric dermatologists believe they are seeing greatly increased numbers of children with cutaneous T-cell lymphomas, but exactly why remains a mystery. Prompted by those reports, physicians at the annual meeting of the...

CDC director: frontline physicians are key to controlling epidemics: crisis mobilization discussed.(News)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... CHICACO -- The American health care system is learning how to prepare for disasters the hard way, and the first lesson has been that frontline clinicians play a key role in identifying and working to control epidemics, Dr. Julie L. Gerberding,...

FDA acts to speed approval of generic drugs: AMA applauds action.(News)
August 1, 2003... Starting in August, drug companies will no longer be able to use regulatory challenges to prevent generics from entering the market and competing with their products when patents expire, according to the Food and Drug Administration. In a...

Folliculitis common after smallfox vaccination: a cause for concern.(News)
August 1, 2003... Folliculitis is a common and benign eruption that should be added to the list of possible cutaneous complications following administration,of smallpox vaccine, reported Dr. Thomas R. Talbot of Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville,...

Serum skin test definitive for chronic, autoimmune urticaria: differential DX.(News)
August 1, 2003... STEVENSON, WASH. -- An autologous serum skin test is the most practical way to diagnose the 50% of patients with chronic urticaria who have autoimmune disease, Dr. Leonard C. Altman said at the annual meeting of the Pacific Northwest...

Lessee, go home!(Under My Skin)
August 1, 2003... The laser salesman glowed. "Three laser treatments a week and you break even!" he said. Having hooked his fish, he turned to a slicked-down man nearby. "This is Tad from Usurio Leasing," he said. "Tad'll take care of you." Tad grinned. ...

Should rapid HIV testing be available over the counter?(Pro & Con)
August 1, 2003... YES If the goal of medicine is patient empowerment, why not allow patients the opportunity to go to a pharmacy, buy a rapid HW test, and test themselves in the privacy of their own homes? The link to medical care in our current system...

Physicians deny depression.(Guest Editorial)
August 1, 2003... Physicians are not immune to depression and suicidal ideation. Yet we often deny our vulnerability to the same illnesses that we treat in our patients, and further deny that getting help for depression will, in fact, fix the problem. It is...

Redefining efficacy in chronic plaque psoriasis.(Practice considerations in biodermatology #1)
August 1, 2003... Evaluating psoriasis assessment tools Since its introduction, the Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI) has become one of the accepted standards for measuring psoriasis severity and treatment response in clinical trials. (1) A patient's...

Education before economics.(Letters)
August 1, 2003... Dr. Lawrence G. Smith appears to admit that limitations of resident work hours are necessary. He also "strongly oppose[s] micromanagement" of work hours ("Limiting Resident Work Hours," Guest Editorial, June 2003, p. 9). His objection was...

Powered phlebectomy adds to surgical choices: study of 141 patients.(Dermatologic Surgery)
August 1, 2003... CHICAGO -- A new surgical technique that uses transillumination and powered phlebectomy is comparable with conventional varicose vein surgery, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Vascular Surgery and the...

Foams, glycerin shown effective in treating sclerotherapy: misquoted in consumer press.(Dermatologic Surgery)
August 1, 2003... PHOENIX, ARIZ. -- A standard sclerosing agent such as STS that's combined with air and shaken to create a foam is "the newest advance in sclerotherapy," Dr. Mitchel R Goldman reported at a meeting sponsored by the Skin Disease Education...

Value of sentinel node biopsy remains unclear: melanoma staging tool.(Dermatologic Surgery)
August 1, 2003... SEVILLE, SPAIN -- Sentinel lymph node biopsy remains a controversial staging method for patients with melanoma. Data show that patients with one or more sentinel lymph nodes that contain metastases have a worse prognosis, compared with...

An ocean divides strategies for melanoma follow-up: U.S. and European experts don't agree.(Dermatologic Surgery)
August 1, 2003... SEVILLE, SPAIN -- The best way to follow patients who have been diagnosed with stage III melanoma is controversial, which helps fuel the debate on the value of sentinel lymph node biopsy. Some experts, especially in Europe, call for an...

