Great New Article on the Changing Face of Health Care

Posted on May 10, 2012 by

Today’s article comes from The Atlantic, and is titled ‘The 5 Mega-Trends That Are Changing the Face of Health Care’. It’s a fascinating view on the landscape. As an allergist in Atherton, CA, I see changes all the time. And these changes are magnified by the fact that I am a sole-practitioner and not part of a large corporate medical practice.

As the nation’s highest court weighs the fate of President Obama’s health care reform legislation, it’s important to keep one thing in mind: No matter what the nine justices ultimately decide, significant change is coming to health care — and the industry’s future is gaining clarity.

Indeed, we see five key trends that are solid, foundational, and unassailable:

(1) Strong headwinds will force change. The numbers say it all. Intense funding pressure on Medicare and Medicaid, decreasing commercial reimbursement, flat or declining volume trends, federal budget deficits, and growing uncompensated care–all of which are compelling the health care industry to adapt in a wholesale way.

(2) Employer-based commercial insurance will undergo a shift. Whether it’s an employer mandate or widespread exchanges, companies will have an entirely new relationship with employees when it comes to health care coverage.

(3) Commercial payers will alter how they do business. They may be more collaborative in the rapidly emerging new world of health care, but they will also pay less. Some are employing a vertical integration strategy by getting into or enhancing their position in the provider segment.

(4) Consumers will control more of their health care dollars. An increase in individual and high-deductible health plans will force consumers to be more active in their own health care and will lead to more consumer decision making. Providers will be required to adapt to increased demand for evidence-driven medicine and provide greater data and transparency.

(5) Providers will be financially challenged. Quality through coordination and evidence-based medicine, not gatekeeping, is the answer. Put another way, better care will lead to better health, which will lead to lower costs. This transition from fee-for-service medicine will be wrenching–evidenced by recent practice closings and the growing trend toward consolidation.

You can read the rest of the article here.

As always, please leave comments or ask questions. I’m always here to help!

Posted in general medicine | Tagged articles, Atherton allergist, atherton allergists, coverage, general medicine, insurance, Los Altos allergist, medications, Menlo Park allergist, Palo Alto allergist, Redwood City allergist | Leave a comment

Great new article on Eczema

Posted on April 30, 2012 by

I’m doing a little catch-up today – this particular article I found a couple of weeks ago. It’s a great perspective from a Mother about the things you can do to work with and manage eczema – something I see often as an allergist serving the Peninsula area of the San Francisco Bay Area.

First let me say that there is no “miracle” cure for eczema – although I certainly wish there was! There is a lot of information out there about medicine or natural supplements that will instantly rid all outbreaks of eczema from your body. Yes, some may find their eczema is easier to control than others, but there is NO product (medicinal or natural) available today that will “cure” everyone’s eczema. Even the popular cortisone or steroid creams are not a cure-all. Majority of times, when someone stops using them, the eczema flares-up again.

Many times eczema is with you for life. Some will grow out of it, some will think they’ve grown out of it only to see an aggravated flare-up during times of stress throughout their life, and some will battle it daily, forever.  But, eczema doesn’t have to control you.

You can read the rest of the article here.

Eczema is one of the many things that can be caused by allergies. In addition to treating the eczema, it is important to identify the allergen and treat that also.

I’m here to help with all the allergy needs you may have.

 

 

Posted in Allergies | Tagged allergies, allergy, articles, Atherton allergist, atherton allergists, eczema, Los Altos allergist, Menlo Park allergist, Palo Alto allergist, Redwood City allergist | Leave a comment

Great new article on Sinus Infections and Antibiotics – Hold off!

Posted on March 22, 2012 by

This article really piqued my interest – as an allergist I am always wanting to find the best ways to treat patients, especially those with symptoms of things related to allergies and asthma. Now comes interesting new research about the treatment of sinus infections – something that has normally be treated with antibiotics, and for which patients ask for antibiotics.

Between 90% and 98% of sinus infections won’t respond to antibiotics, so doctors should hesitate before reaching for the prescription pad, according to new guidelines for the treatment of rhinosinusitis from the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

“There is no simple test that will easily and quickly determine whether a sinus infection is viral or bacterial, so many physicians prescribe antibiotics ‘just in case,’” commented Anthony Chow, MD, of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, who chaired the panel that developed the guidelines.

But, he added in a statement, “if the infection turns out to be viral — as most are — the antibiotics won’t help and in fact can cause harm by increasing antibiotic resistance, exposing patients to drug side effects unnecessarily and adding cost.”

You can find the rest of this article here.

We all need to be cautious about the over-use and over-prescription of antibiotics, as the bugs in the body build up resistances to the antibiotics, making them less and less effective. There are already some super bugs out there for which our most common and widely-used antibiotics simply won’t work.

