I recently finished reading Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds. I was looking for some help with a new project idea that required using Keynote to create a screencast type presentation for patient education. I got far more than I bargained for. This is the sort of book that changes the way that you look at things you thought you had a handle on before. This book is not really about Powerpoint or keynote… It is a high level exploration of the concepts of communicating ideas effectively. Highly recommended for anyone that needs to communicate in the multimedia world we live in today.

Randale

New videos up at eOrthopodTV featuring Dr. Justin Paquette, a neurosurgeon from Los Angeles, California. Dr. Paquette specializes in complex spinal deformity. We discuss several topics relating to spine surgery including neck pain, artificial cervical disc replacement and flat back syndrome.

Learn more about how to be a guest on eOrthopodTV.

Randale

What happens when you marry health care to Web 2.0? Health 2.0. Who knows if it will catch on, but it is the hottest buzzword around these days. You know if it has a Wikeipedia entry it has to be real. Well, maybe. OK, but what if it has its own conference? Still not convinced? Then maybe this article in The Economist will prove to you that this time consumers are ready to use the web to empower themselves in the Byzantine world of health care.

Health 2.0 may be the second coming of the online health care world - or it may be another bubble. Stay tuned to see which it is. My first foray in online health care during Web 1.0 was a blast. I hope this one is too. I hope that this time it’s sustainable.

Randale

Just finished reading the new Clay Shirky book - Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations. Unlike some of the other books that have been written on the subject, this takes the higher road and explores the impact of the Internet on community, organization and activism. This book is an excellent analysis of the major trends of the last decade and how the development of the Internet has dramatically shaped our vision of what is possible. Here is a video of a talk about the book given at Harvard’s Berkman Center. Clay Shirky is that odd mixture of geek (participant of the early Internet), academic (NYU) and consultant to the “Real World” (whatever that is…). He has a lot to say that I think is very relevant to those of us wanting to understand how to participate in the Internet “ecosystem” - today and into the future. Highly recommended!

Randale

A cottage industry has sprung up around the debate on the future of health care in the United States. As we move into the bona fide presidential campaign season, it shows no signs of abating. I have just finished reading Health Care at Risk: A Critique of the Consumer-Driven Movement and found it extremely useful for understanding the evolution of health care funding around the world as well as the scope of the debate currently occurring in this country - “Single Payer” versus “Market Driven” paradigms. There are multiple practical and philosophical issues that have to be addressed to adequately grasp the debate itself, let alone to refine your thinking about which side you are on. This book clearly articulates both sides of the argument and the evidence for and against each side in an academic fashion while remaining accessible to all. If you want to get more - but clearly biased - background on the “Market Driven” side of the argument consider reading Who Killed Health Care?: America’s $2 Trillion Medical Problem - and the Consumer-Driven Cure by Regina Herzlinger (the queen of the Market Driven movement) and Redefining Health Care: Creating Value-Based Competition on Results the academic treatise from Michael E. Porter and Elizabeth Olmsted Teisberg.

“Winning in a world transformed by social technologies.”

I just finished this new book by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff, two VP analysts at Forrester Research. This is a very readable and very balanced look at the increasing impact of social media on business. There are several sections that address how healthcare institutions have tapped into the social media dynamic and increased customer satisfaction and - potentially - improved outcomes. There are several other books that I have read that cover this same terrain (Now Is Gone: A Primer on New Media for Executives and Entrepreneurs by Geoff Livingston; The New Influencers: A Marketer’s Guide to the New Social Media
by Paul Gillin and Marketing to the Social Web: How Digital Customer Communities Build Your Business by Larry Weber.) and more on the way (Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations by Clay Shirky). Groundswell is much less a cheerleading book and much more of a business analysis of what is happening and what you can do with your organization to take advantage of the trends occurring as the social media world unfolds. Highly recommended if you want a sober, balanced look at the playing field.

Randale

More information about how to take advantage of this offer is available on the eorthopodTV website.

Or you can always call the office to find out more. 1-866-721-3072.

Randale

Ulnar Collateral Ligament Injuries
Posted 4 hours ago
A Patient's Guide to Ulnar Collateral Ligament Injuries Introduction The ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) can become stretched, frayed or torn through the stress of repetitive throwing motions. read more [Link]

Diffuse Idiopathic Skeletal Hyperostosis
Posted 4 hours ago
A Patient's Guide to Diffuse Idiopathic Skeletal Hyperostosis Introduction Diffuse Idiopathic Skeletal Hyperostosis (DISH) is a phenomenon that more commonly affects older males. It is associated with stiffness and back pain, but often it causes no signs or symptoms. read more [Link]

Resection (Excision) Arthroplasty of the Thumb
Posted 4 hours ago
A Patient's Guide to Resection (Excision) Arthroplasty of the Thumb Introduction read more [Link]

Major Breakthrough in Osteoporosis
Posted 25 hours ago
The National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF) is constantly keeping watch on research related to osteoporosis. As a result of compiled evidence, they have come out with a new Guide to Prevention and Treatment of Osteoporosis . The new guidelines take into consideration different target groups. The guidelines now address African Americans, Asians, Latinos, and older men. This is a new step from previous recommendations that were just aimed at white postmenopausal women. read more [Link]

Opioid Use Proven for Short-Term Pain Control
Posted 25 hours ago
The use of narcotic drugs such as opioids has been up and down over the years. Concern about dependence and addiction led to tighter controls on their long-term use. But an increase in support for their use in the late 1990s brought the debate back out into the open. As a result, there was a rash of studies done using opioids for chronic pain problems. read more [Link]

Who Can Benefit the Most From Opioid-Based Medications?
Posted 25 hours ago
Research is underway to find out which patients with chronic pain can benefit most from the use of opioids to control pain. The word opioid refers to substances that act like morphine in the body. These are natural or manmade and have effects like the opium poppy. read more [Link]

Rotator Cuff Repair in Older Athletes
Posted 25 hours ago
Athletes involved in overhead throwing sports are at risk for rotator cuff tears. Most of these players are young adults. But there are a fair number of middle-aged and older adults who still play competitively in recreational or amateur overhead-throwing sports. They are the subject of this study on arthroscopic rotator cuff repairs. read more [Link]

Searching For the Missing Link in Female Knee Injuries
Posted 25 hours ago
It's a known fact that women have more anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries than men. This difference is seen most often in young athletes participating in noncontact sports. There's been some suggestion that perhaps the reason for this is the stiffness factor in the knee. In this context, knee joint stiffness refers to how much torsional spring there is. read more [Link]

Looking Back at Results from ACL Surgery
Posted 25 hours ago
There aren't very many long-term studies of results after surgery to repair the anterior cruciate ligament. And many changes have occurred in the last 10 years in the way this procedure is done. In this study, surgeons from France report on 101 knees with an ACL injury. All were repaired with the same bone-patellar tendon-bone (BPTB) arthroscopic graft technique. read more [Link]