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.

groundswell

“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

Our new service, eOrthopodTV has launched in beta. For the rest of 2008 we will be inviting a limited number of healthcare providers involved with musculoskeletal care to come to Missoula and spend a day in the MMG video studio. We pay all production costs - you pay your travel expenses. Any of you that have tried to do video production on your own know that while it may be easy these days to shoot and edit video technically, it is not easy to produce good quality video for your website. We have made it drop dead easy to get good video for your website and we will syndicate the video out to the web for you as well.

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

Ultrasound May Diagnose Ulnar Neuropathy Despite Normal Electrodiagnostic Findings
Posted 10 days ago
Most people know someone with or has heard of carpal tunnel syndrome , a repetitive stress injury involving the nerve that goes through the wrist (the carpal tunnel) and into the hand. While this is the most common entrapment neuropathy (nerve problem due to a nerve being trapped or pressed on), the second most common entrapment neuropathy that involves the arm has to do with the elbow and how the nerve passes through the cubital tunnel . Reference: Joon Shik Yoon, MD, PhD, Francis O. Walker, MD, and Michael Cartwright, MD. Ulnar Neuropathy With Normal Electrodiagnosis and Abnormal Nerve Ultrasound. In Archives of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation. February 2010. Vol. 91. No. 2. Pp. 318-320. read more [Link]

No Time Lost Results in Optimal Results for Transverse Sacral Fractures
Posted 10 days ago
Physicians at trauma centers must be prepared for the weird, the unusual, and the rare cases of everything because they see everything in all three of these categories. This case presentation of an extremely rare sacral fracture in a 13-year-old demonstrates this point very well. Reference: Ashwin Avadhani, MS(Orth), DNB(Orth), et al. Pediatric Transverse Sacral Fracture with Cauda Equina Syndrome. In The Spine Journal. February 2010. Vol. 10. No. 2. Pp. E10-E13. read more [Link]

New Problem Discovered with X-Stop Devices
Posted 10 days ago
Neurosurgeons from Italy are the first to report a new complication with X-stop devices used in the lumbar spine. What are X-stops? And what's the new problem? Reference: Giuseppe M. V. Barbagallo, MD, et al. The Sandwich Phenomenon: A Rare Complication in Adjacent, Double-Level X-Stop Surgery. In Spine. February 1, 2010. Vol. 35. No. 3. Pp. E96-E100. read more [Link]

Three Rare Cases of Cervical Spondylolysis
Posted 10 days ago
Sometimes surgeons encounter patients with a condition so rare, it's worth writing about. In this article, three cases of cervical spondylolysis are presented. Only 100 cases of this type have ever been reported in the entire world. What is cervical spondylolysis? Reference: Poong Gee Ahn, MD, et al. Cervical Spondylolysis. In Spine. February 1, 2010. Vol. 35. No. 3. Pp. E80-E83. read more [Link]

Managing Low Back Pain Without Medications
Posted 10 days ago
There are a wide variety of treatment options available for the patient with low back pain that don't rely on medications. There's spinal manipulation, acupuncture, massage, nerve stimulation, biofeedback, yoga, behavioral counseling, lumbar supports, and much, much more. This article is designed to assist physicians and patients in understanding what's out there and how and when to use it. Reference: Steven J. Atlas, MD, MPH. Nonpharmacological Treatment for Low Back Pain. In The Journal of Musculoskeletal Medicine. January 2010. Vol. 27. No. 1. Pp. 20-27. read more [Link]

Keeping Up With the Latest in Foot and Ankle Surgery
Posted 10 days ago
In an effort to help orthopedic surgeons keep up with the latest research, the authors of this specialty update present a summary of evidence related to foot and ankle surgery. More than a dozen of the most common problems are presented including ankle fractures, calcaneal (heel bone) fractures, chronic ankle instability, ankle joint replacement, ankle fusion, diabetes-related problems, tendon problems, bunions, impingement problems, foot deformities, and amputations. Reference: Randall C. Marx, MD, and Mark S. Mizel, MD. What's New in Foot and Ankle Surgery. In Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. February 2010. Vol. 92-A. No. 2. Pp. 512-523. read more [Link]

Surgeons Solve the Dilemma of Classifying Thoracolumbar Spinal Fractures
Posted 10 days ago
Surgeons faced with decisions about treatment for thoracolumbar spinal fractures are really challenged by the lack of one simple, adaptable, easy-to-remember classification system. Currently there are at least eight different systems described and in use. In this article, a new valid and reliable system is introduced that can be used in the clinic. Reference: Alpesh A. Patel, MD, and Alexander R. Vaccaro, MD, PhD. Thoracolumbar Spine Trauma Classification. In Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. February 2010. Vol. 18. No. 2. Pp. 63-71. read more [Link]

How To Manage Severe Tibial Bone Fractures
Posted 10 days ago
Orthopedic surgeons will appreciate this article. It is the second part of a two-part series on open tibial shaft fractures . In the first part (published in the January 2010 Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (JAAOS)), open tibial shaft fractures was introduced as a topic. The focus of the earlier journal was evaluating these fractures and the initial treatment taking care of the open wound. Reference: J. Stuart Melvin, MD, et al. Open Tibial Shaft Fractures: II. Definitive Management and Limb Salvage. In Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. February 2010. Vol. 18. No. 2. Pp. 108-117. read more [Link]

Patients with Spinal Stenosis Can Benefit from Nerve Blocks
Posted 10 days ago
Despite our many advances in medicine and especially all the improved technology, we still don't know what causes back pain for many people. And without an understanding of the cause, it is difficult to find an effective way to treat it. We do know now that some patients have back pain coming from the facet (spinal) joint(s). Using an injected anesthetic to the facet joint's nerve has confirmed that this area can be a pain generator. Reference: Milan P. Stojanovic, MD, et al. MRI Analysis of the Lumbar Spine: Can It Predict Response to Diagnostic and Therapeutic Facet Procedures? In The Clinical Journal of Pain. February 2010. Vol. 26. No. 2. Pp. 110-115. read more [Link]

New Ideas About Nervous System Function in Complex Regional Pain Syndrome
Posted 10 days ago
This group of researchers have been studying patients with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) for a long time. They've been trying to figure out what causes the symptoms these patients suffer in order to find better ways to treat CRPS (or even prevent it). Reference: Tobias Vogel, MD, et al. Sympathetic Dysfunction in Long-Term Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. In The Clinical Journal of Pain. February 2010. Vol. 26. No. 2. Pp. 128-131. read more [Link]