Biologics the rage, but don't Shun PUVA, UVB: consider costs.(Dermatologic Surgery)
August 1, 2003... NEW YORK -- The biologics "Brat Pack" may be hogging the spotlight in psoriasis therapy lately, but there's still room on stage for an experienced performer like phototherapy, insisted Dr. John Koo at the Ninth International Psoriasis...

New device allows noninvasive BCC assessment: optical coherence tomography.(Dermatologic Surgery)
August 1, 2003... SEVILLE, SPAIN -- Optical coherence tomography may become the tool for painless skin cancer biopsies. That goal is still way down the road, but preliminary images suggest that optical coherence tomography (OCT) has the potential to...

Confocal microscopy reveals tumor vascularity: small pilot study.(Dermatologic Surgery)
August 1, 2003... OTTAWA -- Confocal scanning laser microscopy may aid in establishing the prognosis of cutaneous melanomas by showing the in vivo vascularity of pigmented lesions, according to a poster presented at the annual meeting of the Canadian Dermatology...

Cosmetic Tx gives acne, rosacea patients a boost: important psychologically.(Dermatologic Surgery)
August 1, 2003... SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. -- Acne and rosacea patients often appreciate and benefit from less-invasive cosmetic procedures such as a light chemical peel or intense pulsed light treatment, Dr. Diane Berson said at a clinical dermatology conference. ...

Tattoo removal program helps remove gang past: volunteer physicians.(Dermatologic Surgery)
August 1, 2003... The 28-year-old man was tired of keeping his secret from his three young daughters. Three-inch-high letters tattooed on his back spelled out "Brown Pride." Because he did not want his children exposed to his gang past, he had never taken his...

Flashlamp-pumped pulsed dye laser best for port wine stains: prospective study.(Dermatologic Surgery)
August 1, 2003... Despite the development of newer laser devices, the flashlamp-pumped pulsed dye laser may still be the preferred method for treating patients with port wine stains--particularly children, reported Dr. Susanne Lorenz and her colleagues at the...

Probiotics may help prevent atopic eczema in children: 4-year follow-up.(Dermatologic Theraphy)
August 1, 2003... The protective effects of perinatal probiotics extend to age 4 years in children at risk for atopic eczema, said Dr. Marko Kalliomaki of the University of Turku (Finland) and associates. Probiotics provide beneficial microorganisms that...

Treating kids? Use topical calcineurin inhibitor with topical corticosteroid: for itching and burning.(Dermatologic Theraphy)
August 1, 2003... STEVENSON, WASH. -- The topical calcineurin inhibitors tacrolimus and pimecrolimus have greatly improved the treatment of inflammatory skin disorders in children, but about 15%-20% of patients will experience burning or increased itching with...

DNA-based ointment may help ease atopic dermatitis: Gene Therapy.(Dermatologic Theraphy)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... WASHINGTON -- Researchers in Japan have developed an ointment that appears to provide hope for patients suffering from severe atopic dermatitis, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Gene Therapy. ...

Experts examine hype, hope of psoriasis biologics: promises and pitfalls.(Dermatologic Theraphy)
August 1, 2003... NEW YORK -- Collectively hailed as the biggest breakthrough for psoriasis therapy in decades, infliximab, etanercept, alefacept, and the other "targeted biologics" seem poised to revolutionize how dermatologists treat moderate to severe...

Prempro 0.3/1.5 (conjugated estrogens/medroxyprogesterone acetate, Wyeth).(New & Approved)
August 1, 2003... A low-dose formulation of this combination for the treatment of moderate to severe menopausal symptoms and the prevention of postmenopausal osteoporosis. The second low-dose formulation of this combination approved. * Recommended Dosage:...

Cardiac Airbag ICD (implantable cardioverter defibrillator, Biotronik).(New & Approved)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... An implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) for treating ventricular tachyarrhythmias. Simpler, less costly, and easier to program than other ICDs. * Special Considerations: Costs about $10,000, about half the cost of standard ICDs....

Drop in antimicrobial prescriptions driven by office-based physicians: use soars in outpatient setting.(Dermatologic Theraphy)
August 1, 2003... BETHESDA, MD. -- Antimicrobial prescriptions for ambulatory patients have declined steadily in the last decade, a trend driven largely by a striking decrease in prescribing by office-based physicians, Linda E McCaig reported at an annual...

