Infection control humor for education?…

Evidence-based medicine cartoon books?…

What next? Agreement on healthcare reform?!

Look… the educational materials in the healthcare professions can be pretty dry, downright boring, and ultimately, awesome dust magnets. So, we’re trying to change things a little bit (and not without some controversy).

We’re releasing a new book today - a funny, witty, medical humor book with evidence-based advice on infection control practices. This isn’t some cute little healthcare limerick you post up at staff meeting… or some cheesy nursing clip art for bulletin boards that no one looks at…

No. This is Bugs on Scrubs, a hilarious argument between a nurse and a doctor about who is spreading infection - and an interesting, all-too-familiar twist at the end. We’re releasing it today at the pre-ISBN, pre-real-publication price of only 10 bucks.

Medical humor and medical education have a love child, Bugs on Scrubs, and it’s only 10 clams.

This thing is awesome for staff orientation, infection control initiatives, and getting those picky Joint Commissioners off your organization’s back. Oh yeah… and the holidays too. This book makes a great gift for nurses, doctors, hospital administrators, techs, therapists, and that dude that always wipes his nose right before he tries to shake your hand. Check it out.

Doctors’ handwriting is no laughing matter.

Being a doctor myself, I decided to take healthcare reform into my own hands. Here is step number one… a handwriting course for physicians.

By the way, try to ignore the subliminal messages embedded in this workbook. Those darn administrators and Joint Commissioners always slip stuff in there… don’t they?

Download it here:

Hilarious video… the only thing missing is a catchy trade name.  With a short, simple & catchy trade name Big Pharma make it easy for us (and patients) to remember the trade name, but never the generic (Paracetamoxyfrusebendroneomycin).

I like the fact that Paracetamoxyfrusebendroneomycin can be taken in multiple routes.  I’ve always wondered about some sort of mega-suppository… we could call it the “Protocol Pellet”.  Every discipline and hospital service line could have its own per-rectal bolus of meds - psych, ortho, open heart, CHF, etc.

Pharmaceutical lunches aren’t just about the doctors and the reps… What about everyone else in the periphery?… the food stores… the squishy toy makers…

And these guys?…

Who’s looking out for them? Huh? When is their bailout coming?

Here’s the latest in the iHealth iPod Parody Series. The most recent iPod medical humor graphics put out there were iShock and iAGRA… now, we give you iVee…

In addition to trying to con you into buying some medical humor buttons, shirts, mugs, hats, etc with these iHealth designs, we’re also trying to build some anticipation of our release of a free iPhone/iPod app… a funny one of course.

.

We’ve added a ton of iHealth eCards for you to send to new grads, dads, or, of course, if you just wanna make someone laugh. Here’s a video that explains how to get to and use the eCards. They’re completely free and they’re completely awesome. We’ve added a bunch more since this video was made, so go look for yourself.

After the HUGE response to the last AED/CPR Awareness Week blog post (the iShock), here’s one to really make you smile.

In the last post, I raised the question of what would it look like if Apple teamed up with Google Health and Microsoft Health Vault… and Guidant, Johnson & Johnson, Boston Scientific… and the Red Cross… and your GPS system? Now, let’s throw Big Pharma in there.

So, here’s the latest in GiggleMed’s iHealth Humor Series… iAGRA (More to come the rest of the week… new iHealth/iPod possibilities… with a funny twist, of course.

The one drawback to this novel device, of course, would be that it’s not safe for dual bath tubs… But there’s still some funny stuff to get.

If you found this funny… Go ahead… Rise up and tell your friends. Tweet it. Digg it. Mixx it. And Stumble it.

OK, this isn’t a very long post… and it’s certainly not a usual GiggleMed-style medical humor post.

Instead, let’s call it a proposal. In light of all of the patients I have seen in the hospital with “shortness of breath” as their primary presenting symptom, I think it’s time for a new diagnosis… a new disorder… a new classification.

I really think doing so will help with complex Joint Commission issues, throughput, ER overcrowding, coding confusion and more. It will help admitting physicians, ER attendings, EMTs, and interns and residents.

So, here’s my proposal:

This will allow ER doctors and admitting physicians to prescribe the “Shortness of Breath Shot Gun” with no qualms at all… no need for elaborate, detailed histories… a quick, selective “physical exam” will be all that is needed. The pre-printed orderset will be a snap… a Treatment Trifecta:

A separate pathway for dialysis patients can include HD instead of diuretics.

Think how easy an admission would be.

And now, I’m working on the ultimate combo-pill… I was thinking that subspecialty services like heart failure, orthopedics, open heart surgery, and any other protocol-driven service could have one monster combination medicine… complete with each med written on the usual protocol… all delivered via patented, time-release capsules…

I imagine such a med would be so large that it would have to be delivered as a suppository…

That’s it! The Protocol Pellet ™

Lots of people are facing hard financial times. And while everyone is reporting depressing news of layoffs and bankruptcies, I wanted to touch on some news that’s a little more practical (and funny). If you work in a hospital - nurses, techs, doctors, interns, administrators, NPs, PAs, etc - you should be aware of these “9 Signs that the Hospital is in Financial Trouble“. If you see anyone of these bad boys going on at your workplace, start looking for another job.

• Rent-a-catheter program
• The nurse and the physician ask for their portion of the bill each day.
• Discount on surgery in exchange for semi-permanent tattoo - “Like my CABG? Call 1-800-
• We-Cath1″
• When patients bring medicines to the hospital, the pills are collected, counted, and added to the hospital formulary.
• The 64-slice CT scanner is operated by a technician and Vinny, the “billing supervisor”.
• Triage includes collecting your bank routing number in addition to your insurance information.
• Napkins provided with your meals have logos of various local fast food places.
• Passing by the cafeteria, you note that they are washing the plastic utensils and styrofoam cups.
• Patient lunches are sponsored by pharmaceutical companies.

Got some of your own signs to add to this funny list? Post a comment below (no patient identifiers, no copyrighted material, and we can do with it whatever we want). Or, just let us know your favorite. Post a comment now.

I’m not sure where it started… maybe from a mixture of words like botanicals, herbal, and pharmaceuticals… maybe from those network marketing folks using new words like nutriceuticals. I don’t know.

But lately, I’ve heard way too many health care professionals using words that do not exist, like “diabeticals” and “diureticals”. I expect it from an occasional patient, but not people that work in health care.

Anyway, here’s a comic I made about diureticals…

Comedy Central investigates home surgery kits, statin commercials, doctors’ credentials, and cheating death in this funny medical news video spoof. They do a great job of getting to the bottom of the 1980s projection that there would be a doctor glut due to managed care.