News in brief - Sept. 1, 2003

AMA crisis map goes interactive - Survey says residents could use more technology to trim paperwork time - National Medical Assn. selects new physician leader - British scientists create country's first embryonic stem cell line

AMA crisis map goes interactive

A new interactive Web site allows Internet users to see the American Medical Association's medical liability insurance crisis map and click on a state to read statistics and stories about medical liability insurance problems -- or bright spots -- in the state. The Coalition for Affordable and Reliable Health Care put the interactive feature on its Web site (www.carh.net/state_crisis.asp) as a tool for politicians and the public to learn more about the problems facing physicians and patients.

Survey says residents could use more technology to trim paperwork time

Mobile computer technology would improve medical residents' productivity, which would allow them to spend more time with patients. according to a survey by Mercury MD Inc., a mobile health care technology company based in Durham, N.C.

The survey, which was completed by more than 2,000 residents from 263 hospitals, found that residents spend an average of 5.2 hours a day managing data, with 2.2 hours devoted to patient care, out of an average 81.7 work hours per week.

Of those surveyed, 85% used personal digital assistants on the job, with 52% using them mostly for downloading patient information and 38% for clinical reference guides.

Some 92% said mobile technology would raise their productivity and 88% said it would benefit patient care. About 74% said the technology could reduce medical errors and 28% said it could decrease the length of stay for patients.

National Medical Assn. selects new physician leader

The National Medical Assn. recently installed Randall W. Maxey, MD, PhD, a Los Angeles nephrologist, as its 104th president at its Annual Convention and Scientific Assembly in Philadelphia.

Dr. Maxey has made outstanding contributions to research regarding the prevention and treatment of renal failure, especially in cases complicated by cardiovascular disease, the association said.

Dr. Maxey has held academic appointments at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles; Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn; Howard University in Washington, D.C., and Guam Memorial Hospital, Oka Tamuning, where he provided new approaches to preventing renal failure in diabetes mellitus and hypertension to South Pacific Islanders.

In his address to the convention's delegates, Dr. Maxey said the loss of practicing doctors in the African-American community is negatively impacting patients. The National Medical Assn. is the nation's largest organization of African-American physicians, representing more than 25,000 doctors.

British scientists create country's first embryonic stem cell line

Scientists at King's College in London announced that they have grown the United Kingdom's first embryonic stem cell line available for research into finding treatments for conditions such as Parkinson's disease and diabetes.

Using 58 embryos left over from fertility treatments, researchers created three stem cell lines, only one of which survived, according to a King's College press release.

Because they were created after the Aug. 9, 2001, cut-off date set by President Bush, researchers who use the British stem cell line will not be eligible for U.S. government funds.

There are 78 embryonic stem cell lines created in the United States, Australia, India, Israel and Sweden that meet the president's criteria, but only 12 have cells available at this time for scientists to use.

Not everyone was pleased with the college's announcement, including Helen Watt, PhD, director of the Linacre Centre, a London-based Catholic bioethics institution.

Dr. Watt told the BBC that this research turns human embryos into "pharmaceutical products."