April

“Make sure you bring in your D-Link so I can configure your VPN to ensure you have remote private encrypted access.” 
—The computer guy

Like many of you I had been wondering if it was time to modernize and consider an electronic medical record, or EMR for short. I was growing tired of using an archaic implement to scratch barely legible words across our pulped forests. 

You may remember that some years ago there was talk of submerging BCMJ into the BCMA News to make a kind of BCMA Medical Post. Many of us, especially those on the BCMJ Editorial Board, were appalled, and said so in the loudest and bluntest tones possible. The proposition went away, and we like to think that we speeded up the process. I am glad that this regrettable idea has stayed away, because I have always felt that the BCMJ is a classy little reminder that we are good people doing good work.

A recent international survey[1] showed that within the year under study, only 38% of Canadians with diabetes received all four basic tests included in the recommended care guidelines.

The sizable gap between recommended care for chronic disease pa­tients and the care they actually receive—as well as the fact that such patients now account for the majority of all primary care visits—underlines the urgency of efforts by the General Practice Services Committee (GPSC) to support BC’s family physicians.

In personal injury cases, where the medical condition of the plaintiff is in question, information from the plaintiff’s treating medical practitioners is of key importance. As a general rule, neither party in a lawsuit “owns” a witness. The lawyers for both parties are free to contact any witnesses that they anticipate will be called by the opposing side.