Lifestyle, cosmetics integral to acne, rosacea Tx: not just medical treatment.(Dermatologic Theraphy)(skin care tips)
August 1, 2003... SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. -- If you're not counseling your acne and rosacea patients about lifestyle and diet, skin care, and cosmetics, you're not giving them the care you could--especially since many of these patients tend to have sensitive skin, Dr....

Mumps, Candida antigen injections may work for warts: in children and adolescents.(Dermatologic Theraphy)
August 1, 2003... A recently developed therapy that takes advantage of the high rate of immunity to mumps and Candida in the general population may be an effective treatment for nongenital warts in children. In this approach to immunotherapy, mumps or...

Cosmeceutical critique: ginger.(Dermatologic Therapy)
August 1, 2003... Ginger has been used as a medicinal herb for more than 5,000 years. The word is derived from the Sanskrit "sringavero," meaning "horn-shaped," which alludes to the knobby protuberances of ginger's rhizomes or roots. It is the root that is used...

Cosmeceutical antioxidants not ready for recommendation: no real aging data.(Dermatologic Theraphy)
August 1, 2003... SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. -- Cosmeceutical antioxidants have not yet been researched well enough for dermatologists to begin recommending them for patients unequivocally, Dr. Alyson Penstein said at a clinical dermatology conference. Therefore,...

Several routes to autoimmune urticaria therapy: some off-label uses.(Dermatologic Theraphy)
August 1, 2003... STEVENSON, WASH. -- Patients with chronic autoimmune urticaria respond to a variety of antihistamines and immunosuppressants, said Dr. Leonard C. Altman at the annual meeting of the Pacific Northwest Dermatological Society, but there are few...

Efavirenz vs. nevirapine for HIV trial inconclusive: head-to-head trial a draw.(Dermatoligic Theraphy)
August 1, 2003... BOSTON -- Call it a draw. Neither nevirapine nor efavirenz emerged victorious in a head-to-head comparison of the safety and efficacy of the two nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors in treatment-naive HIV-infected patients. The...

Patient postexposure prevention of HIV can be cost effective: pilot study.(Dermatologic Theraphy)
August 1, 2003... Interventions shortly after HIV exposure can be reasonably cost effective, Dr. James Kahn reported at a meeting on HIV management sponsored by the University of California, San Francisco. His cost-effectiveness analysis showed that the...

Be aggressive with posttransplant skin cancer: cancer risk greatly increased.(Dermatologic Theraphy)
August 1, 2003... STEVENSON, WASH. -- Immunosuppressive agents render individuals at greatly increased risk of skin cancer following organ transplants, and the best strategy with these patients involves aggressive prevention and treatment measures, said Dr....

Prasterone appears to be beneficial in lupus Tx: disease activity, bone density.(Dermatologic Theraphy)(treatment)
August 1, 2003... MANCHESTER, ENGLAND -- The addition of prasterone to standard drug therapy for women with active systemic lupus erythematosus significantly improved or at least stabilized disease activity in a randomized, double-blind study. Use of...

Genetics, not race, may explain drug response: pharmacogenomics.(Dermatologic Theraphy)
August 1, 2003... WASHINGTON -- Advances in pharmacogenomics will help physicians "use genetic information rather than a person's skin color" when make certain prescribing decisions, Julie A. Johnson, Pharm. D., predicted at the annual meeting of the American...

UV exposure at age 18 is only 23% of lifetime UV: target fair-skinned people for education.(Clinical Rounds)(light-skinned persons at greater risk for skin cancer)
August 1, 2003... The widely accepted belief that Americans get about 80% of their lifetime UV exposure by age 18 may be based on a misconception. Americans, in fact, receive only 23% of their lifetime exposure by that age, according to a study by Dianne E....

Presence of tumor-suppressing gene mutation may mean more nevi: 15-year familial follow-up.(Clinical Rounds)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... PHILADELPHIA -- A gene mutation may be to blame for familial susceptibility to developing nevi, Dr. Sancy Leachman said in a poster presented at the International Melanoma Research Congress. Results from the first documented long-term...

