Medicine and health care are classified into various categories based on different specifying criteria. One of the classifications is a distinction on the basis of preventative and curative care: primary, secondary and tertiary cares. Primary care occurs when lifestyle modification behaviors are taught and encouraged in order to maintain a state of good health before disease occurs. Secondary care is provided after a disease has occurred, with a view to prevent progression into a disability. Tertiary prevention occurs after a disability has occurred, to improve function through rehabilitation. Read more →

Pastors and church staff members answer a call to take care of the rest of us. They often sacrifice personal time and possessions to support their congregations. But now, the congregations are not returning the favor.

A recent survey conducted by the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) reported that many pastors and church staffers are among the growing number of uninsured or underinsured Americans. A majority of pastors reported receiving little or no help from their national denominations in obtaining health insurance coverage. Read more →

Anyone who has tried to visit a primary care physician lately likely knows first hand that there is a shortage of general practice physicians in the United States. Primary care physicians provide half of the health care obtained in the outpatient setting, but over the past several decades, career interest in internal medicine, particularly general internal medicine — the specialty primarily responsible for providing care to adults — has declined among medical students.

A recent issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association published a study examining the factors that influence medical students’ choices in choosing a medical specialty, particularly internal medicine. Read more →

It goes something like this… “Patient seen for initial physical therapy evaluation on Aug 7th 2008. Patient is a 65-year old male, who sustained a CVA on June 26th 2008. Patient was accompanied to the ER when complaints of…”. Documentation, commonly referred to as “notes” is often the bane of the rehabilitation professionals work day. It is common to hear therapists and nurses and physicians mention how much they enjoy interacting with their patients and treating them; but they often have less positive things to say about the documentation process. Read more →

Sometimes we forget that doctors are just like everyday people. They have families, they are members of parent/teacher organizations (PTOs), they help their children with school projects and homework, and they, in many cases, are still repaying school loans. You name it, and yes, the doctor has probably experienced it. So too is the case with sickness. Doctors do get ill, and are seen in the local office, emergency room, and hospitals.

One of the first decisions the doctor-patient must make is whether to reveal that he or she is a physician to the healthcare personnel. This decision is not taken lightly, because the doctor, by admitting he/she is a physician, might inadvertently alter the potential physician-patient relationship. Read more →

Our series on Medicine and Law is starting to wind down. We’ve covered lots of topics including contract and consent, malpractice, causation, informed consent, and abandonment. Now we will talk about third-party liability.

Third party liability means exactly what it says — that a different party other than the physician or the patient hold liability for an outcome. The most common form of third party liability in the medical profession is when a patient is denied coverage by the insurance company for a recommended procedure. I’m sure many of you have seen the Matt Damon movie where he plays a lawyer and represents a patient with cancer whose insurance company repeatedly denied a bone marrow transplant. That movie summarizes the main issues with third party liability. Read more →