restorARTively

I have just struggled through breakfast. First one I have had in months. Generally I eat one meal a day, snack throughout, and enjoy sugar way too much . All that has added up to one overweight - yup, fat - mama. So,in the hopes for new health for all Americans, I will follow the advice of a trusted physician friend and start reforming my own health care. And in the spirit of transparency and community, I am sharing the journey with anyone who cares to join me. From what I hear, finding a community of support helps success. I started a few days ago with keeping track of what I was eating. I was not eating much but the simple math was clear: NO breakfast + sweet tooth + little exercise = Fat Fortunately, I have low blood pressure, low cholesterol levels, and normal glucose levels. So, healthy for now except too big for my britches (so to speak). So, today I suffered through a measured 1/2 cup of Quaker oats and raisins. I tried sweetening it with cinnamon and a tablespoon of applesauce ...

It is always a challenge to be restorative - especially when things hit close to our hearts and our passions. The current debates surounding health care are hitting many hearts and passions. Despite what I may personally feel about the insurance mandate within the new health care law, an expensive lawsuit taxpayer funded by one group of elected officials against another group is counter-productive to the end goal for all parties. Again, the acute and longterm needs of consumers (patients, families, and physicians) will be lost in the arguement. Please consider drafting a letter or make a phone call to your attorney general. Ask that they please stop this lawsuit and sit down and discuss the issues with the other elected officials. Your constituency has put faith in you and this group of legislators to put the little guy first. Here is my letter to my attorney Tom Corbett who is also running for governor this year. Dear Attorney General Corbett: Thank you for your service to our state. ...

A recent news story highlighted the plight of a newborn boy, Houston, born with a congenital heart defect. The child's defect is known as transposition of the great arteries. For a full term infant with no other anomalies, the typical treatment is a surgical repair in the child's first month of life. It is often rarely diagnosed prenatally. Houston's parent's insurance company designated his birth defect as a preexisting condition. On those terms, it denied the child health insurance coverage the day after the president signed the new health care bill into law. Read the full story here. There are a number of issues and concerns that this story brings up for me. To be able to fully understand my own discomfort for this reality is to figure out what questions I have. I will focus on one now and perhaps share more later. The First Query: Without promoting one side or the other - I am surprised that the pro choice movement would let this slip or that the pro life movement h...

President Obama has released a new proposal for a Health Bill to be considered by the House and Senate which will culminate in a highly anticipated meeting on health care reform on February 25. There are current tools available to hospitals, doctors, pharmacists, nurses, insurers, and others close to improve care NOW - regardless, of the outcome of this summit. One of these tools comes from a well-established customer service industry leader. Two successful tools are the Patient's VOICE (tm) and Patient Satisfaction Skills(tm). The potential cost of the President's plan is about $950B (the Congressional Budget Office has not yet released a financial analysis of the proposal). This is a scary, hefty price tag. The health care industry has been aware of the out-of-control costs of its industry for well over a decade or more. This is new to many consumers and those outside of the industry. In Pennsylvania, legislators have continued to allow state funding for The Pennsylvania Hea...

Just in case you didn't hear yet - there is no such thing as the United Nations International Health Organization. I received an email forward from a dear friend who really means well. Unfortunately, there are many hoaxes and scare tactics being used to influence good hearted people that might just be too busy taking care of everyone else. This email is one of them. And there is no such article ever printed or considered for print by the Investor's Business Daily. Google it and you will find several references to this BOGUS article. The email forwards subject line is usually something to the effect: "Your Christmas Present from the Govt that you Never Asked for." The only people getting a Christmas present from the Senate & House bills are the insurance companies. Here are some current and interesting pieces on the health care issue: Statistically speaking this IS accurate: A Global Health care Snapshot from WSJ http://www.marketwatch.com/health-care/reform/snapsh...

I received a forwarded email with a lot of blue lines along the side of it indicating it has traveled around cyberspace. This one was written by someone who is not thrilled with the idea of universal, public option, reformed health care - whatever you want to call it this week. I can't argue the validity of the email or the accuracy of its statement that Obama and other legislators are exempt from any universal health care option. The guts of the email is: "Hey, what's good enough for the gander ought to be good enough for the goose" (reversal of nouns in the cliche is intentional). Under the construct of this arguement we should ask all health care insurance executives if they have their families under the most restrictive, expensive, and least attractive plan they carry.... Pretty sure they dont limit themselves that way. Actually I think AIG (for example) even took the lowly citizens tax dollars to bail out their own questionable management practices... This type o...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/6034693/Senators-reel-as-America-conducts-furious-debate-over-health-care.html "WARNING: A misinformed President can be dangerous to YOUR health." ~ Nicholas A Di Nubile , MD The above link to an English news article and the above quote from a US based surgeon are indicative of what the outside and the inside are thinking about in the current health care reform attempt in the US. As stated in this blog previously, to be restorative all voices must be heard and considered. Dr. Nick has well earned great respect from his peers and patients. He has been practicing medicine for over thirty years in the high risk specialty of orthopaedic surgery. His CV is an impressive mix of clinical expertise, faculty appointments, government service, celebrity endorsements, and front line care. Dr. Nick is warns that our president may be getting false or misleading or inaccurate information on the health care system. If those who have...

Thank goodness I was on vacation last week. I may have never survived the swastikas, name calling, and general off the mark conversations about what needs to be repaired in the health care system. According to most media coverage, the town halls were full of conversations and activities that breakdown communications not strengthen it. The defensive medicine that happens is not a result of medical malpractice litigation. In fact, considering these physicians who are actively concerned about their patients' well being are operating in fear of falling through one of the millions of holes in the health care system. There simply is not enough reinforcements for safe care in our medical care delivery system. This is why there is such a theory in patient safety called "the Swiss cheese theory." Whenever a patient slips through one of the holes there is a provider going right along with him. Patients and providers must collaborate in their lobby efforts to congress and the me...

I came back from the beach last night to exhibit PULSE of PA and Henry the Hand Foundation information at my state senator, Daylin Leach's, Kids Expo. On Saturday I was at Congressman Sestak's Working family Summit . Teaching families the importance of proper hand hygiene is the most basic way of preventing medical errors. It is so simple. On Saturday however people were more concerned with yelling their agreement or disagreement to the Congressman on how he voted for the Health Care Reform bill that made it through the house. Tonight, parents were more interested in getting as many freebies as possible for their children. "Oh we use hand sanitizer anyway." (Hand sanitizer is dangerous for children.) It was still important to be there and contribute to the prevention of illness and disease among young children. Selfishly it also helps me keep my son's memory alive. I was indulged by the conversation I shared with the gentleman from Haverford Township's Re...

Unless you have been under a rock the past two months, you are aware of the current push by our new president to reform health care in the United States. Because of the priority he has given this issue, health care is squarely centered under a national microscope. Finally difficult aspects of our health care system are beginning to be revealed publicly. This has encouraged fuller discussions. We are closer to accepting what the real "disease" in our system is - preventable medical errors. The president and congress are using the term "quality". Today Pennsylvania's Governor has taken a page out of President Obama's playbook by airing on YouTube his arguments for his budget proposal which includes an increase in taxes and Medicaid cuts. Hospital administrators have warned that if the Governor's plan passes as is there could be 8,0000+ job losses in the industry and that there would be inevitable cuts in trauma, obstetrics and burn care. ( Burling ...