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  Awards Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Ctr. Boston Medical Center Boston University Brigham and Women's Hospital Broad Institute Cambridge Health Alliance Caritas St. Elizabeth's Medical Ctr. Children's Hospital Boston Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Grants Harvard University Joslin Diabetes Center Lahey Clinic Mass. General Hospital Mass. Health Law McLean Hospital MIT New England Baptist Hospital Personnel Moves Public Health Research Short White Coat Tufts-New England Medical Center Tufts University UMass Memorial Medical Center University of Massachusetts VA Medical Centers    A Healthy Blog Running A Hospital Nature Network Boston SciBos - Corie Lok's blog Kevin, M.D. Blog, MD Dr. Flea's blog Nurse at small Your Child's Health Blog Healthy Children blog WBUR's CommonHealth Other Globe Blogs
Elizabeth Cooney is a health reporter for the Worcester Telegram &
Gazette.
Boston Globe Health and Science staff:
Scott Allen Alice Dembner Carey Goldberg Liz Kowalczyk Stephen Smith Colin Nickerson Beth Daley Karen Weintraub, Deputy Health and Science Editor, and Gideon Gil, Health and Science Editor. Short White Coat blogger Ishani Ganguli  |
« Brigham names two leaders of technology initiative | Main | Should doctor-patient conversations be taped? » Tuesday, February 20, 2007Pediatrician blogger comments on ER overuse"Flea," a Boston-area pediatrician who is the author of drfleablog, comments today on Liz Kowalczyk's story in Sunday's Boston Globe about state efforts to reduce the use of emergency rooms by patients with non-urgent illnesses: "Here's the problem: Overuse of emergency services for non-emergent complaints educates parents and their children that non-emergent conditions require emergency level of care. Thus when a toddler in my practice goes to the E.D. with cold symptoms and gets an I.V. (true story from last night), the parents learn that colds deserve I.V.'s "Once the lesson is taught, it's friggin' hard to unlearn. Flea knows that E.D. docs have a lot on their plates. If they can find the strength to do so, could they please help us educate patients not to go to the E.D. for minor complaints?" Posted by Gideon Gil at 07:37 PM
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