Physicians Practice - April 2008 - (Page 19)

WHAT WOULD YOU DO FOR HI-DEF? Remember the old television commercial where supposedly ordinary people were asked: “What would you do for a Klondike bar?” Well, a home electronics retailer in England thought it would be fun to ask what people would do (or, ahem, stop doing) for a 50-inch plasma TV. About half the male respondents said they’d give up sex for six months. Comet, the retailer, surveyed 2,000 Brits, asking them what they would give up for a large television, one of the latest consumer “must-haves.” While half of the men said they’d be celibate for six months, only about a third of women would do the same. And that’s not all: A quarter of respondents (of both sexes) said they’d quit smoking and the same proportion would give up chocolate. We suppose that means that in England, cigarettes and candy bars are more popular than sex. For the record, Comet’s cheapest 50-inch plasma was going for about $2,000 U.S. in early March. QUOTABLES “This suggests to me that we're overtreating a lot of people, and we're providing a lot of services that may not be very beneﬁcial.” —Rick Deyo, MD, coauthor of a JAMA report on the apparent futility of ever-increasing treatment for back pain, in Newsweek “When Indian folks drink, it appears to have nothing to do with how much money they have, and that's not true for any other racial group.” —Maile Taualii, scientiﬁc director of the Urban Indian Health Institute, on the group’s report on rising rates of alcoholism among Native Americans, quoted by the AP “I buy perfume, because I like the smell. If you enjoy the smell, that's one thing, but don't buy perfume because you expect to change your physiology or to really inﬂuence your health.” —Janice Kiecolt-Glaser, director of the Division of Health Psychology at The Ohio State University and lead author of a study largely debunking suspected health beneﬁts of “aromatherapy,” on Healthday.com HOOF-IN-MOUTH Medical student Mark Hoofnagle caused a minor stir among surgeons when he posted “observations” about them on his blog during his surgical rotation. The New York Times found them “interesting” and thus began a lengthy online debate. So, do you think his observations, some of which (as characterized by The Times) are posted below, have merit? •Surgeons always tuck in their scrubs. •Surgeons keep their stethoscopes in their pockets. If they wear a stethoscope, it is called a ﬂea collar, and they are invariably subjected to sarcastic comments. •Carrying anything other than a stethoscope, some gauze and a penlight will lead to “ferocious mockery” by colleagues. •Surgeons “don’t spend a lot of time worrying about diagnosing things. … It’s better to be more aggressive for many surgical problems and rapidly intervene rather than dither around.” •Surgeons have a maudlin sense of humor when it comes to their OR music: “Tonight ‘Cruel to Be Kind’ came on, and it was a little eerie.” Dr. Hoofnagle (who earned a PhD in physiology before enrolling in medical school) also offered an explanation for why surgeons chose their ﬁeld: “It is instantly gratifying and very rewarding to be able to just ﬁx something. You understand why they get a whiff of the superhuman about them.” WWW.PHYSICIANSPRACTICE.COM APRIL 2008 | PHYSICIANS PRACTICE | 19 http://Healthday.com http://WWW.PHYSICIANSPRACTICE.COM

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Physicians Practice - April 2008 Contents The Bigger Picture: Medicare Decision Time Letters Physicians Practice Pearls: Outsource Your Pain Noteworthy Cover Story: Trial Lawyers Tell All Management: When It’s Time to Change Ask the Experts Technology: Do You Know Where Your Data Is? The Tech Doctor: Are Your Discarded PCs Really Clean? Billing & Collections: Playing Hardball The Administrator's Desk: Recruiting for Patient Satisfaction Start It Up: Finance - Mastering the Numbers Game Coding The Great Practice Makeover: Taking Care of Business Associates Classifieds Advertiser Index

Physicians Practice - April 2008

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