Even as physicians face increasing pressure to perform well on measures of patient satisfaction, they may take some comfort in knowing that most patients rate their own doctors very highly.

The average physician rating is 9.3 out of 10, according to a study based on nearly 15,000 patient online ratings between 2004 to 2010. The analysis is based on data from DrScore.com, an online rating site started by a physician. Sites such as Yelp.com may highlight venomous comments from some unhappy patients and paint a misleading portrait of overall patient satisfaction, said Rajesh Balkrishnan, PhD, lead author of the study.

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Offering financial incentives to encourage people to donate bone marrow cells using a method similar to regular blood donation is legal, a three-judge federal appeals court panel unanimously ruled in December.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that donations made using a technique called peripheral blood stem cell apheresis are not covered by the 1984 National Organ Transplant Act. The act outlaws payment or any compensation for organs such as kidneys, lungs or eyes.

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Functional magnetic resonance imaging of doctors’ brains could help physicians learn to avoid diagnostic and treatment mistakes. Doctors who pay as much attention when they make the wrong call as when they get it right are likelier to deliver better care, say the authors of a new study.

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Proposed federal rules that would override laws in 20 states and require laboratories to send test results directly to patients upon request drew an array of objections from physician organizations, labs and hospitals.

The Dept. of Health and Human Services proposal, filed in September, does not require labs to ensure that physicians get test results before patients so they can help them understand the results. The proposal also does not distinguish between routine test results and those that deliver news of a potentially life-altering diagnosis, saying patients should have direct access to all test results.

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Expressing empathy — identifying and understanding a patient’s feelings and motives — is a clinical skill that even experienced physicians can have trouble mastering, research shows. But what if it could be taught by something that seems unfeeling: a computer program?

Apparently, it can, according to a recent study that examined how often oncologists empathize when patients relay feelings such as fear, sadness or distress.

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New Orleans — The American Medical Association House of Delegates adopted new policies aimed at preventing deadly radiation overdoses and curbing the cumulative lifetime impact of radiation from diagnostic tests such as computed tomography.

Delegates at the November Interim Meeting voted to support education and standards for the medical personnel, usually nonphysicians, who use ionizing and nonionizing radiation to ensure that they know how to avoid over-radiating patients. The AMA also will support raising awareness among patients about medical radiation exposure.

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