Batya Swift Yasgur, MA, LSW

Contributing Writer https://www.empr.com

Batya Swift Yasgur MA, LSW, is a freelance medical writer who writes news, features, CME materials, and books for a variety of venues and target audiences, including healthcare professionals and consumers. She has a passion for human rights activism and is the author of Behind the Burqa (John Wiley, 2002), a memoir of two Afghan sisters who escaped Afghanistan. In addition, she holds the 1995 Robert L. Fish Award for Best First Published Mystery Story. Her fiction has appeared in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and several other publications. Beyond her desire to contribute to people's health and wellbeing through her writing, Batya offers emotional/spiritual support to clients in her Teaneck, New Jersey-based counseling practice to facilitate their journeys toward healing.

All articles by Batya Swift Yasgur, MA, LSW

Features

An Uncomfortable Truth: Why Patients Lie to Their Physicians

Batya Swift Yasgur, MA, LSW

June 13, 2022

A growing body of research suggests that patients are not always transparent with their physicians about critical information.

The pitfall of self-reported stress levels is that the baseline stress for some people is so high, a cancer diagnosis doesn’t even register.

Features

Addressing Patient Emotions: Communication Style May Impact Visit Length

Batya Swift Yasgur, MA, LSW

February 28, 2022

Visits were shorter when the clinician’s responses explicitly focused on the patient’s affect.

Features, News

Medical Jargon Frequently Used in Patient Communications

Batya Swift Yasgur, MA, LSW

November 1, 2021

A team of researchers affiliated with the University of Central Florida in Orlando listened to audio recordings of patient encounters and found that less than half of all jargon terms were explained.

Features

Language in Patient Records Can Convey More Than Medical History

Batya Swift Yasgur, MA, LSW

August 16, 2021

The language in a patient’s medical record can convey information not only about the patient’s condition but about the attitude of the clinician writing the report.

Features, News

Q&A: Monoclonal Antibodies for COVID-19

Batya Swift Yasgur, MA, LSW

June 9, 2021

The IDSA recommends that antibody therapy should be administered to patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 at high risk for progression to severe disease.

Features

Calls for More Support as Physicians Face Online Harassment

Batya Swift Yasgur, MA, LSW

March 15, 2021

The researchers conducted 1103 surveys, encompassing 464 US physicians.

Features

COVID-19 Vaccine Allocation: Ethical Concerns, Practical Challenges

Batya Swift Yasgur, MA, LSW

November 2, 2020

In the event of a likely scarcity of COVID-19 vaccines, a framework must be developed to inform who should get priority.

Features

Seven Tips for Managing Healthcare Teamwork During a Pandemic

Batya Swift Yasgur, MA, LSW

July 16, 2020

COVID-19 has brought unprecedented stress to society at large and perhaps most of all to frontline healthcare teams in a variety of settings. We spoke to an expert about teamwork during such trying times.

Features

Reopening Your Practice: 10 Tips for Navigating a Complex Process

Batya Swift Yasgur, MA, LSW

June 4, 2020

Physicians should remain cognizant that this is a rapidly and continually evolving situation and that, although some regulations are being relaxed as the country reopens, there might be an increase in cases.

Features

Seven Things to Consider When Transitioning to Telemedicine During COVID-19

Batya Swift Yasgur, MA, LSW

April 28, 2020

The use of telemedicine has been surging since the onset of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), with millions of Americans now using this medium for connecting with their clinicians, according to a report that appeared in Kaiser Health News.1 The increase in use of this modality can be attributed to fears of contracting COVID-19, social distancing…