Why Don’t Physicians Use Healthcare Algorithms?
John Svirbely, MD2025-02-22T12:49:54+08:00Algorithms are used in many fields, such as finance, engineering, and aviation. They are used in healthcare, but the [...]
Case Study: Surgical Site Infection: Methods of Prevention & Tools for Predicting Risk
John Svirbely, MD2025-02-22T12:50:10+08:00Medical History A 55-year-old white male has degenerative arthritis of the knees. 10 months ago, the patient underwent total [...]
Early Warning Signs Stroke
John Svirbely, MD2025-02-22T12:50:20+08:00According to the Internet Stroke Center each year, 15 million strokes occur around the world, with almost 800,000 in [...]
Do Computers Have to Interfere with Doctor Patient Relationships?
John Svirbely, MD2025-02-22T12:50:31+08:00Do Computers Have to Interfere with Doctor Patient Relationships? The relationship between the doctor and patient is at the [...]
Medical Calculator App: Top 5 Reasons to Use
John Svirbely, MD2025-02-22T12:54:08+08:001. Instant access to 5000 useful medical calculators covering 40 medical specialties. 2. Most comprehensive reference tool for [...]
Case Study: Adenocarcinomas and Their Often Misleading Symptoms
John Svirbely, MD2025-02-22T12:55:38+08:00Medical History Jane is a 40-year-old, married mother of two teenage boys. She teaches at the local elementary school [...]
Fear of Healthcare – 5 Health Phobias that Affect Outcomes
John Svirbely, MD2025-02-22T12:50:44+08:00A busy clinician may sometimes forget just how scared a patient can be and may not even know why. [...]
How Can Automated Medical Algorithms Help Physicians?
John Svirbely, MD2025-02-22T12:55:48+08:00When faced with a new technology the first thing that many clinicians ask is how it is going to [...]
Your Invitation to the Open Marriage of FHIR, BPM+ Health and Medical Algorithms
John Svirbely, MD2025-02-22T12:36:09+08:00Your Invitation to the Open Marriage of FHIR, BPM+ Health and Medical Algorithms While open relationships can be problematic, [...]
9 Factors That Can Cause Clinical Algorithm Failure
John Svirbely, MD2025-02-22T12:50:53+08:00Although an entomologist can see a certain beauty in the most annoying insect, there is nothing attractive about a [...]
Got 420? Marijuana Health Risks
John Svirbely, MD2025-02-22T12:51:03+08:00More states have legalized marijuana, thereby creating a potentially confusing situation. Local, state and federal laws may differ for [...]
Warning Signs Head Injury
John Svirbely, MD2025-02-22T13:01:11+08:00Warning Signs Head Injury What did Henry the Eighth and Howard Hughes have in common? Both Henry the Eighth [...]
Just in Time Medical Knowledge in a Disposable Society
John Svirbely, MD2025-02-22T12:56:01+08:00Historically, medical knowledge has been hard to come by, taking years of study. While this knowledge may be available [...]
Population Health Strategies, Medical Algorithms, and You
John Svirbely, MD2025-02-22T12:48:09+08:00Is population health the future of healthcare? Physicians are told population health strategies will solve many of our current [...]
What is a Medical Algorithm? Medical Algorithm Definition
John Svirbely, MD2025-02-22T12:56:12+08:00"Algorithm" is a term that has a long and rich history in mathematics. However, it is a term that [...]
Coping with Healthcare Information Overload
John Svirbely, MD2025-02-22T13:01:21+08:00What did you do the last time you were stopped at a railroad crossing? Did you even look at [...]
15 Calculators to Help with Medication Non Compliance
John Svirbely, MD2025-02-22T12:41:55+08:00Medication non compliance (nonadherence) with a physician's therapeutic plan is a major problem in healthcare. It can lead to [...]
Fall Prevention in the Elderly and Other Vulnerable Populations
John Svirbely, MD2025-02-22T12:45:00+08:00Without gravity there would be no falls. Falls are a major cause of accidental trauma throughout one's life. Often [...]
Are Cruises Safe? Safety Checks for Holiday Cruising
John Svirbely, MD2022-01-17T10:12:43+08:00Winter and the holidays are a time of year when many people living in cold climates dream of taking [...]
Holiday Stress Management and Medical Issues – Thanksgiving, Christmas
John Svirbely, MD2022-01-17T14:00:54+08:00Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday for many Americans, with an abundance of family, friends, food and football. However, for [...]
Workplace Risk Factors for Violence in Healthcare
John Svirbely, MD2022-01-17T14:17:43+08:00As we recently saw in Las Vegas, there are violent people in the world who are willing to kill [...]
Worker Safety and Health During Disaster Recovery
John Svirbely, MD2022-01-17T14:41:07+08:00As people try to rebuild their lives after disasters such as Hurricane Harvey, Irma or Martha and the recent [...]
Health IT Interoperability and Our Veterans
John Svirbely, MD2022-01-17T15:27:01+08:00When I was younger all of my health data was in a folder in my family doctor's office. If [...]
Health Safety Regulations: OSHA’s Role in Healthcare
John Svirbely, MD2022-01-17T23:59:41+08:00The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has historically shown a low profile in most healthcare institutions. Employee bulletin [...]
The Many Facets of Chronic Alcohol Abuse
John Svirbely, MD2022-01-18T00:57:17+08:00Alcohol use is prevalent in many parts of the world and for some people alcohol misuse and chronic alcohol [...]
Pharmacogenetics Testing and Drug Effectiveness
John Svirbely, MD2022-01-18T11:31:33+08:00Your patient is a middle-aged male from the inner city who is receiving oxycodone for severe, chronic pain. He [...]
