Primary Care News and Research

Latest Primary Care News and Research

CMS moves forward with initiative to coordinate Medicare primary care

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' Innovation Center will administer the program, which was created by the 2010 health law. Five hundred medical practices have been selected to participate.

24 Aug 2012

UK carotid endarterectomy results revealed

Round 4 of the UK Carotid Endarterectomy Audit, organized by the Royal College of Physicians, has revealed that the average delay from stroke or transient ischemic attack symptom onset to surgery is shortening.

23 Aug 2012

Inappropriate prescriptions for the elderly prevalent in primary care

One in five prescriptions in primary care for the elderly is inappropriate, say the authors of a systematic review.

23 Aug 2012

CMS announces participation of PCPs in Comprehensive Primary Care Initiative

The American College of Physicians (ACP) today praised the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for its announcement of primary care practices to participate in a historic public-private partnership to strengthen primary care, the Comprehensive Primary Care Initiative (CPCI).

23 Aug 2012

Australian doctors in training spend significantly less time consulting with children

Australian doctors-in-training spend significantly less time consulting with pediatric patients than they do with adults, according to a new study published in the journal Australian Family Physician.

23 Aug 2012

Paper highlights major trends that affect primary care practitioners

Today's healthcare landscape in the U.S. is fraught with challenges—both to consumers and to practitioners. It's no secret that many parts of the American healthcare system are struggling, primary care perhaps more than most. As the newly published paper explains, this is not a new situation—it has roots in major, deep trends that have been under way for many years, decades even.

23 Aug 2012

Almost half of U.S. doctors burned out by workload: Survey

About 1 in 2 doctors are burned out, showing signs of emotional exhaustion and little interest in work as patient loads increase, U.S. researchers found. Doctors working in emergency, family and internal medicine were the most likely to feel drained, according to the study released today in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Researchers said burnout also was tied to long hours, with 37 percent of physicians working more than 60 hours a week.

22 Aug 2012

GWCI announces new collaboration with National Institutes of Health Federal Credit Union

The National Institutes of Health Federal Credit Union, one of the largest credit unions in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and the nation's largest serving the healthcare and biomedical industries has proudly announced a new collaboration with the George Washington Cancer Institute (GWCI).

21 Aug 2012

Retail medical clinic visits increase four-fold from 2007-2009

Fast-growing retail medical clinics are attracting more older patients and delivering more preventive care, particularly flu shots and other vaccinations, according to a new study from the RAND Corporation.

17 Aug 2012

CDC recommends hepatitis C screening for all patients born from 1945-1965

Without other risk factors, all Americans born between 1945 and 1965 should have a one-time screening for the hepatitis C virus (HCV) according to new recommendations being published early online today in Annals of Internal Medicine, the flagship journal of the American College of Physicians. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also recommends that all persons identified with HCV should receive a brief alcohol screening and intervention and be referred to appropriate care and treatment services for HCV and related conditions.

17 Aug 2012

'Yoga for Healthy Lower Backs' likely to be cost effective for both NHS and wider society

Specialised group yoga classes could provide a cost-effective way of treating patients with chronic or recurrent low back pain, according to the UK's largest ever study of the benefits of yoga.

17 Aug 2012

Computer-based partner violence screening does not improve QOL in women

In a study that included more than 2,700 women receiving care in primary care clinics, those who were screened for partner violence and received a partner violence resource list did not experience significant differences for several outcomes, including overall quality of life, general health, and recurrence of partner violence, compared to women who just received a partner violence resource list, according to a study in the August 15 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on violence and human rights.

16 Aug 2012

Viewpoints: Romney needs to explain his Medicare plan; Ryan plan would end Medicaid protections for spouses of nursing home patients'

Mr. Ryan's Path To Prosperity blueprint includes more than $700 billion in Medicare cuts over the next decade. Medicare would no longer function as an insurance program that directly pays medical bills for seniors. Instead, seniors would receive a fixed subsidy. The value of that subsidy almost certainly wouldn't keep up with health care costs, meaning seniors would pay more out of pocket. That might not play well in Boca Raton. Of course, Mr. Ryan's just the prospective V.P. What does the top of the ticket think?

16 Aug 2012

Nurse-led HIV care benefits patients

Expansion of the role of primary care nurses to allow them to initiate and represcribe antiretroviral therapy to HIV patients improves health outcomes and quality of patient care, write researchers in The Lancet.

15 Aug 2012

VCU Medical Center selected to participate in Independence at Home Demonstration

The Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center has been selected as one of 19 sites nationwide to participate in the Independence at Home Demonstration to test the advantages of house calls for elderly patients too ill or disabled to visit their physicians.

15 Aug 2012

Heartburn and cancer: an interview with Mindy Mintz Mordecai

What most of us think of as heartburn is a symptom of Reflux Disease or GERD (Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease). It’s that burning discomfort an individual experiences when stomach acids and other fluids come back up into their esophagus.

14 Aug 2012

Boomers face dearth of home caregivers; Medicare expands home-care pilot project

As baby boomers age, the U.S. will face a challenge trying to fill more than 1 million new home care positions to meet their needs, The Associated Press reports. In the meantime, Medicare is adding more groups to a pilot program aimed at lowering costs for Medicare beneficiaries by providing them with home-based care.

14 Aug 2012

Smartphone app can combat ongoing epidemic of childhood obesity

To combat the ongoing epidemic of childhood obesity, two Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing students, Janna Stephens, RN, BSN, and Michelle Brei, APRN, CPNP, are using smartphones and websites to engage and invite young audiences.

12 Aug 2012

Accurate vaccination needed to protect children

This year the U.S. has seen the worst outbreak of whooping cough in more than 50 years. In fact, it has reached epidemic levels in many states and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the numbers of cases reported is already twice as many as last year. With kids getting ready to head back-to-school, the numbers of children impacted or killed by this disease could continue to rise if children aren't accurately vaccinated.

10 Aug 2012

Access to care in Mass. improves, but many docs still don't accept new patients

The survey by the Massachusetts Medical Society says access to primary care is slowly improving, but that it can still take a month or longer to get an appointment. In addition, only about half of internal and family medicine practices are accepting new patients.

10 Aug 2012