Do you identify with Eeyore?

How did you feel when you saw this clip?  Did you identify with Eeyore?  Or were you sad because of his disposition? 

How you relate to this clip may reflect on your mortality and morbidity to a myocardial infarct.  

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2752100

Rozanski et. al. in their recent meta-analysis of over a quarter-million people identified that a positive outlook on life has a statistically significant reduction in ischemic myocardial events of all types, as well as reduced mortality overall. 

Yes, you read that correctly.  A positive attitude had a positive impact on the mortality of individuals.  

The article (link here) provides a nice discussion of the study parameters and confounding or co-existing risk factors, including other associated behavioral habits with positive and negative outlooks (i.e. optimism vs. pessimism).

What You Think Does Matter 

In...

Do you have one of the "smart" speakers in your house?  The ones that you can ask questions of, and make your life "easier".  

I don't.  I don't want one.  I don't have one. And although I say, never say never, I have no plans to ever have those in my house.

Perhaps I am paranoid, but I don't like my personal space being invaded.  I am not afraid of computer technology, video phones, and the like, but I want them to only be listening (i.e. recording) or watching (i.e. video recording or transmitting images), when I say it's ok.  That's one of the reasons I WhiteCoat Risk Management has video shutters available for our computer cameras.  No software can bypass a piece of plastic over the lens of the camera.  

Back to Alexa.

Yes, those smart speakers creep me out.  I don't like the idea of being "listened to" all the time.  And these are everywhere.   So you need to be diligent in shutting off those...

It's the holidays.

Time to visit Grandma and Grandpa.   

All of those little grandkids (and sometimes great-grand-kids) to visit at the homes of the grandparents.  A wonderful time for all.

Or is it?

Putting aside the dynamics of families, there is another serious threat to the safety and well being of the grandkids...and they are the hidden risks in the homes of people without children.

 I myself had my first grandchild just a couple of years ago, with additional little ones to follow.  Let me just remind everyone this ... little kids can and will get into things that you think are safe and secured.  It's like God has provided the littlest people with built-in burglar instincts.  And we have to police the situation to keep them safe.

A recent poll from the University of Michigan suggests that medications are often not sufficiently safely stored when grandparents are visited by little ones.  This is very important because up to...

Long acting proton pump inhibitors to reduce the incidence of gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) has skyrocketed in recent years.  

For those people who require this type of therapy, it certainly is a God-send, but as with all chronic use of medications, there are worries about various side-effects and long term use health impacts.  Obviously, if there is a more natural way to help reduce GERD, that would be preferable.  (Don't start, stop or modify your use based on this article.  Only modify your use after instruction from your physician).

A significant element to GERD is what you eat and drink.  A recent article supports the reduction of coffee, tea and soft-drinks and replacement with ... you guessed it ... water!

 Read more about this topic in this recent article by Mehta, et. al. 

GERD article link

WhiteCoat Risk Management provides these articles to help improve general risk awareness in all aspects of your life.  It is not...

Here is the hard fact:  Automobiles are getting more and more expensive, taking a greater percentage of your monthly income to purchase a vehicle.

Today, it seems like for most people, having a reliable vehicle is a necessity, not a luxury.  But for others, they buy their vehicle for luxury, even when they really can't afford it.

The Cost Of Financing A New Auto

There are ways of intelligently using someone else's money for purchasing a new auto.  Low-cost financing (such as 0.9% rates) can be a good use of your credit, and get you into a more affordable auto.  But here is the catch: Don't refinance any remaining balance of your existing vehicle into any new loan. 

Rolling in unpaid balances from older vehicle loans is becoming a common event.  It is been estimated that about 1 in 3 people who finance a car in 2019 are rolling over debt from a prior auto, with an average carryover balance of nearly $5000.  Both of these numbers are increased,...

Automobile Risks

We all know about the risks of driving our cars and the potential for serious harm in an accident.  Because of that, countless safety features have been built into them to help protect us.  That protection can be against our own bad driving habits...or those of others.  Seat belts.  Airbags.  Side impact guards.  Tempered glass. Children seats.  Lane change monitors.  Driving speed indicators.  Automatic braking.  Hands-free phones.  And even more developments in the future.

The Hidden Risks In Automobiles

But you probably don't know of a hidden danger in your auto that is typically ignored.  Yes, ignored by auto manufacturers and the consumers who purchase automobiles.   It's a risk that can impact each occupant of the auto, at any time, without warning, wreaking havoc on your health and safety.

So what are these hidden risks?

Infectious Disease.

Your car is teeming with billions of...

We all know that cybersecurity is an issue that each person and company (i.e. practice) needs to deal with.  But how many of you have said...

• It won't happen to me
• I will take care of cyber threats tomorrow
• Anyone can hack passwords, so why bother?
• I have no idea where to start...

Sound like you?  I bet for most of you, it's hitting a bit close to home.  It seems like in this world of medicine and business, there are so many other things... that we simply don't put a priority on cybersecurity.  But you should.

Here are just some recent descriptions of various threats and attacks on health care facilities.  Some are prepared.  Some are not. What would an article say about your company if you were attacked by a hacker? 

• Malware attack disrupts operations at Indiana medical center
• Three Alabama hospitals halt admissions after a ransomware attack
• Indiana medical center alerts 106k patients of a ransomware attack
• Patient data from EHR...

Risk management is the practice of helping reduce a bad outcome in your life.  While we typically think of risk management as using insurance as a way of helping reduce the financial impact of a bad event in your life, the fact is this:  Financial protection is important, but protecting your life and health from untoward events, is even more important.

At WhiteCoat Risk Management, our A.R.P. system helps people better identify, reduce and protect against the risks in their life.  Sometimes it's financial, but other times it helps you protect your life and health. This is one of those times.

Risks Of Injury: Knowledge Is Power.

If you knew that you had a high chance of being injured this year, would you be better off understanding what the most likely cause of that injury would be?  Or are you better off not knowing and taking your chances?  

I believe the answer is obvious.  If you know the most likely cause of an injury, then you can...

Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity is something that we all need to be concerned about.  Regardless if we use our computers for casual use, business, fun, or all of the above, there undoubtedly are times when we need to enter usernames and passwords.  

The Password Problem

If you are like I am, I literally have a list of hundreds of passwords for various sites.  The best practice is that you have a different password for each site. But that can be very hard to do.  After a while, you just have a hard time even thinking up new passwords, let alone remember them.  And beyond that, truly secure sites often require you to change your password every 60, 90 or 120 days.  Use upper and lower case.  Add a number or two.  Then add in a few random symbols.  Sheesh! When will it end?  

Password Complexity And The Weak Link...

Yes, creating and using complex passwords is good practice, and you should do it. 

But there is a flaw in the...

The "Curbside Consult"

We have all done it. 

You see Mark in a hospital hallway and he asks, “Hey Frank, I have a patient with XYZ symptoms….what do you think?”

When this happens, you provide a quick thought about what might help a colleague get to the root of a patient’s problem.  But you always thought that it was “off the record” and wasn’t really a part of the patient’s care.  That, after all, was Mark’s issue.  He is the physician who is responsible for the patient.  He is the one where the buck stops.

 Perhaps that’s what you thought, but the reality may be far from that. 

While we have all heard horror stories where a physician who provides a curbside consult gets sucked into a malpractice case, they seemed to be infrequent. But that may not be the case in the future.

Minnesota – April 17, 2019 : Minnesota Supreme Court

Mark this date.  On that date, the Minnesota...