What family physicians can do to combat bullying.

Bullying has significant health implications for young people and society at large. These screening tools, tips for responding to bullies, and Web resources can help.

Reminder Cards Improve Physician Documentation of Obesity But Not Obesity Counseling.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Physicians frequently fail to document obesity and obesity-related counseling. We sought to determine whether attaching a physical reminder card to patient encounter forms would increase electronic medical record (EMR) assessment of and documentation of obesity and dietary counseling. METHODS: Reminder cards for obesity documentation were attached to encounter forms for patient encounters over a 2-week intervention period. For visits in the intervention period, the EMR was retrospectively reviewed for BMI, assessment of "obesity" or "morbid obesity" as an active problem, free-text dietary counseling within physician notes, and assessment of "dietary counseling" as an active problem. These data were compared to those collected through a retrospective chart review during a 2-week pre-intervention period. We also compared physician self-report of documentation via reminder cards with EMR documentation. RESULTS: We found significant improvement in the primary endpoint of assessment of "obesity" or "morbid obesity" as an active problem (42.5% versus 28%) compared to the pre-intervention period. There was no significant difference in the primary endpoints of free-text dietary counseling or assessment of "dietary counseling" as an active problem between the groups. Physician self-reporting of assessment of "obesity" or "morbid obesity" as an active problem (77.7% versus 42.5%), free-text dietary counseling on obesity (69.1% versus 35.4%) and assessment of "dietary counseling" as an active problem (54.3% versus 25.2%) were all significantly higher than those reflected in EMR documentation. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that physical reminder cards are a successful means of increasing obesity documentation rates among providers but do not necessarily increase rates of obesity-related counseling or documentation of counseling. Our study suggests that even with such interventions, physicians are likely under-documenting obesity and counseling compared to self-reported rates.

A Unique Incidental Finding in Two Young Dancers: A Case Series.

Dancers frequently present to the sports medicine clinic with a variety of lower extremity complaints ranging from acute and traumatic injuries to more chronic, overuse injuries. This case series depicts a similar and unique incidental radiographic finding found in 2 young dancers seen at the same sports medicine clinic. While the findings are likely benign and unrelated to both patients' initial presentation, the finding of acroosteolysis can be found in more serious systemic and genetic processes as well an early finding in repetitive trauma.

End-of-life care for hospitalized patients with lung cancer: utilization of a palliative care service.

PURPOSE: High symptom burden and hospital mortality among patients with lung cancer argues for early palliative care intervention. Patient characteristics and discharge dispositions in hospitalized patients with lung cancer receiving usual care were compared to those referred to a new palliative care service. METHODS: A retrospective database review of all lung cancer discharges receiving usual care (UC) and palliative care service (PCS) consultation was conducted. Demographics, length of stay, discharge disposition, and mortality were described and compared. Palliative Performance Scale scores were described according to discharge disposition in the PCS group. Disposition of all patients receiving either chemotherapy or surgery was also noted. RESULTS: A total of 1476 hospital discharges with a diagnosis of lung cancer occurred between March 15, 2006 and June 30, 2009. Among all discharges, 9% received chemotherapy and 29% had surgery. The PCS was consulted for 8% of all lung cancer patients most commonly to address end-of-life-issues. PCS patients were more likely to be at the end-of-life than UC patients as evidenced by higher hospital mortality (31% versus 7%), higher intensive care (ICU) mortality (67% versus 16%) and more frequent discharge to hospice (41% versus 7%). PCS patients were hospitalized a median of 6 days before a referral was made. Hospitalization was significantly longer for PCS patients (M = 16.3 days, p < 0.001) than UC patients (M = 8.3 days). CONCLUSIONS: In the first 3 years of a new palliative care initiative consults for lung cancer patients occurred late in the hospital stay or when death was imminent.