In a rapidly evolving society, the need for effective communication methodologies has never been more critical. While we often emphasize shared decision-making and personalized communication with individuals, we must also recognize the vital role that effective health communication plays in shaping public health. In today’s age of social media, a 24-hour news cycle, micro-targeted messaging, and advances in… Read More »
Out of the numerous learnings from the pandemic, COVID has highlighted several issues within our social structures; one of the most significant findings is the discrepancies in vaccination rates among minorities. For many appropriate reasons, there is a great amount of mistrust. This behavior originates from historical occurrences leading to fatal outcomes. Another issue being that those that… Read More »
During the COVID pandemic, in-person visits were not recommended so telemedicine rapidly evolved into an ideal way of delivering care safely and expanding access while reducing exposure to pathogens to both patients and staff. And tremendous enthusiasm exists for the continuation of such a model. There is no doubt that there is a significant enhancement to access with… Read More »
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, preventive care services can save 100,000 lives a year. Daily, healthcare systems and providers focus on how to deliver primary prevention services best and how to ensure that the coordination of the payment model is providing such care. However, for optimal success to occur, we need to expand our… Read More »
With the first month of the New Year nearly behind us, and new transparency regulations becoming law, Healthcare faces increasing challenges when it comes to consumerism. Using such a framework is appropriate as the persons to whom we provide services of our “goods” do “consume” them; however, compared to consumers of other types of products it is not… Read More »
FROM THE ARCHIVES! I will be re-posting some previous posts from this year that I think are appropriate to share once again. I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Over the next few weeks, I will be sharing some previous posts that are relevant to the uncertain healthcare climate we are navigating right now… Read More »
When in conversations with others on complex topics, I am frequently perplexed when what they say seems so illogical to me and incongruent with scientific data. For instance, currently, in this pandemic, this occurrence could not be more befuddling. Throughout COVID, the amount of “anti-vaxxers,” “anti-maskers,” and those who genuinely believe this is a hoax, is frankly astounding.… Read More »
As we continue to improve and enhance our ability to foster shared decision making, the language we utilize to discuss treatments becomes important. Presently, we use the terms “risks” and benefits” in our conversations. However, risks are often unknown, and the benefits seem to be a given. And in actuality, neither statement is valid. When communicating risks, it… Read More »
A commonly held premise of shared decision-making is that the healthcare profession neither adequately gives specific treatment options nor discusses the trade-offs of surgical intervention. Predominantly, the thought is that if more in-depth conversations were to occur concerning the trade-offs, and there is more appropriate management of expectations, the chosen solution would be the more conservative approach. With… Read More »
Happy Holidays! Thank you for reading and engaging with me on The Positive Contrarian this year. Today I am sharing one of my previous posts that focuses on the value of hope, something we all could use a little more of during the season of giving. I look forward to posting new content beginning the week of January… Read More »