Biomedical subjects

Adam T Fox

Publications and source records attributed to Adam T Fox.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2004

Improving the quality of outpatient clinic letters using the Sheffield Assessment Instrument for Letters (SAIL).

AIM: To improve the quality of outpatient letters used as communication between hospital and primary care doctors. METHODS: On 2 separate occasions, 15 unselected outpatient letters written by each of 7 hospital practitioners were rated by another hospital doctor and a general practitioner (GP) using the Sheffield Assessment Instrument for Letters (SAIL). Individualised feedback was provided to participants following the rating of the first set of letters. The audit cycle was completed 3 months later without forewarning by repeat assessment by the same hospital and GP assessors using the SAIL tool to see if there was any improvement in correspondence. SETTING: Single centre: general paediatric outpatient department in a large district general hospital. RESULTS: All 7 doctors available for reassessment completed the audit loop, each providing 15 outpatient letters per assessment. The mean of the quality scores, derived for each letter from the summation of a 20-point checklist and a global score, improved from 23.3 (95% CI 22.1-24.4) to 26.6 (95% CI 25.8-27.4) (P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The SAIL provides a feasible and reliable method of assessing the quality and content of outpatient clinic letters. This study demonstrates that it can also provide feedback with a powerful educational impact. This approach holds real potential for appraisal and revalidation, providing an effective means for the quality improvement required by clinical governance.

Communication↗

PubMed2003

Medical slang in British hospitals.

The usage, derivation, and psychological, ethical, and legal aspects of slang terminology in medicine are discussed. The colloquial vocabulary is further described and a comprehensive glossary of common UK terms provided in appendix. This forms the first list of slang terms currently in use throughout the British medical establishment.

Abbreviations as Topic↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Cyberchondriacs.

Over 110 million Americans have accessed the internet for healthcare information. This information is often used in medical consultations and possibly contributing to increasing health care burdens. Although well informed patients are an advantage in disease management, the quality and reliability of information online is variable. Adolescents today have grown up with the Internet as a primary knowledge source, but still lack the skills to effectively filter credible information. Voluntary standards on health information have been attempted by Health on the Net Foundation; however their success has been limited, mainly due to the fact that most people searching for health information on line use a search engine rather than a specific site. This makes regulations almost impossible. Cyberchondriacs, a term used to describe anyone who seeks health-related information on the Internet, are not only at risk of acquiring unreliable information on line and therefore potential unnecessary anxiety, but they could also be financially exploited, for example, by e-health organisations and pharmaceutical companies. Moreover, the vulnerable e-health seeker, such as the inexperienced adolescent, is able to buy any quantity of nearly any medication on-line. Reasons for patients seeking information on line are varied, but include not having enough time at consultations. To try to address these issues, organisations such as NHS direct have been set up but their success is difficult to measure due to a lack of data. However, potential exploitation of a vulnerable population and the motivations behind their search for information on the internet merit further study.

Adolescent↗