Is it surprising to know that for over ten years the US Preventative Task Force Service has stated that there is no evidence for annual screening physical exams! This is reiterated in a recent story in the Archives of Internal Medicine that states that there is no evidence that annual routine physical exams prevent or detect treatable disease. Despite the evidence for “lack of evidence”, most (65%) of physicians surveyed stated that annual exams (asymptomatic patients) are necessary. Fifty-five percent disagreed with statements from national organizations that do not recommend annual physicals. Is it because annual exams give opportunities for lifestyle counseling, and building relationships with patients? Maybe. Funny, even though everyone is all about EBM that even physicians can stare it right in the face and go against it!

All the Fool knows is that he’s not running off to the doc this year! =)

Wouldn’t it be interesting if as a physician, it was your job to protect the public interest? For example, if you saw an obese guy at McDonalds eating a Big Mac, you could yell:”Drop it, Fatso! then grab his sandwich, fries, and coke and replace them with a salad. Everywhere you turn, ordinary citizens would be violating the health law, which MDs and DOs would be obligated to promote. It would turn fast food into a contraband, exisiting only in special crack-house like settings where people would crowd into dark places to chow down on fried foods. There would be food detectives breaking down doors with their MD SWAT teams screaming “FREEZE. DROP the BURGER and put your hands on your head!!” It would be an interesting form of taking public health to the next level!

-Fool

Love that Arby’s Roast Beef Sandwich! Minnesota based MinuteClinic which has opened 22 clinics at Target, Club Foods, CVS stores in Minnesota and Maryland have now hired ex-president and CEO of Arby’s. MinuteClinic offers checkups without appointments where patients are seen by nurse practitioners. I wonder if we’ll see “Jack” from the Jack in the Box commercials staffing ERs soon!

That’s right folks! Warehouse giant Costco is entering the Healthcare Market! This month, in Southern California, Costco will begin offering two PPOs to Executive members in Los Angeles and Orange County. If the program does well, it may spread to the entire state of California! Can you believe it? Get your free samples, $1.50 hot dogs, and a doctor’s visit wrapped up in one!

The plans will be run by PacifiCare, and according to Costco, can save 5-20% off similar plans. We’ll have to see how this pans out!
-Fool

The American Hospital Association releases a study yesterday new Study that states that patients in the most “wired” hospitals had better survival rates than those without. Is that a direct coorelation? No one knows. However, it is interesting that 9 of about 900 or so patients at a VA hospital, one of the most wired hospitals in the study actually DIED from medication errors, that are supposed to be prevented by such systems. This new study cites a 7.2% lower rate of mortality in “wired” institutions. Next time, I plan to be admitted in Silicon Valley!

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