Video

SAN FRANCISCO – Surgeons improve if they know they are behind the curve, according to Dr. Judy A. Tjoe, a breast cancer surgeon with Milwaukee-based Aurora Health Care.

She and her colleagues used that principle to significantly increase Aurora’s use of minimally invasive breast biopsies, the gold standard to diagnose breast cancer.

Although Dr. Tjoe and the system’s other three dedicated breast surgeons were using MIBB as appropriate, they found that 9 of 42 general surgeons (21%) were not, opting instead for open biopsies.

All it took to fix the problem was letting those surgeons know that minimally invasive breast biopsies was the preferred method, and that most of their peers were using it.

In a video interview at the American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress, Dr. Tjoe, also chair of Aurora’s quality committee for breast cancer care, explained why that message was so powerful, and how, in an era of pay for performance, the project is a model for improving health care without punitive measures.

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SAN FRANCISCO – Surgeons improve if they know they are behind the curve, according to Dr. Judy A. Tjoe, a breast cancer surgeon with Milwaukee-based Aurora Health Care.

She and her colleagues used that principle to significantly increase Aurora’s use of minimally invasive breast biopsies, the gold standard to diagnose breast cancer.

Although Dr. Tjoe and the system’s other three dedicated breast surgeons were using MIBB as appropriate, they found that 9 of 42 general surgeons (21%) were not, opting instead for open biopsies.

All it took to fix the problem was letting those surgeons know that minimally invasive breast biopsies was the preferred method, and that most of their peers were using it.

In a video interview at the American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress, Dr. Tjoe, also chair of Aurora’s quality committee for breast cancer care, explained why that message was so powerful, and how, in an era of pay for performance, the project is a model for improving health care without punitive measures.

[email protected]

SAN FRANCISCO – Surgeons improve if they know they are behind the curve, according to Dr. Judy A. Tjoe, a breast cancer surgeon with Milwaukee-based Aurora Health Care.

She and her colleagues used that principle to significantly increase Aurora’s use of minimally invasive breast biopsies, the gold standard to diagnose breast cancer.

Although Dr. Tjoe and the system’s other three dedicated breast surgeons were using MIBB as appropriate, they found that 9 of 42 general surgeons (21%) were not, opting instead for open biopsies.

All it took to fix the problem was letting those surgeons know that minimally invasive breast biopsies was the preferred method, and that most of their peers were using it.

In a video interview at the American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress, Dr. Tjoe, also chair of Aurora’s quality committee for breast cancer care, explained why that message was so powerful, and how, in an era of pay for performance, the project is a model for improving health care without punitive measures.

[email protected]

VIENNA – The huge scope of the West African Ebola outbreak makes bringing it under control an unprecedented challenge with an uncertain outcome, Dr. Hilde de Clerck said in an interview during the International Meeting on Emerging Diseases and Surveillance.

The large number of people who have been infected with Ebola in the West African countries of Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia – close to 14,000 identified cases by the end of October – has forced clinicians on the scene, such as those working with Médicins Sans Frontières (MSF; Doctors Without Borders), to try new approaches in their attempt to rein in further spread of the infection, said Dr. de Clerk, an epidemiologist and family physician who serves as a field coordinator for MSF specializing in viral hemorrhagic fevers. Right now, it is hard to predict when the outbreak will be brought under control, she said. To watch an interview in which she discusses containment strategies, click here.

Dr. de Cleck had no disclosures.

[email protected]

On Twitter @mitchelzoler

VIENNA – The huge scope of the West African Ebola outbreak makes bringing it under control an unprecedented challenge with an uncertain outcome, Dr. Hilde de Clerck said in an interview during the International Meeting on Emerging Diseases and Surveillance.

The large number of people who have been infected with Ebola in the West African countries of Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia – close to 14,000 identified cases by the end of October – has forced clinicians on the scene, such as those working with Médicins Sans Frontières (MSF; Doctors Without Borders), to try new approaches in their attempt to rein in further spread of the infection, said Dr. de Clerk, an epidemiologist and family physician who serves as a field coordinator for MSF specializing in viral hemorrhagic fevers. Right now, it is hard to predict when the outbreak will be brought under control, she said. To watch an interview in which she discusses containment strategies, click here.

Dr. de Cleck had no disclosures.

[email protected]

On Twitter @mitchelzoler

VIENNA – The huge scope of the West African Ebola outbreak makes bringing it under control an unprecedented challenge with an uncertain outcome, Dr. Hilde de Clerck said in an interview during the International Meeting on Emerging Diseases and Surveillance.

The large number of people who have been infected with Ebola in the West African countries of Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia – close to 14,000 identified cases by the end of October – has forced clinicians on the scene, such as those working with Médicins Sans Frontières (MSF; Doctors Without Borders), to try new approaches in their attempt to rein in further spread of the infection, said Dr. de Clerk, an epidemiologist and family physician who serves as a field coordinator for MSF specializing in viral hemorrhagic fevers. Right now, it is hard to predict when the outbreak will be brought under control, she said. To watch an interview in which she discusses containment strategies, click here.

Dr. de Cleck had no disclosures.

[email protected]

On Twitter @mitchelzoler

SAN FRANCISCO– It’s possible that the HIV drug lamivudine (Epivir) truly is helpful for Ebola, according to epidemiologist George W. Rutherford, head of the division of prevention medicine and public health at the University of California, San Francisco.

He and his colleagues are gearing up to study the drug, in the wake of anecdotal reports suggesting that it might help. In vitro testing for Ebola is already underway.

In this video interview, Dr. Rutherford shares his thoughts on the drug as a treatment for the infection. He also explains the current thinking on another potential Ebola treatment, ZMapp, at the American Psychiatric Association Institute on Psychiatric Services meeting.

[email protected]

SAN FRANCISCO– It’s possible that the HIV drug lamivudine (Epivir) truly is helpful for Ebola, according to epidemiologist George W. Rutherford, head of the division of prevention medicine and public health at the University of California, San Francisco.

He and his colleagues are gearing up to study the drug, in the wake of anecdotal reports suggesting that it might help. In vitro testing for Ebola is already underway.

In this video interview, Dr. Rutherford shares his thoughts on the drug as a treatment for the infection. He also explains the current thinking on another potential Ebola treatment, ZMapp, at the American Psychiatric Association Institute on Psychiatric Services meeting.

[email protected]

SAN FRANCISCO– It’s possible that the HIV drug lamivudine (Epivir) truly is helpful for Ebola, according to epidemiologist George W. Rutherford, head of the division of prevention medicine and public health at the University of California, San Francisco.

He and his colleagues are gearing up to study the drug, in the wake of anecdotal reports suggesting that it might help. In vitro testing for Ebola is already underway.

In this video interview, Dr. Rutherford shares his thoughts on the drug as a treatment for the infection. He also explains the current thinking on another potential Ebola treatment, ZMapp, at the American Psychiatric Association Institute on Psychiatric Services meeting.

[email protected]