Month: February 2015

IBS is no BS

Millions of people are diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) every year making it one of the most common gastrointestinal (GI) conditions. Despite its prevalence, there remain many misconceptions about IBS among both patients and doctors. Here we review some basic concepts in hopes of demystifying this nebulous syndrome. What is IBS? Irritable bowel syndrome […]

The bloated state of health care today

You should know that medical documentation has gone awry. But you really just have no idea. If you’ve been to the hospital or to the doctor’s office even once this year, I’m willing to bet that at least a portion of your medical information is now found somewhere within an electronic medical record (EMR). An EMR is really just […]

Taking care of patients who stop caring about themselves

It’s been a long day, and you just want to decompress. My boyfriend tells me about his day. I get to hear about the insane amount of reading he has to do for graduate school, or about the occasional annoying customer he’s had to deal with at his part-time job as a bank teller. When […]

The documentation solution your patients want you to adopt

Remember the Latin phrase “Primum non nocere”? It means “First, do no harm.” Most of us physicians committed to it when reciting the Hippocratic Oath, back when we were first embarking on our careers in medicine. Sadly, today’s technology threatens this sacred physician-patient relationship. Electronic health records (EHRs), although much-needed, have created perverse, unintended consequences […]