Mass. Medical Society, DPH Collaborate on Flu Program

WALTHAM — The Mass. Medical Society (MMS), the state Department of Public Health (DPH), and Hopkinton Community Television have announced a collaborative effort in producing a special television program on the flu that is being distributed to public-access television stations across Massachusetts.

The Flu: What You Should Know brings physicians and public health officials together in presenting information on the dangers of H1N1 swine flu and seasonal flu, vaccine safety and supply, how to protect against the infections, and what to do if you get sick. The program, which was taped Nov. 17, is also available for viewing online at www.physicianfocus.org.

The public-service program is being distributed amid reports that flu activity in the state is at historic highs and a national poll that says a majority of Americans don’t want to get the H1N1 flu shot. According to public health officials, 7{06cf2b9696b159f874511d23dbc893eb1ac83014175ed30550cfff22781411e5} of all health care visits in the state are now due to the flu, a rate seven times the norm for this time of year. And a CNN poll released Nov. 18 shows that 55{06cf2b9696b159f874511d23dbc893eb1ac83014175ed30550cfff22781411e5} of Americans don’t want to get the H1N1 flu vaccine and do not intend to get a shot.

The program is a half-hour special presentation of Physician Focus, the medical society’s monthly educational program on health care.

Guests on the program include John Auerbach, Massachusetts Public Health commissioner; Dr. Lauren Smith, a pediatrician and medical director for the DPH; and Dr. Erin Tracy, an obstetrician-gynecologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and vice chair of the Massachusetts Section of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Hosting the show is Dr. Bruce Karlin, a primary care physician in Worcester and vice chair of the MMS Communications Committee.

“Whether in their offices or in emergency rooms, physicians are on the front lines of patient care for both prevention and treatment,” said Karlin. “It’s important that patients get up-to-date and accurate information from reliable sources, and bringing the medical society together with the Department of Public Health is a great way to accomplish that. Public-access television is a wonderful venue for this effort, because it reaches into the community at the local level.”

The program also includes two separate public service announcements; one by Tracy, with a message about the flu for pregnant women; and one by Dr. Bruce Auerbach, past president of the medical society and vice president of Emergency and Ambulatory Services at Sturdy Memorial Hospital in Attleboro, offering guidelines on when patients should go to the emergency room (see related opinion, page 6).

The Flu: What You Should Know is the second collaborative effort of the medical society, the DPH, and Hopkinton Community Television. They had previously produced a one-hour special on the public health crisis of obesity, which was distributed to stations in May and is still available online at www.hcam.tv/obesity.

Physician Focus is a non-commercial production of the MMS and Hopkinton Community Television. Now in its sixth year of production, the half-hour program brings viewers health and medical information each month on timely topics from physicians and other health care experts. Distributed as a public service, the program currently reaches some 230 communities and more than 1.8 million households in the state each month through the courtesy of public-access television stations. For more information and to view previous programs, visit www.physicianfocus.org.