ABCD checklist may miss certain types of melanoma: criteria lack sensitivity.(Clinical Rounds)(asymmetry, border irregularity, color variability, and diameter)
August 1, 2003... OTTAWA -- Physicians may want to biopsy suspicious pigmented lesions when only some or none of the "ABCD" criteria for the detection of melanoma are present, Monika Winnicki said at the annual meeting of the Canadian Dermatology Association....

Radiation injury: what to look for, what to do: details of care.(Clinical Rounds)
August 1, 2003... ATLANTA -- Emergency departments should expect to see several kinds of radiation injury in the event of a nuclear accident or terrorism involving radiation, Dr. Neil Wald said at a conference sponsored by the American College of Occupational...

Triage radiation patients according to symptoms: rather than radiation dose.(Clincal Rounds)
August 1, 2003... ATLANTA -- An easy to follow flowchart that focuses on symptoms, rather than radiation dose, can allow even inexperienced responders to effectively triage victims of a radiation event, Dr. Michael Kuniak said at a conference sponsored by the...

Military guides to diagnosing, treating radiologic events.(Clinical Rounds)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... The Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute is beta testing a computer program, The Biodosimetry Assessment Tool (BAT), to equip health care providers with diagnostic information (clinical signs and symptoms and physical dosimetry) which...

Pubic hair shaving raises folliculitis risk: popular among adolescents.(Clinical Rounds)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... PHILADELPHIA -- The female fight against unwanted hair has descended to the pubic region: Many teens are now removing all of their pubic hair, increasing their risk of developing vulvar folliculitis. "Grooming of the pubic hair can now be...

Antibacterial cleaners don't promote drug resistance: survey of U.S., U.K. homes.(Clinical Rounds)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... BETHESDA, MD. -- The use of antibacterial cleaning products in the home doesn't appear to promote resistance to antibiotics, Eugene C. Cole, Dr.P.H., said in a poster presentation at the annual conference on antimicrobial resistance sponsored...

Literature abstracts: JournalToGo.(Digital Assistance)(Audiovisual Review)
August 1, 2003... Overview: JournalToGo is a free service that automatically downloads selected medical literature abstracts and health care news to handheld computers. Straightforward Web site configuration, bookmarking, and capability for export to memo pad...

FDA okays diagnostic test for West Nile virus: first rapid lab test.(Clincal Rounds )(Food and Drug Administration)
August 1, 2003... Federal health officials are hailing blood screening assays and the first rapid laboratory test for diagnosis of West Nile virus as major developments in the fight against the summer scourge, but they warn that early signs point to exacerbation...

Few exhibit classic Behcet's disease symptoms: common in countries along 'silk road'.(Clincal Rounds)
August 1, 2003... CHICAGO -- Clinical judgment is the key to diagnosing Behcet's disease, as many patients will not meet the well-established symptom criteria, Dr. Kenneth Calamia said at a meeting sponsored by the American College of Rheumatology. That's...

Repeat infections in kids? Think immune disorder: how many infections are too many?(Clinical Rounds)
August 1, 2003... CAMBRIDGE, MASS. -- Children who come down with more than six or eight acute infections per year should probably be worked up for an underlying immunodeficiency disorder, Dr. Peggy Weintrub said at a meeting on pediatric infectious diseases...

Maine health care plan could burden physicians: universal health care.(Practice Trends)
August 1, 2003... A universal health care plan that promises to cover Maine's uninsured in 5 years could bring added hassles to that state's physicians. They'll have to be more prudent about their medical records, disclosing charges to patients, and...

Candy in mailed surveys doesn't sweeten derms' response rate: personalized note more effective.(Practicak Trends)
August 1, 2003... MIAMI BEACH -- They may not be kids anymore, but dermatologists still don't take candy from strangers. Including candy in a survey mailed to several hundred dermatologists did not improve their response rate, according to a study presented...

Medical bills cited in 55% of U.S. bankruptcy cases: health care financing woes.(Practice Trends)
August 1, 2003... VANCOUVER, B.C. -- More than 1 million American adults each year face bankruptcy because of medical issues, according to estimates based on a new survey. Among all debtors filing for bankruptcy, 55% of those surveyed cited one or more...

