Primary Care News and Research

Latest Primary Care News and Research

Uncontrolled hypertension claims more than 10 million lives every year

The World Health Organization (WHO) today released its second Global hypertension report, showing that 1.4 billion people lived with hypertension in 2024, yet just over one in five have it under control either through medication or addressing modifiable health risks.

24 Sep 2025

"Light-touch" diabetes intervention can be successfully integrated into clinical workflows

This study tested whether a referral order inside the Epic electronic health record (EHR) could help primary care clinicians refer patients to community-based diabetes prevention programs (DPPs), an important public health strategy to reduce incident type 2 diabetes, and whether patients enrolled after referral.

23 Sep 2025

Dental care habits predict broader preventive health behaviors in college students

For undergraduates, a trip to the dentist can reflect more than oral health. Those who kept up with dental exams were also more likely to schedule eye and physical exams, carry health insurance, and rate their overall health more positively, according to new study.

23 Sep 2025

Improving medication access in primary care with pharmacy technician support

This study examined whether adding pharmacy technicians to primary care teams relieved clinicians and nurses of medication-access tasks and improved perceptions of burden, quality of care and patient access.

23 Sep 2025

Shifts in patient and physician trends shape primary care in Alberta

In this study, researchers examined changes over time in characteristics of adults cared for by family physicians from 2004 to 2020 in Alberta, Canada, along with trends in family physicians and their practice patterns for adults over 18 years old.

23 Sep 2025

Young adults face highest rates of missed dental care amid cost and insurance gaps

Regular dental checkups are vital for overall health. Yet dental care in the United States is still excluded from medical health insurance coverage and usually not integrated with public health initiatives that promote preventative care.

22 Sep 2025

States are cutting Medicaid provider payments long before Trump cuts hit

Every day for nearly 18 years, Alessandra Fabrello has been a medical caregiver for her son, on top of being his mom.

22 Sep 2025

CHOP researchers unveil framework for boosting children's oral health

Researchers from Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) demonstrated how a multifaceted intervention approach significantly improved the rate of dental varnish applications to help strengthen tooth enamel and prevent decay.

19 Sep 2025

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Ousted CDC officials clap back at RFK Jr.

Fired less than a month after being confirmed as head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Susan Monarez appeared at a dramatic Senate hearing this week alongside another ousted CDC official and directly contradicted Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy's earlier testimony about why she was fired.

18 Sep 2025

Rising wildfire smoke could drive thousands of additional deaths in the United States by 2050

Wildfires burning across Canada and the Western United States are spewing smoke over millions of Americans – the latest examples of ashy haze becoming a regular experience, with health impacts far greater than scientists previously estimated.

18 Sep 2025

Health care cuts threaten homegrown solutions to rural doctor shortages

Olivia Owlett chose to do her primary care residency in this Northern California college town largely because it faces many of the same health care challenges she grew up with.

18 Sep 2025

Team Trump’s answer to ballooning Obamacare premiums: Less generous coverage

Trump administration officials, looking at the possible impact of large insurance premium increases for millions of next year's Obamacare customers, want more people to consider plans with less generous benefits and high deductibles.

17 Sep 2025

Projected surge in uninsured will strain local health systems

Jake Margo Jr. stood in the triage room at Starr County Memorial Hospital explaining why a person with persistent fever who could be treated with over-the-counter medication didn't need to be admitted to the emergency room.

17 Sep 2025

Common bladder infection may signal urogenital cancer risk

A bout of the common bladder infection, cystitis, may signal the presence of urogenital cancers-which affect parts of the body involved in reproduction and excretion-in middle aged adults, suggests research published in the open access journal BMJ Public Health.

17 Sep 2025

Integrated pediatric behavioral health care reduces symptoms in children

Research led by the Transforming and Expanding Access to Mental Health Care Universally in Pediatrics (TEAM UP) Scaling and Sustainability Center of Boston Medical Center (BMC) finds that children who receive behavioral health services delivered through the TEAM UP Model™ of integrated behavioral health care have fewer behavioral health symptoms.

16 Sep 2025

Lifestyle changes show promise in preventing cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease

An estimated 7.2 million Americans over age 65 currently live with Alzheimer's disease (AD). That number is expected to nearly double to 13.8 million by 2060.

16 Sep 2025

Researchers develop a digital cognitive test for diagnosing Alzheimer's disease

Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have developed a digital cognitive test for diagnosing Alzheimer's disease that is intended for use in primary care.

15 Sep 2025

Why are more older people dying after falls?

For a while, walking the dog felt hazardous. Earl Vickers was accustomed to taking Molly, his shepherd-boxer-something-else mix, for strolls on the beach or around his neighborhood in Seaside, California. A few years ago, though, he started to experience problems staying upright.

15 Sep 2025

Primary care providers less likely to recommend PSA testing for Black men

Although Black men die of prostate cancer at twice the rate of the rest of U.S. males, this fact often is not known or considered during appointments with their primary-care clinicians to discuss a common screening test.

13 Sep 2025

New care program aims to improve cancer treatment access for Indigenous patients

Researchers from the University of Oklahoma Health Campus have published an article in the New England Journal of Medicine describing a novel care coordination and communication program and its potential for helping Indigenous people access the lifesaving cancer care that they need.

11 Sep 2025