So the next time you have a sinus infection, don’t push your doctor for antibiotics. Instead treat it as he or she suggests and allow yourself to be sick for a short period.

And if you need help with what could be leading to these sinus infections – allergies perhaps? – come see me – I can help with this!

 

 

Posted in general medicine | Tagged allergies, allergy, antibiotics, Atherton allergist, Los Altos allergist, Menlo Park allergist, Palo Alto allergist, Redwood City allergist, sinus infection, sinusitis | Leave a comment

Interesting article on WebMD – Reading the Ingredient Label

Posted on March 19, 2012 by

Knowing what we put in our bodies is becoming more and more important these days, and one of the best ways for us to know what we put in is to know what’s in the package we purchase. This isn’t always possible in a restaurant, but it is very possible for the foods we purchase in a grocery store. I came across this article this morning from WebMD that talks about this very topic. Quite informative!

If you are what you eat, as the saying goes, reading the ingredient list on packaged foods can give you pause.

Some foods are laced with dozens of ingredients with complicated names that sound like they belong in a chemistry lab, not on your plate. Some list ingredients that belie the claims made on the front of the package. Consider just two examples:

  • A food that trumpets itself as containing whole grains may have more sugar than grains.
  • A food that promises to be trans fat free may in fact contain up to 0.5 grams of  partially hydrogenated oils, a source of trans fats, in the ingredient list.

“Ingredient lists are a good way to know exactly what packaged food contains,” says Christine A. Rosenbloom, PhD, RD, professor of nutrition at Georgia State University. “But the first important thing to remember is that the ingredients are listed in descending order of predominance. The first two or three ingredients are the ones that matter most. Ingredients at the bottom of the list may appear in only very tiny amounts.”

You can read the rest of this article here.

Being an allergist, this is important for more than one reason. These same labels are required to indicate whether or not the food products were manufactured in facilities that also process nuts and other things that have proven to be life-threatening allergy causing agents to some people.

So read your labels! And if you have any questions or concerns, let me know!

 

Posted in Allergies, Food Allergies | Tagged allergies, Atherton allergist, atherton allergists, food allergies, food ingredients, Los Altos allergist, Menlo Park allergist, Palo Alto allergist, Redwood City allergist | Leave a comment

Another great article on food allergies – this time from the BBC

Posted on March 19, 2012 by

For those of you that know me, you know I often write about food allergies. I find lots and lots of fascinating information is published on the Internet about this topic, and I try to share all that I find that is logical and/or based on sound research.

Today my latest finding comes from the BBC – Food allergy and intolerance self-diagnosis

The number of people who believe they have a food allergy or intolerance has risen dramatically in the past few years, experts say, with up to 20% of the population now believing they are affected in some way – but how many really have a medical condition?

Hairdresser Jane Delaney, who is 21, believes she is one of the thousands of people with a food intolerance.

“I’m trying to get a test at the moment to find out if I am lactose intolerant or something along those lines, because I have a problem with my diet… with diarrhoea or constipation.

“It’s just mad, like takeaways, chicken and chips… you don’t know what they’re cooking things in, and whether they are putting things in they shouldn’t be. It’s just a nightmare.

“If I cook everything I make from scratch, so I know what’s in it, that’s a lot better.” Avoiding processed food has helped reduce her symptoms, she believes.

If you are as fascinated by this as I am, you can find the rest of this article here.

If you ever come across anything related to this topic that you find interesting, please let me know, either through a comment left here or by emailing me here.

Posted in Allergies, Food Allergies | Tagged allergies, Atherton allergist, atherton allergists, food allergies, Los Altos allergist, Menlo Park allergist, Palo Alto allergist, Redwood City allergist | Leave a comment

Great article on CNN – Why your waiter has an M.D.

Posted on March 16, 2012 by

Today I came across this very interesting article, titled Why your waiter has an M.D.. An accounting of what happens to the unlucky few who graduate from medical school and then, due to bad luck, do not get matched into a residency program. This leaves these graduates without a future in medicine – at least not until they can find a residency program, for it is required that they perform a residency before they can go into practice.

I met Sam* in the OR a few years ago. A polite surgical technician in his early 30s, we’d often chat after work.

Sam obtained his medical degree from a school in Eastern Europe prior to immigrating to the United States. Now he spends his days cleaning surgical instruments and his nights working in a restaurant.

“Someday I’ll be a surgeon, just like you,” he says to me.

How did this happen? Sam had a bad Match Day.

Medical training in the U.S. involves four years of medical school followed by 3 to 6 years of residency training. International graduates must also attend residency in the U.S. if they wish to practice here.

On Match Day, graduating medical students learn which residency program they’ll be joining. Residency determines a physician’s field of medicine. For a young doctor to become a pediatrician, for example, he or she must complete a pediatric residency.

This year Match Day occurs today, March 16.

