Primary Care News and Research

Latest Primary Care News and Research

State highlights: D.C. health care providers continue wait for payments; Ga. plans Medicaid managed care for kids; Hospital chain seeks insurer license in Calif.

A selection of health policy stories from Virginia, the District of Columbia, California, Wisconsin, Georgia, South Carolina, Pennsylvania and Washington.

19 Jul 2013

Highmark Health Services creates Accountable Care Alliance to improve health care in Western Pennsylvania

Highmark Health Services is helping to improve health care through the formation of the Accountable Care Alliance, designed to not only improve care, but to also make it more affordable for patients in Western Pennsylvania.

19 Jul 2013

Viewpoints: Does your doctor favor more expensive drugs?; Texas Sen. Wendy Davis says abortion law threatens 'health and safety' of women

Your doctor hands you a prescription for a blood pressure drug. But is it the right one for you? You're searching for a new primary-care physician or a specialist. Is there a way you can know whether the doctor is more partial to expensive, brand-name drugs than his peers? (Tracy Weber and Charles Ornstein, 7/16).

17 Jul 2013

State highlights: Minn. health plans stockpile nearly $2B in cash; Calif. law to offer health care to immigrants in U.S. illegally

After four straight years of profitable growth, Minnesota's health plans have stockpiled a substantial surplus of cash reserves. The health insurance companies, which get nearly three-quarters of their business from state and federal programs, now have more than $1.9 billion in reserves -- $1.3 billion more than required by state law, according to a review by Twin Cities health care analyst Allan Baumgarten (Crosby, 7/15).

17 Jul 2013

Cigna, Hunterdon Healthcare Partners launch collaborative accountable care initiative

Cigna and Hunterdon Healthcare Partners, LLC, a physician hospital organization (PHO) affiliated with Hunterdon Healthcare, have launched a collaborative accountable care initiative to improve patient access to health care, enhance care coordination, and achieve the "triple aim" of improved health, affordability and patient experience.

16 Jul 2013

New Mexico Medicaid overhaul OK'd

Medicaid recipients will face co-pays for some treatments and have their medical services tracked as part of a program overhaul that is intended to lower the costs of providing health care, Gov. Susana Martinez's administration announced Monday. There will be no changes in determining who qualifies for Medicaid, which serves about a quarter of New Mexico's population (Massey, 7/15).

16 Jul 2013

Study provides insight into how primary care patients experience genetic testing

Several companies sell genetic testing directly to consumers, but little research has been done on how consumers experience such tests. The tests have raised questions about the validity and accuracy of the information provided to consumers - especially without the involvement of a qualified health care professional.

16 Jul 2013

First Edition: July 16, 2013

Kaiser Health News consumer columnist Michelle Andrews reports: "Since smokers' health-care costs tend to be higher than those of nonsmokers, is it reasonable for smokers to pay higher premiums when they buy insurance through the new state marketplaces that are scheduled to open in October? A handful of states and the District say the answer is no" (Andrews, 7/16).

16 Jul 2013

Freestanding ERs, urgent care centers, frequent flyers change health care marketplace

News outlets offer various reports on how emergency and urgent care facilities are affecting how America delivers health care.

16 Jul 2013

Conversation guide helps doctor tackle end-of-life care planning with patient

How does a doctor tackle the delicate issue of end-of-life care planning with a patient? With an aging population and people living longer with chronic illness, it is increasingly important for patients and family members to decide how they and their loved ones would like to spend their final days. And for physicians in both hospital and primary care settings, it is crucial that they know how to address this issue with sensitivity.

16 Jul 2013

Older minority male cancer survivors less likely to receive basic preventive care: Study

Older African-American and Hispanic men who have survived cancer are less likely than their white counterparts to see a specialist or receive basic preventive care, such as vaccinations, according to new research from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.

15 Jul 2013

Viewpoints: GOP should focus on fixing health law; bishops refuse to accept victory

Los Angeles Times: It's Time To Focus On Fixing The Affordable Care Act, Not Gutting It Conservatives have married their political fortunes to the notion that Obamacare is a catastrophe and must be discarded in its entirety - even though some of the signature elements of the law, such as a requirement that most people be insured, are ideas that they originated.

15 Jul 2013

Health IT systems being used to track doctors, too

Some physicians feel second-guessed by systems that track how they handle their patients. Also, in other coverage about health care delivery, the Fiscal Times examines the growth of minute clinics.

