An interesting article came out in the British popular press last week that states some chronic low-back pain can be cured by antibiotics. The writing is fairly clear that only certain cases would benefit from this approach and it includes links to the two scientific abstracts the article is based on: ...

Last week I described being warned not to make trouble by reporting the nurses watching the baby camera while at work. I've been thinking about that. Why would I be the troublemaker for reporting someone else doing something wrong? Shouldn't it be the other way around? You would think the person bringing it to attention would be thanked. I ...

I've spoken to patients from many countries and places around the globe. Sometimes it's like watching the movie Billy Elliot or trying to understand the lyrics of South African rap-rave crew Die Antwoord. I'm aghast, did they just curse? I wouldn't know because they speak so fast my mind can't keep up. It sounded like a curse word but there was an ...

Where is the objective data regarding gait distances in hospitals, rehab centers and SNFs? What I mean is, when we write down a patient used a FWW and walked 100 feet, where is the data to prove the distance was exactly 100 feet? Did someone measure the distance and quantify the data and calibrate the measuring device to ensure its accuracy? Maybe ...

We often see patients three to five days post-operatively in a SNF. The ortho docs, who send the patients to the facility, expect certain outcomes while the insurance companies have outcomes and agendas of their own. This creates some difficulty in managing the patient from a therapy standpoint. Most surgeons are somewhat familiar with what we ...

The patient I was supposed to see was in a RUG level that paid very well. He had some complications that prevented him from participating to get the full minutes for several days. On the patient's assessment day, I spoke to the nurse in charge of his care and she advised me not to see him that day due to a change in status, with a decline in ...

Last week I got to experience being a consumer in the US health system again. What fun!... not. I have a relative who was an emergent inpatient in a hospital in the southern part of the country. I traveled down to assist my relative at home and be present for the discharge. It's easy to see how discharges are one of the most risky parts of the ...

I worked in a clinic that reused TENS pads. Cross-contamination anyone? I understood the financial aspect of it; the pads were expensive. But to jeopardize patients and expose them unnecessarily to a potential infection didn't seem worth it. Didn't a dentist recently get in trouble for not completely sterilizing equipment? I wonder what ...

New York state has made remarkable changes to the way it's administering Medicaid. The Medicaid Redesign Team has enacted changes that will completely alter the current practices and expectations of both providers and patients. As of May 1, all long-term home health programs will cease to exist and patients must enroll in a managed long-term ...

Anyone who reads my blog with regularity knows the last year has been a struggle for me. I lost my beloved job. I was fired for being ethical. I encountered more than my share of unethical and self-serving people. During all of that, I hung on and kept going to work. Every so often I made a difference to someone, which kept me going. For the ...