Fidelity to the healing relationship: a medical student's challenge to contemporary bioethics and prescription for medical practice.

As a medical  student, I observed that different physicians had strikingly different attitudes and approaches when caring for patients. The care of one patient in particular continues to challenge my understanding of illness and moral responsibility in the practice of medicine. In this paper, I illustrate the care of this patient in order to evaluate the dominant ethics I was taught in medical school, in theory and in practice, and argue neither principlism nor the ethics of care fully captures the moral responsibility of physicians. Emphasising fidelity to the healing relationship, a core principle derived from Pellegrino's virtue theory, I conclude that this approach to clinical ethics fully explains physician responsibility. Pellegrino deconstructs the practice of medicine to clarify the moral event within the clinical encounter and offers a sufficiently useful and justified approach to patient care.

The Moral Agency of Physician Organizations: Meeting Obligations to Advocate for Patients and the Public.

The close of the American College of Physician's (ACP) centennial year is an opportune time to reflect on the organization's important role in professional development and advocating for sound health policy. Organized medicine provides a professional home where members can participate in scholarly activities and access guidance that will help them to be better doctors. Professional organizations also serve patients by improving physicians' knowledge and skill, being a public repository of health-related information, and advocating for improvement of public health. High-functioning medical professional organizations, such as ACP, also function intentionally as moral agents through well-designed efforts to advocate for patients and the public.

Clinic-based versus outsourced implementation of a diabetes health literacy intervention.

BACKGROUND: We compared two implementation approaches for a health literacy diabetes intervention designed for community health centers. METHODS: A quasi-experimental, clinic-randomized evaluation was conducted at six community health centers from rural, suburban, and urban locations in Missouri between August 2008 and January 2010. In all, 486 adult patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus participated. Clinics were set up to implement either: 1) a clinic-based approach that involved practice re-design to routinely provide brief diabetes education and counseling services, set action-plans, and perform follow-up without additional financial resources [CARVE-IN]; or 2) an outsourced approach where clinics referred patients to a telephone-based diabetes educator for the same services [CARVE-OUT]. The fidelity of each intervention was determined by the number of contacts with patients, self-report of services received, and patient satisfaction. Intervention effectiveness was investigated by assessing patient knowledge, self-efficacy, health behaviors, and clinical outcomes. RESULTS: Carve-out patients received on average 4.3 contacts (SD = 2.2) from the telephone-based diabetes educator versus 1.7 contacts (SD = 2.0) from the clinic nurse in the carve-in arm (p < 0.001). They were also more likely to recall setting action plans and rated the process more positively than carve-in patients (p < 0.001). Few differences in diabetes knowledge, self-efficacy, or health behaviors were found between the two approaches. However, clinical outcomes did vary in multivariable analyses; carve-out patients had a lower HbA1c (ß = -0.31, 95 % CI -0.56 to -0.06, p = 0.02), systolic blood pressure (ß = -3.65, 95 % CI -6.39 to -0.90, p = 0.01), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (ß = -7.96, 95 % CI -10.08 to -5.83, p < 0.001) at 6 months. CONCLUSION: An outsourced diabetes education and counseling approach for community health centers appears more feasible than clinic-based models. Patients receiving the carve-out strategy also demonstrated better clinical outcomes compared to those receiving the carve-in approach. Study limitations and unclear causal mechanisms explaining change in patient behavior suggest that further research is needed.

Content and style comparison of physician communication in teledermatology and in-person visits.

BACKGROUND: The body of research is rapidly growing regarding the use of telemedicine in patient care, including cost-effectiveness, patient access, patient outcomes, etc. Less has been done describing physician communication during different aspects of the clinical visit (i.e., education, assessment, treatment, etc.) during actual versus virtual patient visits. The purpose of this study was to evaluate dermatology healthcare providers' communication via both modalities with regard to content and style. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: In-person and teledermatology patient visits were observed, audio-recorded, and transcribed over an 8-month period. A content analysis was performed. RESULTS: The Wilcoxon rank sum test was used to compare the content differences between visit modalities for each category. A p value of 0.05 was considered as significant for all tests. There were no statistically significant differences between modalities in the average number of physician words in seven of eight communication categories: small talk, clinical assessment, psychosocial issues, patient education, patient compliance, patient treatment, and administrative issues (p value range, 0.16-0.91). As well, the same communication themes occurred in each modality to essentially the same degree. For instance, assessment and discussion of treatment occurred in 100% of in-person and teledermatology visits, as did small talk. CONCLUSIONS: This research indicates that physician providers communicate with similar style and content whether using teledermatology or in-person.

High prevalence of iatrogenic hyperthyroidism in elderly patients with atrial fibrillation in an anticoagulation clinic.

In elderly patients with established atrial fibrillation (AF) who are receiving thyroid replacement, regular testing for thyroid function is often not performed, placing the patient at risk for iatrogenic hyperthyroidism. Of 215 patients followed in an anticoagulation clinic, 41 were receiving thyroid replacement and 15 of these were found to have hyperthyroidism. Eight had documented AF coincident with abnormal thyroid function. In addition, only 22 patients on thyroid replacement had an annual TSH. In conclusion, iatrogenic hyperthyroidism may frequently be missed in AF patients because of inadequate monitoring of serum TSH. Thyroid replacement is common in elderly patients with AF followed in an anticoagulation clinic. Laboratory evidence of hyperthyroidism occurred in 37%, usually in patients with higher doses of thyroid replacement, and often associated with AF. The frequency of iatrogenic hyperthyroidism may be underestimated in patients with AF since many patients who receive thyroid replacement therapy are not monitored regularly with serum TSH.