15 Jul 2013

Viewpoints: 'Implosion' of the ACA; Administration 'spin machine'; Republicans on 'search-and-destroy' mission

July 3 was the quiet afternoon that a deputy assistant Treasury secretary for tax policy announced in a blog post that the Affordable Care Act's employer mandate would be delayed one year. Something about the "complexity of the requirements." ... Even if you are a liberal and support the goals of the Affordable Care Act, there has to be an emerging sense that maybe the law's theorists missed a signal from life outside the castle walls. While they troweled brick after brick into a 2,000-page law, the rest of the world was reshaping itself into smaller, more nimble units whose defining metaphor is the 140-character Twitter message (Daniel Henninger, 7/10).

12 Jul 2013

Vanderbilt research program trains community pediatricians to diagnose autism

A Vanderbilt research program that trains community pediatricians to diagnose autism within their individual practices may lead to more effective treatment of the disorder that now affects an estimated one in 88 children.

12 Jul 2013

GADES tool can help pediatricians in early detection of language disorders

The GADES tool was developed as a result of a research conducted by the group Telematic Systems for the Information and Knowledge Society of the Telecommunication School at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid.

12 Jul 2013

Risk-factor screening of high-risk children may delay or prevent chronic health conditions later in life

Mexican American children are experiencing substantial burdens of obesity, pre-diabetes, and other health problems which historically would have been expected to develop much later in life. The findings of a new study by Texas Biomed scientists in San Antonio argue for early screening and intervention to delay or avoid chronic health problems as these children age.

12 Jul 2013

Medicare to propose new doctor payment for managing multiple chronic conditions

Medicare is proposing paying doctors for managing Medicare patients with multiple chronic conditions starting in 2015. In the meantime, a Medicare plan to deny an Eli Lily diagnostic test to patients unless they are enrolled in a clinical trial is decried by some Alzheimer's treatment advocates.

11 Jul 2013

UC Davis study questions whether primary care rankings measure quality

The U.S. News & World Report graduate school rankings inspire discussion and marketing, but do they actually reflect quality differences between schools when it comes to medical education in primary care?

11 Jul 2013

Weight loss interventions deliver via conference calls by primary care provider staff are effective

Weight loss interventions delivered via conference calls by primary care provider staff are effective. An intensive lifestyle intervention, proven to help people lose weight to prevent diabetes, also works in primary care when delivered over the telephone to obese patients with metabolic syndrome. Group telephone sessions appear to be particularly effective for greater weight loss, according to a new study by Drs. Paula Trief and Ruth Weinstock from SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, New York, and colleagues.

10 Jul 2013

Primary Care News and Research

Latest Primary Care News and Research

State highlights: D.C. health care providers continue wait for payments; Ga. plans Medicaid managed care for kids; Hospital chain seeks insurer license in Calif.

Highmark Health Services creates Accountable Care Alliance to improve health care in Western Pennsylvania

Viewpoints: Does your doctor favor more expensive drugs?; Texas Sen. Wendy Davis says abortion law threatens 'health and safety' of women

State highlights: Minn. health plans stockpile nearly $2B in cash; Calif. law to offer health care to immigrants in U.S. illegally

Cigna, Hunterdon Healthcare Partners launch collaborative accountable care initiative

New Mexico Medicaid overhaul OK'd

Study provides insight into how primary care patients experience genetic testing

First Edition: July 16, 2013

Freestanding ERs, urgent care centers, frequent flyers change health care marketplace

Conversation guide helps doctor tackle end-of-life care planning with patient

Older minority male cancer survivors less likely to receive basic preventive care: Study

Viewpoints: GOP should focus on fixing health law; bishops refuse to accept victory

Health IT systems being used to track doctors, too

Viewpoints: 'Implosion' of the ACA; Administration 'spin machine'; Republicans on 'search-and-destroy' mission

Vanderbilt research program trains community pediatricians to diagnose autism

GADES tool can help pediatricians in early detection of language disorders

Risk-factor screening of high-risk children may delay or prevent chronic health conditions later in life

Medicare to propose new doctor payment for managing multiple chronic conditions

UC Davis study questions whether primary care rankings measure quality

Weight loss interventions deliver via conference calls by primary care provider staff are effective

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Primary Care News and Research

Latest Primary Care News and Research

The Proteoform Puzzle: Unlocking the Next Frontier

Synthetic Biology and the Pursuit of Living Diagnostics

Modular, Scalable, Intelligent: How n6 Is Rethinking NGS Library Prep

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