How to stay healthy when your patients aren't

By Mgma In_Practice posted 02-24-2009 15:48

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By Caren Baginski

It's the sort of stuff your mom used to tell you.

Drink more water.
Wash your hands.
Eat your veggies.
Cover your mouth when you cough.

Staying healthy during the winter can be especially challenging in a medical practice. Germs walk in your doors every day, and mid-February is the height of flu season nationwide, according to Google Flu Trends. Check out its interactive map and chart to see present and past flu activity.

The Northeast states, along with Oregon, Montana, Utah, New Mexico and Florida, show high flu activity (at the time of publishing), based on flu-related Google searches by state. I know what you're thinking: How accurate can this be? Just because someone searches for "flu" doesn't mean they necessarily have the illness.

Last flu season, Google compared its data with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) weekly flu surveillance data, and found a strong correlation between those who had the flu and those who searched for it.

If you've avoided the bug so far, chances are you're managing stress well and doing what your mother told you. The problem lies in the one thing you can't avoid: sick patients.

Fortunately, it takes about two weeks for the CDC to collect and release flu data, but Google aggregates it in real time. Perfect for determining exactly when to ask for time off.

Caren Baginski is MGMA's Web content writer/editor.

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