On the 8 Spot

Tell me about it. It seems that pareto principle is present in the number or time my parent spends on each patient.  80% of the patients take up only 20% of their time , whilst 20% of the patients consumes 80% of the time.

September 26, 2008, 1:50 pm

So That’s Why Doctors Don’t Use E-Mail

By Stephen J. Dubner

I’ve known several doctors who refused to read e-mail from patients. They said it was simply a bad use of their time.

I also used to have a doctor who hated it whenever you came in and asked questions about some article you’d read in The Times about Lyme disease or some such. He’d get a pained look on his face — here we go again; patients pretending to be doctors — and then ignore the question.

So Thats Why Doctors Dont Use E-Mail – Freakonomics – Opinion – New York Times Blog.

This reminds me I’m up for my quarterly blood chemistry for cholesterol, etc. Hope everything goes well.

One way was made clear yesterday, when, as a (temporary) citizen of Bonn, Germany, my wife received a letter saying she had been scheduled for a free mammogram at a particular time and place. With a preset appointment, no effort is required to arrange things; this arrangement would certainly not exist for most people at home.

Substituting the small cost of preventive care for the large costs of curative care for all citizens seems like a sensible way to contain medical costs under a universal health care system.

Maybe, as I think will happen, the U.S. will finally provide access to health care for all citizens; and it may be possible to do so without shifting still more resources into this sector.

Your Country Would Like to Treat You to a Doctors Appointment – Freakonomics – Opinion – New York Times Blog.