James J. Biemer, MD
January 2018
| | Writing with a few updates on the practice and matters related to your health in 2018.
GLOBAL HEALTH AND TRAVEL: As I’d mentioned in a previous newsletter, Julia’s presence in the office allowed me finally to attend OHSU’s 10 week course in Global Health (2 days per week). It is one of the best of it’s kind in the country and is designed to give me the skills needed to serve in medically fragile and underdeveloped areas of the world. Moving forward, I hope to be able to take a week or two each year to focus on global health and travel to some medically underserved communities. This review has also been extremely helpful in understanding the various risks of travel, and will enhance my ability to help YOU prepare for travel, both to developed and to more exotic destinations.
CHANGES IN CLINICAL CARE: We are continuing to work with Providence on the likely expansion of our office into the space above us, Suite 963. This space is about 400 square feet larger and gives us the opportunity to plan with the FUTURE of medicine in mind. I’d like to give you more opportunities to do “virtual visits” if it is helpful not to leave home. I am becoming more interested after our global health course in the use of a handheld, bedside ultrasound that can diagnose a host of problems in the heart, lungs, liver, kidney etc. without radiation. I am working with Boston Heart Labs, to develop a custom panel of more detailed labs for assessment of heart, brain, vascular, and cancer risks that we can offer on a periodic basis to those who want this. We are also looking carefully to the future of GENOMIC, PERSONALIZED medicine - it’s closer than you think, with some commercial labs offering sets of 80-100 tests for common genetic mutations now for under $500. More important than cost though, will be understanding the impact of KNOWING these traits exist in your family.
Please feel free to send your comments and thoughts about what an improved office would look like, and how it would function. We’re planning the next 8 years at least, the terms of our new lease.
I’ll write again soon to give you some updates on our Suite 963 planning and to discuss the role of a new position in the office to assist you with more aspects of scheduling tests and consults with specialists. Thanks for your attention and ideas!
Stay well,
Dr. Biemer | |
| Addition of Julia Jones, Certified Nurse
Practitioner
Many of you have met Julia Jones, certified nurse practitioner, who’s now been with us for 4 months. She’s been a terrific fit, as many of you have reflected back to me after meeting her. Julia came to us this fall from Cleveland, Ohio. She received her MSN from Case Western Reserve University and then joined the Oncology practice at The Cleveland Clinic, working primarily in Palliative Care. She has a special interest in geriatrics and brings with her an emphasis on maximizing her patient’s quality of life. She is especially focused on wellness and prevention in her practice and is excited to help patients utilize healthy lifestyle modifications as important tools in chronic disease prevention and management.
A native of the Pacific Northwest, Julia is thrilled to be back on the West Coast after many years away. Outside of the office she enjoys exploring Portland with her husband and two young children, cooking and new restaurants, an occasional boot camp class and cheering on her beloved Fighting Irish.
| | |
FLU SEASON
The current FLU SEASON is ramping up, and unfortunately the current flu shot is not looking to provide great coverage, though even now I would suggest getting one. The shots are safe and may reduce disease severity. If you ARE exposed to what appears clearly INFLUENZA (generally involves sore throat and cough WITH headache, achy sore muscles and fever over 100 degrees) keep in mind that antiviral therapy with Tamiflu can shorten duration and severity of symptoms, ESPECIALLY if you are over 65 or have chronic medical conditions such as diabetes or asthma.
|
|
|
| | | Changing Landscape in Health Insurance
Lastly, we note that the landscape of MEDICAL INSURANCE is changing rapidly, and we really cannot predict where it will go in the coming year (s). Providence recently made a change to it’s commercial, self-insured (not employer-based) products that will require some of my patients to change primary care to a Providence MEDICAL HOME, a designation that is meant to reduce costs, but greatly limits your options for care providers. A number of other insurers have made similar changes to this type of plan. We will be staying on top of this as much as possible in the coming year and will let you know if we anticipate any further disruption of it’s kind (to date this has not affected MEDICARE patients).
|
| | Quick bits from the world of Medicine
|
| | | | | | | |