Resident Match Day lawsuit raises anticompetition concern: fixed slots, fixed pay.(Practice Trends)
August 1, 2003... WILMINCTON, DEL. -- The Resident Match is fundamentally anticompetitive and represents an effort to depress the wages and opportunities of medical residents, according to a lawsuit filed by former and current residents. As the suit drags...

Medicare enrollment proposal called a burden: 12-page application deemed unnecessary.(Practice Trends)
August 1, 2003... Fearing additional burdens on their practices, physician groups are asking the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to withdraw its proposal on a new Medicare enrollment policy. The proposed enrollment form for physicians "contains 12...

Medicare not configured to handle disease management: test projects underway.(Practice Trends)
August 1, 2003... BALTIMORE -- Consider these thoughts: "Neither fee-for-service nor Medicare + Choice is adequately configured to provide services for chronically ill beneficiaries," and "the Medicare data system is set up to pay bills, not to manage care." ...

Physician supply higher in damage-cap states: medical malpractice.(Practice Trends)
August 1, 2003... The physician supply is 12% higher in states that impose limits on noneconomic damages than in those without caps, a study by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality said. In 2000, states with caps on average had 135 physicians per...

What's in a name?(Policy & Practice)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... The New York State Society of Dermatology last month became the New York State Society of Dermatology and Dermatologic Surgery, acknowledging the increased use of surgical procedures within the field. The group decided to position itself to...

Hairpiece funding.(Policy & Practice)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Missouri state government health insurance programs will soon be required to cover prostheses and scalp hair prostheses for children with alopecia areata or alopecia totalis, as a result of a law signed in June. The new requirement will affect...

Amnesteem claims.(Policy & Practice)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... The Food and Drug Administration warned Bertek Pharmaceuticals, which markets Amnesteem (isotretinoin), that it was making unsubstantiated claims on its Web site. In a June 18 letter to the company, the FDA identified statements on the Web site...

Biogen licenses proteins.(Policy & Practice)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... The biotechnology company Biogen has licensed the patent rights to fusion proteins called immunoadhesons from Genentech Inc. The licenses are nonexclusive and will apply to alefacept (Amevive), which is currently approved for moderate to severe...

Diversity in medical schools.(Policy & Practice)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... The Supreme Court's decision to endorse affirmative action in higher education will produce a more diverse physician workforce, the Association of American Medical Colleges said in its support of the ruling. The high court upheld the University...

Paperless health care.(Policy & Practice)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Two national initiatives may help remove paper from the practice of medicine. The Department of Health and Human Services has signed an agreement with the College of American Pathologists to license the college's standardized medical vocabulary...

Do the right thing.(Policy & Practice)
August 1, 2003... The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations is seeking comments from health care experts on a new "universal protocol" to eliminate wrong-site, wrong-procedure, and wrong-patient surgery. Its protocol creates a...

Vitamin D deficiency common among physicians in training: long-term risk to bone health.(Practice Trends)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... VANCOUVER, B.C. -- Medical residency: It's not just a job, it's an opportunity for poor skeletal health. House staff are at marked risk for vitamin D deficiency, particularly during the winter months, Dr. Elizabeth Haney reported at the...

'Gainsharing' ban called a wasted opportunity: may lead to quality improvement.(Practice Trends)
August 1, 2003... WILMINGTON, DEL. -- The current ban on physician "gainsharing" arrangements is stifling innovation in medical care, Richard Saver said at the annual meeting of the American Society of Law, Medicine, and Ethics. "The current ban on...

Expert offers advice on submitting manuscripts to journals: get used to criticism.(Practice Trends)
August 1, 2003... A few years ago, Dr. Barry Weiss sat down with a young family physician and critiqued his research manuscript. "I told him, 'This is a pretty good paper. What are your plans for it?'" recalls Dr. Weiss, professor of clinical family and...

Advice can help docs keep good office staff: stay competitive.(Practice Trends)
August 1, 2003... Working in a medical practice is stressful. The first step in making your office staff feel like they are part of a valued health care team is to acknowledge that stress, says Evelyn Eskin, president of HealthPower Associates Inc., a...