Patient Care

When it comes to helping patients manage chronic and acute conditions and make healthier choices in such areas as medication adherence, smoking, diet, and preventive care, good advice alone is not enough. By using MI techniques, doctors, nurses, and other providers can transform conversations about change. The book shows how even the briefest clinical interaction can serve to build trust, clarify patients' goals as well as reasons for ambivalence, and guide them to take positive steps.

Patients enter the medical system with faith that they will receive the best care possible, so when things go wrong, it's a profound and painful breach. Medical science has made enormous strides in decreasing mortality and suffering, but there's no doubt that treatment can also cause harm, a significant portion of which is preventable. In When We Do Harm, practicing physician and acclaimed author Danielle Ofri places the issues of medical error and patient safety front and center in our national healthcare conversation.

For over 30 years, it seems I have spent most of my waking hours as a patient at the Minneapolis VA Hospital. I have become a professional patient

An epic story told by a unique voice in Ameri­can medicine, One Doctor describes life-changing experiences in the career of a distinguished physi­cian. In riveting first-person prose, Dr. Brendan Reilly takes us to the front lines of medicine today.

Few experiences stir the emotions and throw a person into crisis as illness does. If affects not only the body but also the spirit and soul. Illness is about life and death, fear and hope, love and conflict, spirit and body. And yet, the healthcare system is not structured around these considerations—our doctors and other medical professionals are not trained to deal with the whole person.

Author Cory Franklin, MD, who headed the hospital's intensive care unit from the 1970s through the 1990s, shares his most unique and bizarre experiences, including the deadly Chicago heatwave of 1995, treating the first AIDS patients in the country before the disease was diagnosed, the nurse with rare Munchausen syndrome, the only surviving ricin victim, and the professor with Alzheimer's hiding the effects of the wrong medication.

Spirituality in Patient Care has earned a reputation as the authoritative introduction to the subject for health professionals interested in identifying and addressing the spiritual needs of patients. The body of research on religion, spirituality, and health continues to grow at a dramatic rate, creating an urgent need for a new edition of this landmark work. In this, the third edition, Harold G. Koenig, M.D., updates every chapter by incorporating the newest research and introducing sensible ways of translating that research into caring for patients.

In medical school, Matt McCarthy dreamed of being a different kind of doctor - the sort of mythical, unflappable physician who could reach unreachable patients. But when a new admission to the critical care unit almost died his first night on call, he found himself scrambling. Visions of mastery quickly gave way to hopes of simply surviving hospital life, where confidence was hard to come by and no amount of med school training could dispel the terror of facing actual patients.

Why do downcast, O my soul? A death sentence is handed down to a young man, but hope may still linger in the picturesque town of Acantilado del Mar. Stefan Campeau, a 27-year-old facing a terminal illness, seeks solace in the scenic town of Acantilado del Mar with his faithful dog by his side. However, fate has other plans as he encounters the last two people he wants to see - the beautiful Samantha and a mysterious oncologist, Dr. Miguel Calderón. While Samantha offers to care for Stefan's dog after his passing, Dr. Calderón convinces him to continue treatment. As Stefan delves deeper ...

Exciting new technology is revolutionizing healthcare in the twenty-first century. This visionary guide by the former CIO of the Cleveland Clinic shows you how to design, implement, and maximize your organization's IT systems to deliver fully integrated, coordinated, high-quality care. Using the latest advancements in IT, you'll be able to access and apply a range of online tools and field-tested strategies to any organization. Go behind the scenes at Clinic Cleveland to see how caregivers executed their IT strategy in a working environment—and how patients benefitted as a result.

Medicine is broken. We like to imagine that it's based on evidence and the results of fair tests. In reality, those tests are often profoundly flawed. We like to imagine that doctors are familiar with the research literature surrounding a drug, when in reality much of the research is hidden from them by drug companies. We like to imagine that doctors are impartially educated, when in reality much of their education is funded by industry.

As a third-year Harvard Medical student doing a clinical rotation in surgery, Ronald Epstein watched an experienced surgeon fail to notice his patient's kidney turning an ominous shade of blue. In that same rotation, Epstein was awestruck by another surgeon's ability to slow down and shift between autopilot and intentionality. The difference between these two doctors left a lasting impression on Epstein and set the stage for his life's work - to identify the qualities and habits that distinguish masterful doctors from those who are merely competent.

At the age of 28, with his Beijing-based science communications business doing well and a new relationship blossoming, Ben Bravery woke from a colonoscopy to be told he had stage 3 colorectal cancer. As a scientist, Ben understood the seriousness of his condition. Cancer had quite literally whacked him in the guts, after all. But what he didn't expect was how being a patient, and a young one at that, would make him feel. Why hadn't he been better prepared for the embarrassment and vulnerability of lying naked on the radiation table?

Research shows that nothing impacts patient experiences more than the quality of communication. The key to better healthcare outcomes is communication. Over the past four decades, the Academy of Communication in Healthcare has worked tirelessly with health systems, teaching communication skills that put relationships - between patients and providers, as well as among providers - at the center of care. Now, for the first time, ACH's proven and effective methodology is detailed in this invaluable step-by-step guide.

This is a book of miracles - medical events witnessed by leading physicians for which there is no reasonable medical explanation, or, if there is, the explanation itself is extraordinary. These dramatic first-person essays detail spectacular serendipities, impossible cures, breathtaking resuscitations, extraordinary awakenings, and recovery from unimaginable disasters. Miracles We Have Seen is a book of inspiration and optimism, and a compelling glimpse into the lives of physicians.

The essential guide to healthcare call centers. Today’s healthcare call centers are overwhelmed with patient calls and the daily stresses of our busy medical system. But running a healthcare call center comes with its own set of challenges. Healthcare Call Center Essentials is designed for those who want to manage a more effective medical contact center. From daily operations to long-term success, this essential guide will help you create a thriving contact center that meets the urgent needs of both patients and the medical community. By addressing common pain points, Healthcare Call ...

Many of those who have chosen the medical profession are no stranger to the paranormal. Ghosts walk the hallways of hospitals both old and new, haunting the wards and operating rooms. Join Richard Estep, paramedic, paranormal investigator, and cast members of TV's Haunted Case Files and Haunted Hospitals, as he talks to EMTs, nurses, medical professionals, and patients alike, documenting their most intense and chilling encounters with ghosts and spirits.

When you are told that you have leukemia, your world stops. Your brain can't function. You are asked to make decisions about treatment almost immediately, when you are not in your right mind. And yet you pull yourself together and start asking questions. Beside you is your doctor, whose job it is to solve the awful puzzle of bone marrow gone wrong. The two of you are in it together. In When Blood Breaks Down, Mikkael Sekeres, a leading cancer specialist, takes listeners on the journey that patient and doctor travel together.

An acclaimed medical expert and patient advocate offers an eye-opening look at many common and widely used medical interventions that have been shown to be far more harmful than helpful. Yet, surprisingly, despite clear evidence to the contrary, most doctors continue to recommend them.

In his exceptionally thought-provoking and moving memoir, neurosurgeon Joseph D. Stern explores how personal loss influences the way physicians relate to patients and their families.