Moral and prudential considerations in adopting electronic medical records.

One might argue that beneficence entails a moral obligation for health care providers and systems to adopt electronic medical records (EMR). But this argument is thwarted because EMR systems are currently not required to meet existing standards of care for health care services. Yet using EMR systems may still be prudent if benefits of adoption significantly outweigh burdens. Future moral questions regarding EMR systems will shift from obligations of adoption to that of proper use.

We meant no harm, yet we made a mistake; why not apologize for it? A student's view.

This essay explores the unique perspective of medical students regarding the ethical challenges of providing full disclosure to patients and their families when medical mistakes are made, especially when such mistakes lead to tragic outcomes. This narrative underscores core precepts of the healing profession, challenging the health care team to be open and truthful, even when doing so is uncomfortable. This account also reminds us that nonabandonment is an obligation that assumes accountability for one's actions in the healing relationship and that apologizing for mistakes can serve to heal. It argues that even medical students have an obligation to speak up when actions violate their moral beliefs, even if this means confronting a superior. Ethical principles cannot be abandoned in fear of adverse evaluation or failure to conform. Healthcare workers have an obligation to address mistakes made around the time of a patient's death with the patient's family. This responsibility trumps any selfish desire to avoid unpleasant feelings of guilt or regret. Such events often bring closure to already anguished relatives and spouses, and may help to facilitate the grieving process. This includes pressing forward the need to apologize to patients and/or their families when mistakes are made and when decisions are made that lead to poor outcomes for the patient, even when benevolently intended.

Achieving a high-performance health care system with universal access: what the United States can learn from other countries.

This position paper concerns improving health care in the United States. Unlike previous highly focused policy papers by the American College of Physicians, this article takes a comprehensive approach to improving access, quality, and efficiency of care. The first part describes health care in the United States. The second compares it with health care in other countries. The concluding section proposes lessons that the United States can learn from these countries and recommendations for achieving a high-performance health care system in the United States. The articles are based on a position paper developed by the American College of Physicians' Health and Public Policy Committee. This policy paper (not included in this article) also provides a detailed analysis of health care systems in 12 other industrialized countries. Although we can learn much from other health systems, the College recognizes that our political and social culture, demographics, and form of government will shape any solution for the United States. This caution notwithstanding, we have identified several approaches that have worked well for countries like ours and could probably be adapted to the unique circumstances in the United States.

Telehealth ethics.

The ethical implications of telehealth go well beyond providers' obligations to ensure privacy and confidentiality. The ethical conundrum of telehealth realizes the uniquely positive impact that telehealth can have on patients, providers, and clinical outcomes, as well as the potential for harm and abuse that may ensue. This article explores telehealth as one of many evolving information technologies that have ethical questions extending well beyond the confines of privacy and confidentiality. Providers and systems who utilize telehealth should also consider how it influences relationships with patients, access to healthcare, capacity for equitable treatment, cost, and quality of life. The ability to respond to these concerns will be important to the future development and deployment of this important technology as one means by which to improve access and quality of healthcare for all members of our society.

The application of remote monitoring to improve health outcomes to a rural area.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of remote monitoring home telehealth on client and provider satisfaction, clinical outcomes, and cost. The project design was a pragmatic evaluation of the technology in a real-world setting at an operational scale rather than a controlled clinical trial. Patients receiving monitoring were selected by the home health agency, and a random sample of other agency clients was selected for comparative purposes. Data were collected on additional costs and benefits associated with home telehealth monitoring. Quantitative and qualitative data suggest that when remote monitoring telehealth technology was utilized in the home-care setting, both clients and providers were very satisfied with services; they felt it was easy to communicate, and that the technology was convenient and user friendly. Clients also felt that home telehealth technology had a very positive impact on the provider-client relationship and improved care. The study also suggests that home care monitoring reduces hospitalizations and decreases personnel expenses. This preliminary study provides evidence as to the value of remote monitoring home telehealth in the delivery of services to home care populations. It also provides evidence as to the positive impact that this form of technology may have on healthcare systems, provider and client satisfaction, and on the relationships that form between providers and clients.

Incorporating telehealth into primary care resident outpatient training.

Research is yet to fully examine the utility and effectiveness of telehealth in primary care resident ambulatory training. This study examined the attitudes of preceptors, residents, and nurses on (1) the impact of telehealth on healthcare; (2) the impact of telehealth on the work activity of resident clinics; (3) the impact of telehealth on resident training in the outpatient setting; and (4) the impact of telehealth on relationships. There were three focus groups, one each of preceptors (N = 5), residents (N = 10), nurses (N = 7). Eight focus group themes evolved regarding the use of telehealth in the resident clinic: (1) impact on patient/provider relationships; (2) consistent with the values of those using telehealth; (3) logistics; (4) reduces patient transfers; (5) appropriate level of care; (6) reimbursement concerns; (7) psychological risk; and (8) impact on resident/attending relationships. Though as yet not generalizable, results of this pilot study suggest that there is general acceptability of telehealth in ambulatory resident training settings, but there is concern about the impact that telehealth may have on relationships, logistics, finances, and the need to see patients face-to-face when there is greater complexity.