Chart Audits
OPINION
DOCTORS Lounge
( continued from page 25)
in the world. In early August, when nuclear swords were brandished, he started rapid construction of another bunker in Seattle. He also advised that the safest places in the fall of 2017 would be Africa and Russia. Luxury bunkers offer DNA storage, comms centers, even pools and gyms, plus the requisite decontamination rooms, air purifiers, and of course, the bulletproof hatch.
The Cold War bunker one can visit in old East Berlin had rudimentary sleeping shelves, a blood pressure cuff, gas masks and Geiger counters. The citizens were told it would hold 5,000; in reality it had a capacity of 184.
Because of the rate of radioactive decay, most of these survival sites recommend supplies for at least two weeks underground. They recommend weaponry, water, batteries( rooms full, all kinds), MREs, medical kits, and potassium iodide. Here, I hear the voice of Dr. Nelson Watts, Prof Emeritus of Endocrinology at Emory:“ Potassium iodide only protects the thyroid. These dooms-dayers think it will save them, but it won’ t.”
There are some grains of hope, providing that attacks are limited and no nuclear winter results. Dr. Bertrand Jordan, a French scientist, in the August 2016 Genetics reported Hiroshima survivor data from 1958-1998. The data from Hiroshima survivors – who can place how far they were from the death zone – has helped scientists calculate radiation risks for, and set exposure limits for, all who work around x-rays. Survivors’ cancer rates were directly linked to the extent of their radiation exposure. Those exposed to 1 Gray( about 1,000 times higher a dose than is safe for a human) had a 44 percent greater risk of cancers, but average lifetimes were only shortened about 1.5 years. So far, no differences in health or mutation risks have been found in the children of the survivors, though Dr. Jordan would like to do more detailed genome studies over many years.
It may lessen your anxiety, as it did for me in 1962, to plan your basement stash. I believe, as always, prevention is the best medicine. But what I have in mind is not a hoard of peanut butter. What I want is to force all those who hold the nuclear codes in their hands to watch the 1984 British movie“ Threads.” That movie, shot in Sheffield, follows a couple of families through many years post-nuclear attack. They are burned to death in front of you, crushed in front of you, they bleed to death in front of you; later they kill each other over rats. It’ s the stuff of nuclear nightmare.
That’ s the best reality check I know: seeing is believing.
Dr. Barry practices Internal Medicine with Norton Community Medical Associates-Barret. She is a clinical associate professor at the University of Louisville School of Medicine, Department of Medicine.
Brenda Wallace, CPA, CMPE 800.880.7800 ext. 1347 bwallace @ hsccpa. com
Chart Audits
The basics are a starting point, not an ending.
We can assess your medical billing process and make recommendations to help you gain efficiences and improve profitability.
To request a quote, call us or visit www. hsccpa. com / medical-billing-services
PROFESSIONAL ANNOUNCEMENT PACKAGE
The GLMS Professional Announcement Package provides mailings and printed announcements in the monthly publications to let your colleagues know about changes in your practice.
Outsource your next mailing to GLMS.
CONTACT Cheri McGuire, Director of Marketing 502.736.6336 cheri. mcguire @ glms. org
26 LOUISVILLE MEDICINE