Remember I wrote a while back about Health 2.0?

A conference on Health 2.0 has just concluded in San Francisco (sadly I didn't attend) so you might be seeing more of that term for a while. It seems timely to let you know once again what people mean by it!

It may seem like an obscure buzz word still, but the Economist wrote a blurb earlier this month on the subject of Health 2.0 that I thought might provide extra insight.

A quick reminder: Health 2.0 is the term given to "user-generated healthcare" -- all that information and those exhanges of ideas shared through blogs, online support groups, podcasts, discussion boards, user-created videos ("see my c-section live!") uploaded to YouTube etc..

The topics and forums are legion - chronic disease support groups, infertility discussion boards, parenting networks, social communities for healthcare providers such as Within3, Yahoo groups for medical practice management, Q and A sites where physicians answer patient questions. The list is enormous.

I believe it is vital as a practitioner or business owner in healthcare to educate yourself about this cyber explosion, in order to serve as an informed guide to what is valuable and what should be set aside.

It also behooves you to know about this huge trend, as you might just find yourself being rated and scored by the many sites and blogs that provide an opportunity for "consumer" input!

A while back, I was contacted by a businessman whose chief frustration with healthcare for his workers (aside from premium costs!) was having an employee disappear for a doctor's appointment, only to reappear three or four hours later.

On researching the problem, he discovered that his staff were sitting in physician offices waiting for up to an hour before being seen. And then taking another hour to have their visit, and receive a prescription or get a lab test done.

His proposed solution? - hire his own physician, and set him or her up in an office adjacent to the corporate headquarters!

It appears that he is part of a growing trend. Medicine is not only moving to the shopping mall but into the workplace. In a post on his blog, Medinnovation, Dr. Richard Reece wrote the following last week about a Florida company, MyCareTLC:

More than 100 of the nation’s 1,000 largest employers now offer on-site primary care or preventive health services — forecast to exceed 250 by the end of 2007. Companies opening or expanding these clinics include Toyota, Sprint Nextel, Florida Power and Light, Credit Suisse and Pepsi Bottling, and a small company in Florida called MyCareTLC, which plans to franchise these clinics across multiple corporate settings.

According to MyCareTLC, these clinics are projected to save as much as 45% to 50% in health care expenses for employers.

How? Well, it’s claimed company doctors onsite can conveniently assess the situation, prescribe generic drugs on site, follow best practice guidelines, and refer to pre-selected specialists, judged by data mining to be the best performers, the most quality oriented, and the most economical.

Furthermore, employees need not travel to see a doctor for routine care, pay no co-pay, receive generics at cost, and they and their families can be coached on healthy living and preventive care.

To my ears, this represents yet another entrepreneurial opportunity for physicians who are seeking the freedom to operate their own primary care/occupational health businesses while being provided a guaranteed supply of patients. And a franchise, if operated well, offers enough business support and marketing presence to remove some of the risk of a start-up.

Who has any experience with these worksite clinics? I'd love to find out more!

What does it say about our healthcare system that young physicians, many not more than 5 or 7 years out of residency, are experiencing burn-out and disappointment and shame - and dropping out of medicine?

It's one of medicine's dirty little secrets.

One physician with such an experience, Dr. Ryan Flesher, has decided to go public with his journey from idealistic medical school graduate to deeply frustrated and angry ER physician, by baring his soul on camera.

The camera he is talking into is his own, and the creative expression he is involved in is writing, directing and producing a documentary. His saving grace has been his passion for film.

Dr. Flesher's intent is to capture his personal emotional turmoil and the dawning realization that he is not alone in this. His ultimate quest is to generate the understanding by the lay public of what is at stake - their own medical welfare, as seen through the eyes of the physicians they love to envy, at times criticize and, above all, need!

In this week's Podcast, listen to the very articulate Dr. Flesher share his 28-minute story. Hear how his burn-out ignited his other interest, that of film-making, along with his passionate plea for an improved healthcare system that takes care of its own, the doctors, and allows them to do what they are best at - practice medicine!

A quick weekend round-up, with two items of interest:

1. First is a fairly detailed look at procrastination - a nagging problem for many of us judging by the comments shared by some participants in our monthly teleclass last week on the topic of "Time Management"!

Blogger Ian McKenzie, a self-described chronic procrastinator and writer of Ian's Messy Desk has dissected a Psychology Today article on procrastination and written a 10-part series on the topic. Good links and even better thoughts!

2. Second is a blog written by Ben Utley, a Oregonian financial planner and investment advisor for physician clients.

His blog is well-written, thoughtful and very informative, providing insights based on current articles and his own experience in working with his physician clientele. He writes on saving for college, buying second homes, the economy and what it means for physicians, taxes and mortgages - amongst other subjects. I suggest you check it out!

What fun Dr Dunaway is having..... once again!

After spending a good 30 minutes chuckling at Tray Dunaway's latest antics, I felt compelled to share his funny podcasts with you.

Need a little levity after a tough week? Spend time listening to Dr. Dunaway spoof the facts and factoids that stream from the halls of research and into his MD Podcast News Network.

I suggest you start with "How would your doctor know if you're healthy enough for sexual activity?"!

Remember, if you want to sign up to be notified whenever there is an updated post, even though there isn't an email box sign up, you can do this by going to Feedblitz and entering the podcast page URL (http://mdpnn.dot2dothealthcareblog.com/) in the box near the bottom of the page, where it says "Subscribe to any blog by mail". Doing this will automatically generate an email update to your Inbox when there is one.

You can do this for any blog post or podcast that has the RSS feed button (that orange thing on the left hand side of my page).

I wish I had Tray's way with humor!