Slashdot Mirror

Certainly true in the uk, and its own hierarchy is well used. Companies tend to sit on .co.uk ie. The Guardian (although companies are the ones most likely to go elsewhere if needed), universities sit on .ac.uk i.e. University Of Manchester, health related sit on .nhs.uk i.e. NHS Direct, charities seem to sit on .org.uk i.e. The Mens Health Forum, and government websites sit on .gov.uk i.e.HRMC

True there are people who abuse it, but generally you can be assured that if you are on for example ac.uk, it really is an academic institute you are on and not some fraudulent university.

Netbook: 2lb. Check.

It has a camera. It has a microphone. It has two other input devices (keyboard, touchpad), sometimes three (fingerprint reader). For external sensors, you have one or two USB ports. Pop in a rat tail for a finger pulse oximeter. Kick up the internet connection for the NHS Home Diagnostics page (right here).

I think that surpasses the requirements somewhat.

Epic win.
Where's my prize?

While I'm sure that was a pretty honest and accurate account of what it takes to be a doctor, it also highlights some of the reasons for the frustrations people have with them.

Notice how the qualities people say doctors lack fall last in line in the training. You have to think those strong in these areas may have already been knocked out by the 5-10% dropout rate in the early years.

I still think there so much technology could be doing, and that the model of training and interacting with physicians is outdated. The typical $100 for 10 minutes of consultation after which the patient will be referred to a specialist, given an expensive test, a prescription for a drug they can't buy on their own, or told to go home and sleep it off, have to go away.

I know it drives those in the medical field crazy when patients come in with all this information they learned on the internet, but at the same time, thank god for that. One, they are taking responsibility for their health, which should be encouraged, and second, all of the patient education I've ever gotten from a physician has been half-assed. I've always looked up more details and been better educated online (Yes, you have to be careful).

An electronic medical record that spanned your whole life, included your doctor's notes and whatever extra info you wanted to put in (filterable, of course) there would be a great tool for tracking and predicting health over you lifetime, not just a couple dozen 10-minute interactions with a guy that can't remember your name without looking at a chart (no offense, but it's kind of true).

The AI implications would be phenomenal, as well as the simple practical info (want to know what the likelihood of you getting diabetes in the next year is?)

I like what NHS did in England. No one here could post something like this without getting shut down by lawsuits or the AMA.

http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/help/index.aspx

In the UK we have NHS Direct which is both 24-7 telephone and online screening and advice, run by the national healthcare system. From personal experience, it's very good.

It would be nice with more refined diagnosis tools on the net tho; easily accessible and structured decision trees which can guide you through how to both rule in and rule out possibilities would make a good tool for both patients and doctors. Done correctly it could even cut down unnecessary doctors visits and/or increase chances of early discovery of some diseases.

The NHS has already produced a pretty good one. They also have a really good selection of information on their NHS Direct site, and a local rate national helpline to talk about general health related issues. Slightly more geekily, they have a Behind the headlines news site which gives the real science behind some of the more heinously bad medical reporting that some sections of the media engage in.

Plenty of controversy over nationalised healthcare systems: can't fault the NHS's online presence though, it's a real anomaly amongst Governmental efforts on the 'net.

Why don't doctors create peer-reviewed, well-written websites to counter all of the confusion and pseudo-science currently available online?

The UK's NHS has a website: http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/

Of course, it does tend to err towards telling people to go to hospital/GP if they have symptoms with many possible interpretations, but that is probably the right thing to do. It also gives sensible advice about issues like weight, where almost everybody else is trying to sell snake oil.

Although this certainly sounds more sophisticated, the UK NHS offers an 'over the phone diagnosis' service, NHS Direct. Although the article mentions 'physicians' being used to monitor the network, how long will it be until they too are using unqualified staff to handle more routine cases?

The danger for misdiagnosis is huge, although they no doubt have a clause somewhere about it - they may just end up telling patients to visit their doctor in person for a proper check-up, which kind of defeats the object.

The UK's NHS Direct site has a Self Help section where a series of questions about your symptoms will lead to advice on how to react - ie: make an appointment with a GP / rest/fluids / go to A&E now! It's very useful - especially when it can take days to get a GP appointment and you're not sure whether it's really serious enough to have to take the time off work.

