VideoMD MultiMedia Patient Education

VideoMD is proud to announce our new platform for doctors, hospitals, clinics and pharmacies to help them educate their patients better. VideoMD Multimedia Patient Education will help health practitioners use current technology to better educate their patients. We develop a customized video library for each doctor or health practitioner that is suited to their practice. Then we install a monitor and a computer to loop the customized library into the doctors waiting room. Patients can also access the looping videos from the comfort of their home, where they can also review individual videos. The doctors videos can also be viewed from the patients iPhone using our physician search iPhone app "My Doctors Videos". We think this is a great set of products to help health practitioners use current technology to educate their own patients better.

VideoMD: Health Videos iPhone App

I have been so busy recently, I have not been able to write on this blog. But this important news had to be shared. Our first iPhone app is now available. You can now easily learn something new about your health everyday from your iPhone. Watch our featured videos, which change everyday, or search our video library from your iPhone. Videos can stream over the 3G network, or are optimized for WIFI use. We have had a great response so far. Here is what IntoMobile.com had to say.

VideoMD.com, a video sharing site that allows physicians to educate their patients better, is out with its own iPhone app. The application features daily-changed videos, so you can learn new health information every day. In total, there are thousands of clips available on various diseases and conditions. You can search for your symptoms or ask a medical question, and VideoMD will stream the appropriate clips to your iPhone, whether you’re on 3G or WiFi network — it is more cost-effective and faster to stream clips while in a hotspot. Finally, it’s worth adding that VideoMD clips are all reviewed by physicians for accuracy of medical information, so you can be assured that the video library is up to date and contains trustworthy information. ‘nough said. VideoMD: Health Videos is one of those apps everyone should have installed, hoping he or she will never have to use it. Just in case, it’s good to have it around and access the relevant information with a single tap…

VideoMD.com Top 10 Finalist in The Perfect Pitch

VideoMD.com is pleased to announce that we have been selected as a Top 10 Finalist in The Perfect Pitch 2009, an Entrepreneur and Investor Conference. There were over 1000 submissions for The Perfect Pitch, which were evaluated on clarity, viability, consumer need, growth potential, marketing strategy, team capability, scalability, and competitive advantage. Judges were venture capitalists, as well as business leaders, including Sir Richard Branson, who is the Keynote Speaker for the conference on October 26th.
For more information about the conference or the other Top 10 Finalists, go to www.ThePerfectPitch.com. The sponsor of this well regarded conference is PerfectBusiness.com.
Dean Heller, MD, President of VideoMD.com said “We are very proud to have been selected as a Top 10 finalist in this prestigious conference. We are looking forward to attending the conference and meeting the other entrepreneurs, investors, and business leaders. We are also excited to meet Sir Richard Branson.
About VideoMD.com: Launched in 2008, VideoMD.com is a video sharing site that allows physicians to educate their patients better. By having educational videos that their patients can watch at their own leisure, physicians can improve patient satisfaction without the time it would take to educate patients individually. With its rapid growth, VideoMD has quickly built a comprehensive library of video health information for general web searches from the videos uploaded by physicians. The videos in the featured library are checked for medical content. VideoMD.com is the fastest growing video health information site on the web. Visit http://www.VideoMD.com.

VideoMD.com is pleased to announced that we have been chosen as a top 50 finalist in The Perfect Pitch 2009. The Perfect Pitch is a business plan/pitch contest from PerfectBusiness.com. The top 3 finalists will pitch their company live for The Perfect Pitch conference. Sir Richard Branson is giving the Keynote speech for this well regarded conference.

There were over 1000 pitches submitted for this contest, so we are proud to be part of the Top 50 Finalists.

VideoMD Health Care Reform Plan

Water cooler talk around the country is now focused on health care reform. While most doctors and health care practitioners agree with politicians that the current system is not sustainable in the long term, very few agree with the ideas being propagated in Washington currently. A video from Mike Magee "Health Reform's Time Has Come" discusses the need for health care reform.

Unfortunately, the reform that is being discussed now is likely to increase cost, and waiting times and decrease the ability of your health care practitioners to make the best decisions for your health. They plan to start a Government Health Plan, which if it anything like the stellar care of the VA system, is sure to be a bomb. They will decrease cost by increasing the wait times, centralizing care, and decreasing reimbursement to doctors and hospitals.

