It is a beautiful spring Sunday afternoon. I got the “honey-do” list mostly done — as we all know it is never completely done — and began to work on an allergy advocacy project. As I sit at my desk, editing slide after slide I realized it is too nice to sit inside and be [...]
Browsing Posts in Allergy Conjunctivitis
Well today is the Spring equinox and the official first day of spring — and a balmy 45 degrees it is. One could also say this is the first official day of the spring allergy season — early trees are pollinating and folks are getting symptomatic. I thought now might be a good time to go over [...]
Over the past several years there has been great attention focused on health care practitioners and their hand washing – or lack there of. Recently, one institution has gone so far as to install cameras in their ICU and in real time monitor handwashing behavior. A little extreme but, I guess, if the staff is [...]
I came across this article (http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/27/in-medicine-falling-for-fake-innovation/?ref=health ) written by one of the faculty at UPenn. In this article he discusses how a new technology, the daVinci Surgical Robot system, while an innovative and cutting edge technology, has increased heatlhcare costs but does not seem to have a corresponding significant improvement in patient care or reduction [...]
I know I am not suppose to watch TV but I do. Let’s face it there are some pretty good shows on and well it is LAX season and I am a big LAX fan. So I watch tv. But I have to say that the advertisements on TV drive me nuts. One of my [...]
As we enter into pollen season, I thought it would be helpful to review some plant biology and give a very broad overview about pollen and the allergens that are produced in the spring. This information will be presented over the next several weeks in my blog. Pollen, a fine to course powder, contains the [...]
I was at a meeting the other day and was listening to a report about the performance of a hospital. All these metrics were being measured and we, the physicians, were being told about how good we were doing meeting the various metrics but there was still work to do. Now, one would [...]
“Allergy shots are forever” – This is not true. In general, allergy vaccine therapy is for about five years. At the end of five years, you and your allergists will sit down and discuss the pros and cons about continuing allergy shots. There are some patients who will continue allergy shots for a longer [...]
The other day a physician colleague of mine asked me a question about a patient. The patient, who had already been seen by another Allergist, was referred to another physician ( “the consultant”) for evaluation. The consultant was in the same healthcare system as my colleague but the Allergist was not. In evaluating the patient [...]
Over the past few months, there have been hearing increased conversations about the high cost of copays for office visits. It is not unusual to see co pays for office visits to be in the $40 – $50 range. This is certainly having an impact on patients seeking care. Patients are clearly not heeding the [...]
