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Home remedies Answers to rising health costs will be found in local communities, with doctors, hospitals and patients taking new roles in the delivery of care.
Published: December 12, 2010
by Dr. Manoj Jain
I took a penlight, peered into my daughter's mouth and saw two fiery-red, cherry-sized tonsils.
"My throat is killing me," she said.
The last time she had a sore throat, it turned out to be strep. The time before that, a throat culture was negative. The time before that, we gave her penicillin and she got better. Now her throat was hurting again. My wife and I both are physicians. We don't overreact. But we decided to take our daughter to an ear, nose and throat specialist.  Read More
Mandatory flu shots for hospital staff a no-brainer
Published: October 18, 2010
by Dr. Manoj Jain
A nurse who tracks hospital infections displayed her name tag with a green dot. "It means I have had my flu shot this year."
We were at a meeting strategizing on how to reduce hospital infections through initiatives such as hand-washing and isolating certain infected patients. She talked about how flu shots for health care workers at Saint Francis Hospital had become mandatory this year. Read More
Compassion can move us to break cycle of violence
Published: October 11, 2010
by Dr. Manoj Jain
I was standing at the bedside of a patient who was having shaking chills with a temperature of 103. Sweat covered his balding scalp like dew, then coalesced and rolled down his neck like raindrops. Just 20 minutes earlier, a specialist had visited him and talked with him about his dire prognosis of metastatic cancer. No family was in the room. Read More
Auditorium celebrates surgeon's life's work
Published: September 20, 2010
by Dr. Manoj Jain
Like many people, I sometimes find myself in buildings or grand auditoriums that are named for individuals whom I know little about. But that was not the case last Thursday when I attended the inauguration of the Dr. H. Edward Garrett Sr. Auditorium at Baptist Memorial Hospital- Memphis. Read More
Viewpoint: Good doctor-patient relationship reduces lawsuits
Published: September 06, 2010
by Dr. Manoj Jain
My medical partner, a soft-spoken and caring man with more than a decade of clinical experience, has encountered patients who have threatened to sue him.
So when I told him I'd received a letter from a patient's widow who intended to sue me, he suggested I reply with a letter. Read More
Viewpoint: Threat of malpractice lawsuits means medicine is a balancing act
Published: September 05, 2010
by Dr. Manoj Jain
Some months ago at my office, my receptionist handed me a registered letter. The name on the envelope seemed familiar.
"Dear Sir," I read. "Please be advised that this letter serves as official notice that I am considering a potential claim against you in a medical malpractice claim in regard to my husband..." Read More
Vacation helps us recharge and refresh
Published: August 23, 2010
by Dr. Manoj Jain
"A vacation is not a luxury but a necessity; it keeps us healthy and living longer." Try that line the next time you are negotiating vacation days with your boss.
Then, quote this research to support your point. Read More
Writers, like physicians, hope to stir improvement
Published: August 16, 2010
by Dr. Manoj Jain
A few weeks ago a young woman was admitted to the hospital with a raging fever, excessive urination and back pain. I prescribed an antibiotic for a kidney infection, and over the next several days I watched her improve and go home. As a doctor, I could see the impact that I had made. Read More
New Medicare appointee is no stranger to Memphis
Published: July 19, 2010
by Dr. Manoj Jain
The new director of one of the largest health insurance systems in the world has been hired. He will manage health insurance for 90 million enrollees -- including many Memphians -- and wield funds of more than $800 billion -- about one-third of the national health care expenditure.
Read More
Take steps to prevent severe harm from heat
Published: June 28, 2010
by Dr. Manoj Jain
I have fond childhood memories of my summer vacations in India playing soccer (we called it football), cricket and marbles in the relentless 100-degree heat.Often, it was under the setting sun and as kids, we were unaffected by the heat. Read More
How one handles life situations is telling
Published: June 07, 2010
by Dr. Manoj Jain
Last week, my oldest daughter graduated from high school and began her journey as a young adult. As a proud parent and the commencement speaker, I shared some life lessons with the class of 2010. Here is some of what I said: Read More
Big steps help end infant mortality
Published: May 10, 2010
by Dr. Manoj Jain
For every 1,000 babies born in Memphis, 12 die. This is double the national rate and similar to that of some developing countries like Sri Lanka and Jamaica. Read More
Examining Physicians Part 3: High or low, room to improve
Published: April 27, 2010
by Dr. Manoj Jain
I rehearsed my lines as I drove up to an office in Midtown. I was meeting with a doctor who had been rated poorly by his patients.
Memphis is one of three cities where Consumers' Checkbook, a nonprofit national consumer organization, has conducted surveys on what patients say about their doctor. The results are at healthymemphis.org. Read More
Examining Physicians Part 2: The good doctor: High-scoring Memphis physician practices patient-centered care
Published: April 26, 2010
by Dr. Manoj Jain
Dr. John Buttross reached over his office desk to shake my hand. He has a warm smile and a salt-and-pepper mustache.
Buttross was rated one of the top primary care doctors in Memphis on a doctor-rating survey recently made public at healthymemphis.org. Read More
Examining physicians: How do you feel? Better choices, care are goals
Published: April 25, 2010
by Dr. Manoj Jain
Doctors play a unique role in our lives. They ask us to undress, and then they lay their hands on our bodies. They give us drugs that alter our minds. We trust our doctors as much as we trust our spouses -- sometimes more. Read More
Close friend's passing raises questions beyond the scientific
Published: April 12, 2010
by Dr. Manoj Jain
A close friend of mine, Tapan Thakur, died last week. As I tried to go about my routine of seeing patients or having dinner with my kids, no more than five minutes would pass before my thoughts would revert to him. Read More
Health care reform from one doctor's perspective
Published: March 19, 2010
by Dr. Manoj Jain
I don't want to discuss the polarizing politics of the health care reform bill, which is now a law. Rather, I want to answer one fundamental question that my patients and my peers have asked me. "What's in it?" Read More
Pleasant thoughts can help you sleep
Published: March 08, 2010
by Dr. Manoj Jain
At 9 p.m. most nights, I put my reluctant 10-year-old son to bed. He frets and frowns, saying "I can't sleep when I am alone," but readily agrees when I offer to stay. Read More
H1N1 toll is great, and still many don't heed warnings
Published: February 22, 2010
by Dr. Manoj Jain
It was before Thanksgiving when Teresa Heberling of Southaven first went to her doctor with a cough, fever and body aches. Her brother had died of lung cancer a week earlier and hundreds of people had attended the funeral. Read More
Can't fix health care in just few months
Published: February 08, 2010
by Dr. Manoj Jain
William Deere, 98, is a retired farmer and a politics junkie who wouldn't be alive if not for the pacemaker in his chest. His nurse showed me his EKG, taken when his pacemaker was stopped temporarily for testing. His heart rhythm was a flat line. "Scary, heh?" she said. Read More
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