To discuss health care reform, without discussing medical liability reform IS A JOKE!
The cost of defensive medicine in this country has been underestimated for years. The reason for this is the trial lawyer lobby in Washington is very powerful, and they don't want their cash cow of medical malpractice to be lost. The reform that your government officials are telling you is so necessary is not going to help this country in the long term.

Doctors are not completely innocent in the costs of health care. The dirty little secret is that this issue is a double edged sword for physicians. We are concerned about liability, and order too many tests to avoid being accused later that we didn't do enough for the health of "the plaintiff". But, we do make money by performing and interpreting these tests.

True reform must include two basic aspects. The way medical malpractice law functions in the US must be completely overhauled. Most of the discussion usually revolves around tort reform and "caps". In actuality, the way to eliminate most of the lawsuits is with an arbitration board consisting of doctors and lawyers to discuss the merits of a case before a suit can be filed. Since most lawsuits around the country are not real malpractice, such as wrong leg surgery, but are minor variations in the practice of medicine, eliminating most "frivolous" lawsuits is appropriate. Once this is in place, physicians and health care practitioners can make the appropriate decisions for their patients, without fear. The second part of the reform changes the payment from medicare and the insurance companies to a fairly administered capitation system. This systems pays the doctors a fee for taking care of patients on a monthly or yearly basis. So no matter how many times you see a patient or how many tests you order, you still receive the same amount of money. This would have to be done directly, with no middle-men, to avoid corruption. This would allow physicians and health care practitioners to make decisions for their patients, instead of the government or insurance bureaucrats. This should also fairly compensate doctors and health practitioners for their hard work.

Please let us know what you think by uploading your video blog to our community on health care politics.

Why can't politicians (and actors) be more like golfers!

The news about Phil Mickelson's wife being diagnosed with breast cancer is sad. It is something that many people have to deal with in their own families. As Tiger Woods press release said, our thoughts and prayers are with them. Phil immediately suspended his golf schedule to be with his wife and family, and help her through the difficult treatment.

This is the appropriate response from a loving husband and strong family man. While I am a huge Tiger fan, I have always had respect for Phil Mickelson. This strongly reaffirms that respect. It makes you feel empathy for him and his family.

Contrast this to the response of John Edwards when his wife found out that her breast cancer progressed. Not only did he vow to spend more time on the road campaigning even harder to advance his personal goals, he also used the cancer as a political tool to try and gain sympathy votes. But that is not the best part. He also decided to have an affair with a younger woman, who has since had a baby (with no father listed on the birth certificate).

When a family member is diagnosed and being treated for any medical problem, it is important to support them, including helping them learn about their problem. VideoMD.com has many videos to help you learn about breast cancer. VideoMD.com is a great tool to help your family learn more about any medical problems that they face. So take the time to support your family and learn more for them on VideoMD.com.

Heart Health

I spent spring break with my kids this week at Disney in Orlando. As a cardiologist, it is second nature for me to observe people, and make an evaluation of their health habits. It didn't take an expert to observe some of the bad habits that many of us have adopted. It is well documented, but to see the obesity rates first hand, especially in children, is disturbing. Watching a family of obese kids being pushed around the park in a cart, while feasting on a huge turkey leg, is an image that I can not get out of my brain.

We booked a room in a nice hotel, and as usual, requested a non smoking room. After about 2 hours in the room, which had no windows, we were all slightly nauseous and dizzy from the residual smoke in this "non smoking" room. To think in 2009, after decades of warnings on the health effects of smoking, that in certain segments of the population the smoking rates are increasing, is appalling.

As more studies reveal that we need to treat cholesterol to very low levels, I am afraid that many people are still walking around with cholesterol levels that put them at high risk of heart attack and stroke. The JUPITER trial, which was released late last year, showed that even people with normal cholesterol levels may benefit from medical treatment.
As far as smoking is concerned, nothing more needs to be written about the health effects of this terrible habit. It is linked to more diseases than any other toxic exposure.

I enjoy a good meal as much as the next guy, we had a great dinner at Emeril's restaurant. But the next day, I had a good workout at the gym, and ate just a soup and salad. I tell many of my patients that moderation is the key to good health. Everyone makes choices that may not be the best for their health, but as long as the majority of the time you make the best decision for your health, you will be in good shape.