You can read the rest of this article here.

As a practicing physician/allergist here on the peninsula part of the Bay Area, I am often struck by how we are still underserved by the medical community – there simply are not enough doctors. And the medical systems we do have have become more and more institutionalized. I broke out of that mold when I opened Atherton Allergists in the fall of 2010 – wanting to be there for my patients to serve their true needs – not see a different patient every 15 minutes and leaving them always needing more information.

My patients these days are very happy with the medical attention they get from me. And I am delighted to be giving it.

I think we need to continue to bring more doctors to the market, and I think we need to have more of them become more open in their practices.

Just my thoughts…

Posted in general medicine | Tagged allergies, Atherton allergist, atherton allergists, doctors, Los Altos allergist, medicine, Menlo Park allergist, Palo Alto allergist, Redwood City allergist, residency | Leave a comment

One more for today… This one on how Allergy Shots Cut Medical Costs

Posted on March 9, 2012 by

This one is fascinating – how getting immunology treatment for your allergies can actually cut your total medical costs.

SAN FRANCISCO — Allergen-specific immunotherapy is cost-effective for hay fever sufferers, researchers found in a population-based study.

Adults with allergic rhinitis incurred $7,286 less in overall healthcare costs over 18 months — a 41% savings — if they received immunotherapy specific to their environmental allergies (P<0.0001) in the Florida Medicaid population studied by Cheryl Hankin, PhD, president of the health research company BioMedEcon in Moss Beach, Calif., and colleagues.

To read the rest of this great article, click here.

Come see me, Dr. Dixit,  if you need  an Allergist in Redwood City and let’s see if we can help make you feel better and treat your allergy symptoms.

 

Posted in Allergies | Tagged allergies, allergy, allergy shots, Atherton allergist, atherton allergists, immunotherapy, Los Altos allergist, Menlo Park allergist, Palo Alto allergist, Redwood City allergist, rhinitis | Leave a comment

Another interesting article on Long-Acting Beta-Agonist (LABA) drugs

Posted on March 9, 2012 by

Here’s another great article for today:

ORLANDO — Despite FDA statements to the contrary, there is no hard evidence that long-acting beta-agonist (LABA) drugs increase the risk of death or severe exacerbations in asthma patients when combined with inhaled steroids, speakers at a symposium here said.

They suggested that the FDA went beyond the available science when, in 2010, itordered LABA drug labels to say that the agents be stopped when asthma patients achieve good symptom control.

You can read the rest of this article here.

As always, let me, Doctor Dixit,  know how I can help you with all your allergy, asthma and immunology questions and needs.

Visit us at: Menlo Park allergist

 

 

Posted in Asthma | Tagged allergies, asthma, Atherton allergist, LABAs, Los Altos allergist, Menlo Park allergist, Palo Alto allergist, Redwood City allergist | Leave a comment

Interesting article about Anaphylaxis

Posted on March 9, 2012 by

As an allergist I find myself constantly scanning the vast and amazing array of online resources for information for both myself and to pass along to my patients in the mid-peninsula area of the bay area. This morning I found this great article on Anaphylaxis History.

ORLANDO — One in 16, or about 6%, of Americans interviewed in a well-designed telephone survey reported having had symptoms consistent with an anaphylactic reaction at some point, a researcher said here.

Among 1,000 randomly dialed individuals who completed the survey, 64 described reactions to something — food, drug, or insect sting — in terms that were very likely to be genuine anaphylaxis, said Robert Wood, MD, of Johns Hopkins University.

You can read the rest of this article here.

If you have any topics you want to know more about, just let me know. Let’s all learn together. If you have any questions contact me at Palo Alto allergist

 

Posted in Allergies | Tagged allergies, allergy shots, anaphylaxis, asthma, Atherton allergist, atherton allergists, Los Altos allergist, Menlo Park allergist, Palo Alto allergist, Redwood City allergist | Leave a comment

Interesting new study on Mothers of children with food allergies

Posted on March 9, 2012 by

As an allergist on the mid-peninsula serving Atherton, Menlo Park, Redwood City and more, I am always trying to help patients with all their issues, including food allergies. I recently read a fascinating article on Mothers of children with food allergies.

ORLANDO — Most mothers of food-allergic children who claim to have food sensitivities themselves do not meet clinical criteria for true allergies, a researcher reported here.

Barely 20% of the mothers who claimed to have food allergies had been diagnosed by a physician and had elevated food-specific IgE levels consistent with an allergy, according to Melanie M. Makhija, MD, of Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

The full article can be found here.

If you feel you have any of these issues or problems, perhaps I can help.

Posted in Food Allergies | Tagged allergies, allergy, Atherton allergist, atherton allergists, food allergies, Los Altos allergist, Menlo Park allergist, Palo Alto allergist, Redwood City allergist | Leave a comment