Providing patients who are undergoing elective surgery with email access to their surgeon results in improved levels of communication without any demonstrated impairment of satisfaction with outcomes, according to the results of a prospective, randomized study reported in the February issue of the Archives of Surgery.
“E-mail is a technology that has transformed general communication worldwide, revolutionizing industries such as banking and retail,” write Peter Stalberg, MD, PhD, from the University of Sydney Endocrine Surgical Unit, Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney, Australia, and colleagues. “However, e-mail’s promise for improving the …

According to a study published on bmj.com, back injuries are not prevented by telling people the correct way to lift heavy objects.
Back pain can be the cause of much distress and is a common complaint among workers involved with lifting heavy objects. Employers in the United Kingdom must be sure to provide training that advises workers on specific lifting techniques and on how to handle heavy loads correctly. However, this recent meta-analysis finds no evidence that the training and advice given to workers has any effect.
The research team analyzed eleven …

USA Today on Thursday featured two articles in a series on issues related to medication errors. Summaries appear below.
“Many Lawsuits Against Pharmacies Settled in Silence”: The article examined how many of the settlements of lawsuits filed against pharmacy chains Walgreen and CVS over alleged medication errors included confidentiality agreements. According to USA Today, confidentiality agreements allow pharmacy chains to avoid “bad publicity in a field where public trust is important” and “keep potentially damaging information from plaintiff lawyers.” Barry Furrow, director of the health law concentration at the Drexel University …

The amount of money people spend to treat their back and neck problems has increased substantially in the last decade. Despite this, their health status does not seem to be comparably improving, according to a study in the February 13 issue of JAMA.
In clinical practice, back and neck problems are some of the most commonly experienced symptoms. In 2002, a survey of adults in the United states showed 26 percent reporting lower back pain and 14 percent reporting neck pain in the three months previous, according to the background …