Patient Care

Half a world away from home in 1976, 18-year old Anne B. Thomas awakens on the side of a two-lane road paralyzed from the chest down. Fast forward through a rigorous year of physical therapy to when her doctor gives her an ominous warning: “You will live a long time and be a burden on your family for the rest of your life unless you check yourself into a nursing home”.

Jim Geraghty has been a passionate participant in the orphan drug revolution since its inception―a leader in the field as a strategy consultant, biotechnology executive, and venture entrepreneur. His book is in part a history, with eyewitness accounts of advances as they occurred and portraits of the pioneering scientists and physicians, tireless activists, and visionary business leaders who made the revolution happen. And it tells deeply personal stories of patients and parents willing to risk untried new therapies.

Dr. Mackowiak, a professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, offers a gripping and authoritative account of 13 patients who took center stage in world history. The result is a new understanding of how the past unfolded, as well as a sweeping survey of the history of medicine. What was the ailment that drove Caligula mad? Why did Stonewall Jackson die after having an arm amputated, when so many other Civil War soldiers survived such operations?

Patients are critical to healthcare delivery, yet their concerns and perspective are frequently lost in translation or, at worst, blatantly ignored. Patients don’t even have a place in organizational charts. Yet patients deserve their own branch of science, and author Pamela J. Brink, RN, PhD, FAAN, has started a conversation about giving patients that niche in a new area of study called “patientology”. This work is a brief overview of concepts such as medical sociology and nursing, and will prompt further research and delineation.

Direct Primary Care is an affordable and highly efficient primary care delivery model that promises unrestricted access to your personal doctor with same-day appointments and 24/7 remote access for a flat monthly fee. No deductibles. No copayments. No office visit charges. No insurance required.

In Communication the Cleveland Clinic Way, Dr. Adrienne Boissy and her team tell the story of how Cleveland Clinic created and applied the R.E.D.E. to Communicate: Foundations of Healthcare program, making the world-renowned hospital system a leader in relationship-centered care. They provide a step-by-step guide for health-care leaders and decision-makers to design, develop, and implement communication skills training in their own institutions.