Ambien Dreams

This week, listener Jen sent us an article from JAMA in which the author bemoans his tendency to let the electronic health record (coupled with his data-entry difficulties) dominate his attention at the expense of his ability to really see and empathize with his patients. The cost: missing clues that indicate a patient's progressive decline and family dynamics that contribute to the condition. Meanwhile, Chrissy Teigen and John Legend find themselves chewing on sleeping pill side effects, causing us to wonder--why is Ambien still on the market, unless it's to create really great slam poetry? And we practice our teamwork in a mobile game called SpaceTeam, proving perhaps that not all such games make for good podcast fodder--you decide, but don't @ us, we already know the answer. Will we see a shift in the standard of care for appendicitis, now that a Finnish study has backed up the mounting evidence that it can often successfully without surgery? And a study on the high costs of poor healthcare around the world suggests that fixing it will cost 6% of the cost of doing nothing. Do you have suggestions for what we should talk about on SCP? Call us at 347-SHORTCT anytime, visit our Facebook group, or email [email protected]. Pick your favorite!