A joint effort with Atherotech Diagnostics Lab, award-winning blog offers practitioner perspectives on heart disease and advanced CVD risk assessment
Managing patients' heart disease risk is his day job; writing about it on social media is a new venture for Michael E. Cobble, M.D., the primary care physician behind CobblesCorner.com. The blog shares clinical cases highlighting medical issues in cholesterol and dyslipidemia, lessons learned in practice, and challenges in lipidology.
A joint effort with Atherotech Diagnostics Lab (Atherotech.com), the website recently won accolades for its use of social media and writing on a blog platform. Cobble's Corner blog deconstructs patient cases from the trenches of lipidology and educates on diagnosis and treatment management. Cobble is the chief medical officer of Atherotech and practices at Canyons Medical Center in Sandy, Utah.
Using the latest blogging software and cross-promoting on Twitter (Twitter.com/Atherotech) and Facebook (Facebook.com/Atherotech), the cases on Cobble's Corner guide readers through complex medical conditions with clear, concise language and lab data shared on actual VAP (Vertical Auto Profile) Cholesterol Test reports. To comply with HIPAA privacy regulations, all patient names are fictional and no identifying patient information is disclosed.
Information contained within the blog is presented with careful research and professional clinician experience, and many of the articles contain references to common practices and medical research. The result is a unique experience that appeals not only to physicians and other health care practitioners, but also to informed consumers.
"Through a review and discussion of actual patient cases, physicians and interested consumers get an idea of the challenges presented in the complex, yet fascinating world of dyslipidemia," said Cobble, a board-certified lipidologist and certified hypertension specialist. "The bottom line is to present situations that show us how important it is to get a complete picture of risk so that it can be most effectively managed and treated."
Since its inception in January 2011, the blog has achieved several milestones:
- Surpassing 7,000 page views
- Garnering more than 300 subscribers
- Attracting multiple discussion threads via readers' comments
- Sharing guest posts from prominent physicians across several medical disciplines
Several physicians regularly read and interact with Cobble's Corner, including Rakesh Patel, M.D., a family physician in Gilbert, Ariz.
"I find the blog to be a way at looking at complex cases that are similar to cases I see in my practice where the standard panel just does not give you the complete picture, and where advanced lipid testing helps get to the root cause of the atherosclerosis process," said Patel, who also writes a blog at azsunfm.blogspot.com.
For more information and to read Cobble's Corner blog, visit CobblesCorner.com.
About Michael E. Cobble, M.D.
Michael E. Cobble, M.D., is a board-certified clinical lipidologist and fellow of the National Lipid Association. Cobble runs a private practice in Sandy, Utah, where he has lived for more than 20 years and focuses on dyslipidemia, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases (CV), hypertension and primary care medicine. He is the director of the Canyons Medical Center and on the board of directors for the Utah Healthy Living Foundation. Along with clinical patient care, Cobble is engaged with clinical research and medical education and is a member of the American Academy of Family Practice, the National Lipid Association and the American Society of Hypertension. His published articles include topics on pathophysiology and treatment of diabetes and dyslipidemia. Cobble graduated with honors from the family practice program medical school/residency at the University of Utah School of Medicine. A large part of his practice involves cardiovascular risk assessments, vascular imaging and the implementation of CV risk reduction strategies. Cobble is the Chief Medical Director at Atherotech Diagnostics Lab. Read his dyslipidemia blog at CobblesCorner.com.
About Atherotech Diagnostics Lab
Atherotech is a CLIA-certified clinical reference laboratory and cardiodiagnostic company focusing on cardiometabolic tests, including the company's patented VAP Cholesterol Test, which reports the cholesterol content of all lipids, components and subclasses. The VAP Test is the first cholesterol profile to comply with updated National Cholesterol Education Program ATP III recommendations for direct LDL measurement, which is accurate with non-fasting samples. The VAP Test is available through national and regional diagnostic laboratories and is reimbursed by many of the largest private insurers as well as Medicare. For more information, visit Atherotech.com.
Contacts:
Armada Medical Marketing for Atherotech Diagnostics Lab
Dan
Snyders, 303-623-1190 x230
dan@armadamedical.com