"Effect of 6-month adherence to a very low carbohydrate diet program."

Carl Gandola has been working on a weblog with a group of physicians:   "For three weeks we put to good use the … weblog, as a place to post items related to our clinical rounds."  This is another good example of how we can use inexpensive off-the-shelf tools to communicate with each other.  I'm still trying to figure out how we can use the Radio multi-user weblog tool to create a shared weblog with shared "stories."  Seems that the "stories" function of Radio was built to be created by only one person … Hmm.

In today's e-mail from the AAFP:

Errors in primary care are likely to affect patients in similar ways in countries with similar primary health care systems, according to the first international patient safety study. The results of the study, coordinated by the AAFP's Robert Graham Center in Washington, show that for six countries with similar systems — the United States, Australia, Canada, England, the Netherlands and New Zealand — about 79 percent of the mistakes deal with"process" (including office administration, lab reports, medication, communication, payment and workforce management), while about 21 percent pertain to gaps in knowledge and skill on the part of physicians and others involved in providing care.

This is another call, I beleive, for enhanced emphasis on the use of information systems to enhance the essential components of patient care that we now understand are the most likely source for errors.  If the process works well, patients get good care and good service.

I didn't know that para-phenylenediamine was such a dangerous component of temporary tattoos.  For some reason, this made front-page news today.  But judging from the results of a quick Medline search, this is not new news.  We should counsel our pateints to avoid this stuff.

INDUSTRYWEEK:

One would be hard-pressed to find another industry even one-tenth as large that's so backward when it comes to the use of information technology.  
 
Despite the massive payoffs in efficiency and profits gained by other industries and the continuous improvements that make IT products and services more reliable and available, health-care professionals are still dragging their feet.  

Managed Care Daily Briefing is a well written weblog that doesn't look like a weblog.  This is the sort of informational site that is a good example of how weblogging tools can be used in the "mainstream media." 

A good review of the current HRT confusion:

Women who are currently taking continuous combined oestrogen-progestogen should not panic, as it is most unlikely to have caused considerable harm. Certainly the risk of breast cancer is not appreciably increased during the first four years, so women wishing to take this therapy for the short term relief of menopausal symptoms should be reassured. However, they need to discuss with their doctor whether they should shift to a different preparation, which could theoretically have a more beneficial effect on the cardiovascular system.

"Hormone replacement therapy "

On a lighter note … baseball coaches should put the best batters up second .. and the worst seventh .. according to this study.