January 2020, Volume XXXIIi, No 10
Health information “blocking”
Denying patients access to health records
Politicians continue their promises and academics continue to espouse the need for “interoperability” of patient health records—which would allow different electronic health record (EHR) systems to exchange information between providers—but steps to achieve this are, at best, glacial.
January 2020, Volume XXXIIi, No 10
interview
Redefining addiction
Paul H. Earley, MD, DFASAM
American Society of Addiction Medicine
Health information “blocking”: Denying patients access to health records
By Christopher “Kit” Crancer
Politicians continue their promises and academics continue to espouse the need for “interoperability” of patient health records—which would allow different electronic health record (EHR) systems to exchange information between providers—but steps to achieve this are, at best, glacial. At worst, efforts to do so are stuck in political and technological muck, which some people disguise with words such as “security” or “quality.”
cover story two
Medical aid in dying: A complex ethical dilemma
By Rebecca Thoman, MD
Oregon’s 1994 Death with Dignity Act was the nation’s first law authorizing medical aid in dying, allowing mentally capable, terminally ill adults with six months or less to live the option to request, obtain, and self-ingest medication to die peacefully in their sleep if their suffering becomes unbearable. Since then, eight more states—Washington, Montana, Vermont, California, Colorado, Hawaii, New Jersey, Maine and the District of Columbia (DC)—have authorized medical aid in dying.
Behavioral Health
Mental health in the emergency room: A role for the medical family therapist
By Aalaa Alshareef, MS, and Tai Mendenhall, PhD, LMFT
Contemporary efforts to integrate behavioral health care with biomedical services in primary care environments are advancing quickly. As evidence supporting such efforts grows, scholars and practitioners alike are beginning to the consider the utility of doing this in secondary care contexts as well.
The MN FEET program: Birth disparities and prenatal mercury exposure
By Kate Murray, MPH; Jessica Nelson, PhD, MPH; and Courtney Jordan Baechler, MD, MS
The jar of skin lightening cream looked innocuous enough, but investigators found that merely opening its lid released enough mercury vapor to create unsafe living conditions in the home. Using a Lumex portable mercury detector, partners with the MN FEET program (Minnesota Family Environmental Exposure Tracking)
Nephrology
Transplanting HCV-infected kidneys: A promising new source of donors
By Jeffrey H. Wang, MD, Paul A. Stahler, MD, FACS
On July 26, 2019, Hennepin County Medical Center transplanted a hepatitis C (HCV)-infected kidney into a 54-year-old man with end-stage renal disease who did not have HCV. Although kidney transplants between HCV nucleic acid test positive (NAT) donors and HCV-negative recipients have been performed previously in a handful of other states, this was the first one performed in Minnesota.
Polycystic ovary syndrome: Diagnosis and treatment
By Amy Hammers, MD
Some five million women of childbearing age in the United States struggle with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), leading to an annual price tag of $4 billion for PCOS identification and management, as reported by the National Institutes of Health’s Office of Disease Prevention.
Men’s Health
Male infertility: Considering appropriate evaluation
The drive to have genetically conceived children is very strong for many couples, yet as many as 15% are not able to conceive a child, even with frequent, unprotected intercourse for a year or more. It is an unfortunate but common notion that infertility is a woman’s issue, yet according to the American Society of Reproductive Medicine, 20% of infertile couples are infertile solely due to a male infertility factor.
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