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| WWAD - Tucson |  | Thank you to Tyna Callahan, Steve Nash, and all of the great people at Pima Medical Society, Carondolet, and El Rio for bringing WWAD to Tucson.
We are proud to team up with such dedicated leaders.
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| Issue: #156 | February 10th, 2012 |
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Greetings!
Good morning! One of the many things I enjoy about the walk is the opportunity for us to learn together. For example, this week our research division spent a significant amount of time delving into HIPAA so I could present it as a topic for this week's newsletter.
HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act is critical legistlature that all physicians must follow. The Privacy Rule is a component of HIPAA.
The Privacy Rule protects all "individually identifiable health information" held or transmitted by a covered entity or its business associate, in any form or media, whether electronic, paper, or oral. The Privacy Rule calls this information "protected health information (PHI)."
"Individually identifiable health information" is information, including demographic data, that relates to:
- the individual's past, present or future physical or mental health or condition,
- the provision of health care to the individual, or
- the past, present, or future payment for the provision of health care to the individual, and that identifies the individual or for which there is a reasonable basis to believe can be used to identify the individual. Individually identifiable health information includes many common identifiers (e.g., name, address, birth date, Social Security Number).
It's dry, it's not funny, but it's a crucially important policy that all health care personnel must follow at all times. It is constantly being drilled into us via conferences, webinars, and inservices.
A matter of fact, this is a large part of the reason we assembled the Walk Newsletter Screening Committee (WNSC). The WNSC is an elite panel of experts we appointed to keep us out of trouble. They are a group of eleven, comprised of retired attorneys, librarians, Prohibitionists, state senators, and other high-level risk management personnel.
We are tremendously thankful for their volunteer efforts that contribute to the greater good of Walk with a Doc. So grateful that we gave them this week off. We're putting them all up for the week at Ohio's greatest resort, The Inn at Honey Run (www.innathoneyrun.com). We made up some cockamamie excuse about a literary conference; we're really just giving them an opportunity to get away and relax. You can tell they are away by the likely inappropriate placement of the semi-colon (they also run grammar checks). Anyway, that's HIPAA and that's the WNSC's overwhelmingly main concern.
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| The Miracle of Walking |  Patient Doe
Sometime last year, I had a lovely middle-aged patient having an issue with their blood pressure (again, notice how with HIPAA I cannot give away any patient identifiers such as gender, age, time of visit, etc.) I shared with this anonymous patient that if we just made a few simple changes we could end up with dramatic improvements. We discussed starting the day with a 10-20 minute walk, increasing fruits and vegetables, drinking more water. If we did all that, we will be certain to get a few lbs off. I shared with her, "I bet we can lower your BP without using meds. Until then I'm going to give you this cheap, effective medicine that will keep you safe." As with all my patients, I then spent a couple moments explaining Walk with a Doc and inviting them to attend.
I saw this same patient, B.L., back in the office 2 weeks ago. She was glowing. It made me so excited, I couldn't contain myself.
"Well I'll be! Betsy Latham! Look at you - you look fantastic! How did you do it?!"
"You know Dr. Dave, I was tolerating the 25 mg of HCTZ (hydrochlorothiazide), but I hated the idea of taking yet another medicine. So I grabbed my iPod, my water bottle, and headed out the door. I got my neighbor, Miranda Helmsley, to join me and we've been doing 45 minutes, 6 days a week. I just turned 76 on the 13th of January and I haven't felt this good in 40 years! It's so easy.
"I know you're into exercise. If you ever want to join us, we leave my house at 7:00 every morning. You know I live in Worthington at 464 Reilly Lane, right? Oh, by the way, I think I told your front desk the wrong social security number when I checked in. It's 287-16-9245, I always get it confused with my telephone #, which is 614-924-9265. Anyway, great seeing you and thanks for recommending that I go for a walk. The arthritis in my knees feel better, my blood sugars are perfect, and I'm always in a good mood! You're right, walking is the miracle drug!"
Wow, if that doesn't make you feel good?! |
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Mindful Eating
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Most Popular E-mailed Article from The NYTimes this week
Whether this is something you choose to pursue or not, I think it is very important to read. The complete article's url is below, the takeaway points from the end of the article follow. Good stuff.
http://nyti.ms/xoSlOS
WHEN YOU EAT, JUST EAT. Unplug the electronica. For now, at least, focus on the food.
CONSIDER SILENCE. Avoiding chatter for 30 minutes might be impossible in some families, especially with young children, but specialists suggest that greenhorns start with short periods of quiet.
TRY IT WEEKLY. Sometimes there's no way to avoid wolfing down onion rings in your cubicle. But if you set aside one sit-down meal a week as an experiment in mindfulness, the insights may influence everything else you do.
PLANT A GARDEN, AND COOK. Anything that reconnects you with the process of creating food will magnify your mindfulness.
CHEW PATIENTLY. It's not easy, but try to slow down, aiming for 25 to 30 chews for each mouthful.
USE FLOWERS AND CANDLES. Put them on the table before dinner. Rituals that create a serene environment help foster what one advocate calls "that moment of gratitude."
FIND A BUDDHIST CONGREGATION where the members invite people in for a day of mindfulness. For New Yorkers, it's an easy drive to the Blue Cliff Monastery, about 90 minutes north of the city: bluecliffmonastery.org/ on the Web.
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Thank you for time this morning. Please continue to get after it this weekend. So rewarding and so easy. You just have to take that first step...
Our best,
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