While the NHS have been slated in the past for their stupid uses of technology, this one seems to be - for once! - both appropriate and useful!

Then how do people even know whether their pains are A. a normal part of life that one shouldn't try to treat, or B. symptoms of a disease that warrants seeing a doctor?

The NHS and charities like the British Heart Foundation run TV adverts.

I assume Americans don't just rely on the TV to tell them if they're broken, here are some alternatives for people living in the UK:

1) Seeing their doctor
2) Moaning about it, and their husband/wife telling them to see the doctor
3) Phoning 0845 46 47 and speaking to a nurse
4) Going to NHS Direct (or using digital TV)
5) Seeing an article in a newspaper/website.
6) Seeing a billboard...
7) ...or poster in a school, hospital, university, probably put there by the NHS or a charity (example). These are usually about strokes, heart attacks, smoking, cancer and STDs (esp. near schools and universities).
8) By text message or advertising on teenage-interest sites (for STDs, depression etc).
9) Fliers -- I've had STD and meningitis information fliers given to me at careers fairs

The BHF says women are less likely to call 999 if they have a heart attack compared to men, probably because of not wanting to cause a fuss, thinking they're OK etc. I assume worrying about the cost of the ambulance/doctors/treatment would only make it worse.

If a drug company is genuinely concerned about prostate cancer then I don't think anything stops them from donating to a charity, which could run information adverts. (I don't know if they could do it themselves, IANAL.)

Something like this.

I've not needed to use one, so I don't know how it works in practice.

(You can also phone 08 45 46 47 to talk to a nurse at any time, or use the online self-diagnosis thing, or go to a local doctor (or request a home visit), or go to a hospital if it's an emergency, or call an ambulance. I have done all of these, and so far can't fault the system in any way. But I'm only 23.)

A non-emergency number (101) was launched a couple of years ago in some areas to try and reduce the number of calls to 999, it's meant to be used for: reporting vandalism and graffiti; noise nuisance; threatening and abusive behaviour; abandoned vehicles; dumping and fly tipping; drunk and rowdy groups; drug related anti-social behaviour; and broken street lighting.

There's also NHS Direct (0845 46 47), for medical non-emergencies.

Perhaps Google could launch a service to cover everything else, with some voice recognition, a Google search and an audio web browser.

You can't indict the u.s. health care system for lower life expectancy among americans. Its not the fault of the system that americans stuff their faces with double whoppers meals, super-sized coca-colas and serving sizes at restaurants that could feed a horse. No matter what medicine or treatment is available those people will die a lot sooner than a cuban.

Because most healthcare is paid for by taxes in the UK, techniques to prevent people getting ill are used. For instance, free vaccinations, monitoring of babies/children's health, screening for cancers, STI checks, diet advice, stop-smoking stuff, etc.

Also, if you have to pay to see a doctor, you're less likely to go, and any problem you have might get worse. If you don't get free advice during pregnancy your child might be less healthy (infant mortality is quite high in the USA).

The huge surface area means it is much more likley to get gummed up and inactivated almost immediatly causing no more harm than any other chemical you ingest.

Asbestosis is caused when asbestos fibres get gummed up in the lungs, to borrow your phrase, so it stands to reason that there's a potential risk from other nano particles.

Asbestos contains tiny fibres of mineral silicates. People who have worked extensively with asbestos (for example, repairing boilers, demolishing buildings, and asbestos removal workers), or who have lived close to asbestos factories, will have breathed in these fibres. These fibres are extremely irritating to the tissue of the lungs. They settle in the lungs and the lung tissue becomes thickened and scarred. This gradually makes it more difficult for oxygen to get from the atmosphere into the blood and for the waste gas carbon dioxide to be breathed out.
- NHS Direct

We have this here too in Ol' Blighty, under the name of NHS Direct.

We have the same thing here in the UK, it's called NHS Direct Their website has a bunch of useful info on it as well.

Ooops, not walk-in centres. This is what I was looking for.

Um, I do?

http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/articles/article.aspx? articleId=404

Anyone who thinks doctors are infalliable just doesn't have a rare enough medical condition.

Here in Britain with our universal health care system, we've got exactly what you're asking for. NHS Direct