March 2008 | Tell A Friend About Epocrates Pulse
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We Need to Talk! 
Clinicians do a lot of talking every day. This issue of the Epocrates newsletter focuses on ways to improve your communication with colleagues and patients. Our featured DocAlert messages below include a recent finding about the impact of a small word change in patient visits, and a guide to some of the latest medical terms you didn’t learn at school! Plus, two Epocrates members share their unique perspectives on communication in Your Voice. Epocrates products are designed to be used in a patient visit, and can enhance your patient communication and satisfaction. We especially recommend Epocrates® Online for patient education – the full-size screen makes it easy to review information with your patient, and you can print and email patient-friendly medication handouts.
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Asking "Is There Something Else?" Decreases Patients' Unmet Concerns Most patients have 3 concerns to address during a primary care visit, though typically they are asked to name one problem at the start of the visit. As a result, patients typically leave with a concern that was not addressed or even mentioned. The authors of this study sought to determine whether a simple wording change to the typical question, "Is there anything else you want to address in the visit today?" increases the identification of patients' concerns.
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Medical Slang: Neologisms in Modern Medicine Struggling to understand what your colleagues are saying? How many of these terms do you recognize? Hasselhoff (injury with a bizarre explanation), 404 moment (inability to locate patient information), Ringo (expendable member of a team), gerifix (combination broad spectrum antibiotics, thiazides, and nebulised bronchodilators administered to elderly patient in ER), testiculation (concatenation of testicle and gesticulate), disco biscuits (ecstasy, MDMA).
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Download messages like these when you AutoUpdate (sync) your handheld application. Learn More "I have quoted DocAlert articles to coworkers and patients alike to apprise them of new treatment or research information." Christopher D. Matthews, NREMT-Paramedic |
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Genetic Test Information With the completion of the Human Genome Project, genetic testing is poised to become a component of routine practice. Epocrates Lab now includes over 50 genetic tests including information on use of BRCA testing along with guidelines to interpret CYPC29 and VKORC1 genotypes. We will continue to expand genetic testing information in Lab. Don't have Epocrates Lab? Upgrade now to Epocrates® Essentials or Epocrates® Essentials Deluxe. Reminder: Medicare Identifier In case you missed our recent DocAlert message, the CMS would like to remind Epocrates members that as of March 1, all Medicare claims require a National Provider Identifier (NPI) in the primary provider field.
Group Discounts for All Students and Residents Be prepared for your clinical rotations with Epocrates premium applications. You'll find instant answers to questions about diagnosis, treatment, medical terms, and so much more! We offer a 35% discount for individual students and residents, and for a limited time, groups of 5 or more can save up to 40%! To start saving today, contact groupsales@epocrates.com or call 866-559-3053 (toll-free). Upcoming Meetings — Meet the Epocrates Team! American College of Cardiology — 57th Annual Scientific Session — March 29-April 1 in Chicago, IL Updates at a Glance
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Stay In Touch with Your Handheld Device! Like you, at Epocrates we are always busy and on the move. So we make the most of our handheld devices to keep in touch with colleagues, friends, and loved ones. A couple of our favorite handheld applications include Yahoo! Go and Skype. With Yahoo! Go, you can have Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Sports, Yahoo! Weather and much more in the palm of your hand. Besides staying current with events, keep your friends and family up to date by having your Yahoo email delivered to your handheld, as well as the ability to share your photos with anyone around the world. Yahoo! Go is available for most Palm OS, Windows OS, and BlackBerry devices. For more compatibility information and to download Yahoo! Go, please visit the Yahoo! Mobile Services Page. If you prefer chat, you may want to look into Yahoo! Messenger Mobile to instant message. For chat plus special phone services, IM+ for Skype and Skype Mobile may be your solution. IM+ for Skype allows you to have voice and chat communication with other Skype users, and to make international calls with low Skype rates. Troubleshooting
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Monastic Medicine I am probably the ONLY nurse you have ever had that uses Epocrates in a monastery! You see, I am an Infirmarian, which is a layperson, well educated with a degree in Nursing, who has been given charge by our Abbot for the care of all the monks that reside in the Monastery. It’s the most interesting job in the entire world! To get information from some of the older monks is like pulling teeth. I honestly have to pin them down and ask or hear it through the grapevine. It’s not surprising when you consider that until 20 years ago, women were not allowed into the monastery! The younger monks, however, run to me with everything and are very open. I would be completely lost without Epocrates. I use it every day. Monks know nothing when it comes to the medical field, and Epocrates Essentials Deluxe gives me the tools I need to explain everything they need to know about their prescriptions, health problems, and lab results. You cannot get this information anywhere else in one place (believe me I've tried) and have it in your pocket on your handheld! — Susan Jeffers, RN, Infirmarian, Belmont Abbey Monastery What Are Your Clothes Saying? About 2 years ago, I sync’ed my Palm, and received a DocAlert about physician attire (I believe it was entitled “Do clothes make the physician?”). Well, that DocAlert inspired me to get started on a study I had been thinking about for a year. I enrolled 20 physicians in my OB/GYN department and had them dress in one of three attires: Business, Casual, and Scrub suit. Patients who met the physician for the first time filled out a questionnaire after the encounter that asked about competency, professionalism, and satisfaction, all without ever mentioning the doctor’s apparel. Interestingly, despite patients’ preferences for certain physician clothings (white coat, stethoscope) in prior studies, in our study, when patients were blinded to physician attire, there was no difference among the three garbs in any of the questions asked. The study was published in the February 2007 issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology and it was picked up by Reuters and subsequently appeared in many lay papers and online publications around the country. — Richard L. Fischer, MD This month we’d especially like to hear from members involved in environmental medicine or taking steps to make their medical practice green. All customers featured in the newsletter will receive a free subscription to Epocrates Essentials Deluxe.
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