Last week was a big week. Many patients. Lots of bedside ultrasound. I've blogged on and on about my undying love for ultrasound at the bedside as a part of my physical exam. It keeps being powerful. It saves peoples' lives. It keeps me from making stupid mistakes. I am eternally grateful. This week it helped with the usual things--hearts and bellies and bladders and lumps and bumps. I was able to tell patients what was going well and not so well, in real time, and show them pictures. But ultrasound of the lung needs a little advertisement. Ultrasonographers and radiologists are terrific at imaging the internal organs, even those of tiny babies. Cardiologists and echocardiogram technicians are amazing in their ability to image the heart and describe its innermost workings. Although I leverage my ultrasound abilities by using my other exam and history taking skills, I do not have the extensive training in imaging that these people do. But in the US, only clinicians suc...
The cost of health care in the US is higher than anywhere else in the world, and yet we are not healthier than our peer nations. In fact, in terms of such measures as infant mortality and life span, we don't measure up. Why is this? Many people involved in providing or receiving care have some pretty good ideas about what costs so much, and what we can do to reduce costs and improve quality. Sharing these stories is an important step in creating affordable universal health care.