Much To Do About Tattoos: Tattoo Infections & Other Risks
John Svirbely, MD2022-01-18T13:52:44+08:00Last month the FDA updated its Consumer Report "Think Before You Ink" which outlines some of the adverse effects [...]
Medical Automation…Everything But the Squeal
John Svirbely, MD2022-01-18T14:06:57+08:00Farmers tend to be frugal. When they slaughter an animal there is very little that goes to waste. Gustavus [...]
Morbid Obesity Treatment – Bariatric Surgery?
John Svirbely, MD2022-01-18T14:52:44+08:00Obesity affects many people around the world. According to the World Health Organization, obesity is the fifth leading cause [...]
Tools to Identify and Prevent Yellow Fever Transmission
John Svirbely, MD2022-01-18T15:34:22+08:00Yellow fever is one of those scary diseases that most of us have never seen before. Many of us [...]
OSHA? Oh Shi#! OSHA Health Safety Compliance in Hospitals
John Svirbely, MD2022-01-19T16:35:19+08:00Hospital administrators rarely say nice things when faced with an OSHA health safety inspection. OSHA's (Occupational Safety and Health [...]
How to Improve the Medical Insurance Claims Process
John Svirbely, MD2022-01-19T17:48:13+08:00The insurance industry has many facets. In health care its roles range from health care coverage to disability and [...]
Tools Reduce Hospital Readmissions – Medical Calculators
John Svirbely, MD2022-01-19T18:05:14+08:00Life is full of things that cause negative feelings. These feelings need to be discharged, and unfortunately some of [...]
12 Medical Calculators to Help Achieve Your New Year Resolutions Ideas
John Svirbely, MD2022-01-19T22:53:02+08:00It is the New Year and once again it’s time to consider a resolution to clean up your act. [...]
Saint Claus is Coming to Town (…or the ER)
John Svirbely, MD2022-01-20T00:10:05+08:00Santa Claus is coming to town! If you're like me and still believe in Santa Claus, then this is [...]
5 Medical Calculators for Exotic Animal Bites and Risk Assessment
John Svirbely, MD2022-01-20T00:35:36+08:00Some people are drawn to the exotic or esoteric, including their choice of pets. Exotic pets have become widespread [...]
Disease, Infections, Aids and Stigma
John Svirbely, MD2022-01-20T21:22:24+08:00Stigma occurs in most societies, although its triggers and severity may vary based on culture, religion and history. Even [...]
7 Medical Calculators for Celiac Disease Diagnosis
John Svirbely, MD2022-01-20T23:09:31+08:00This case study is presented to highlight how medical calculators can be useful clinical decision making tools for celiac [...]
21 Scores for Comorbid Medical Conditions: Charlson Comorbidity Score & More
John Svirbely, MD2022-01-24T10:54:29+08:00Comorbidity (also referred to as polypathology) refers to the number and type of health problems that a patient has. [...]
Reduce Readmissions with Analytics & CDC Antibiotic Resistance Program
John Svirbely, MD2022-01-24T11:15:58+08:00This case study discusses hospital readmissions and provides healthcare professionals with recommended medical algorithms in the form of scores, [...]
Protecting our Blood Supply: How to Prevent a Blood Transfusion Reaction
John Svirbely, MD2022-01-25T00:28:07+08:00As Zika virus spreads in North America, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) which regulates the blood supply, has [...]
Polluted Water Diseases – An Olympic Challenge
John Svirbely, MD2022-01-25T00:51:36+08:00One concern during the Rio Olympics was the level of water pollution. It was uncertain if the waters were [...]
The Many Faces of Sepsis (5): Progression from a Community Acquired Infection
John Svirbely, MD2022-01-25T01:26:31+08:00Community acquired infection is an important cause of sepsis. While most infections do not result in sepsis, the sheer [...]
Case Study: Cancer, Sarcoid, or Rose Thorn Infection?
John Svirbely, MD2022-01-25T19:44:37+08:00This case study highlights medical calculators and analytics which can be instrumental in a physician’s clinical decision making process, [...]
Many Faces of Sepsis (4): Sepsis Criteria for Vulnerable Patients
John Svirbely, MD2022-01-25T20:39:32+08:00Some patients may be more prone to sepsis than others, often because of a defect in their host defenses. [...]
Many Faces of Sepsis (3): Obscure Causes Sepsis Infection
John Svirbely, MD2016-12-09T02:20:01+08:00Our third article in the series on sepsis, centers on obscure causes that sometimes make sepsis difficult to diagnose. Throughout the [...]
Many Faces of Sepsis (2): Pediatric and Neonatal Sepsis Algorithms
John Svirbely, MD2022-01-25T23:21:27+08:00This second article in our series on sepsis, centers on this complex clinical problem in infants and children. Throughout [...]
Many Faces of Sepsis (1): Cancer Therapy and Management Febrile Neutropenia
John Svirbely, MD2022-01-26T00:03:32+08:00The purpose of this case study is to highlight ways in which medical algorithms can be integrated into the [...]
Improve Outcomes with Surgical Risk Calculator Bundle
John Svirbely, MD2022-01-26T01:01:56+08:00At a recent Infection Control meeting, a case was brought up for discussion. It involved a revision (“redo”) orthopedic [...]
Case Study: Liver Trouble & Non Alcoholic Steatohepatitis NASH
John Svirbely, MD2022-01-26T20:42:19+08:00This case study introduces a patient with non alcoholic steatohepatitis and related conditions, along with suggested medical calculators which [...]