Primary Care News and Research

Latest Primary Care News and Research

Health Net expands Improving the Patient Experience toolkit

Health Net, Inc. has expanded its Improving the Patient Experience toolkit for its contracted providers in three new markets. Piloted first in California in 2010, the insurer now offers the toolkit in Arizona, Oregon and Washington.

8 Nov 2011

States trying to wrangle Medicaid costs; rural hospitals struggling; health hiring steady

In Michigan, the plan to replace state nursing assistants at the veterans home resulted in a lawsuit contending that some temporary workers employed by the contract company had already jeopardized patient care. ... A judge has granted a preliminary injunction that keeps the state employees at work while the lawsuit moves forward.

8 Nov 2011

Study shows improvement in diagnosis time for bowel, oesophageal and pancreatic cancers

NEW research shows that bowel, oesophageal and pancreatic cancers have seen the greatest improvement in the time it takes from when a patient first visits their GP with symptoms to when they are diagnosed with the disease.

8 Nov 2011

First large-scale study to address treatment of prescription opioid addiction

Individuals addicted to prescription painkillers are more likely to succeed in treatment with the aid of the medication buprenorphine-naloxone (Suboxone), report McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical School researchers in today's online edition of the Archives of General Psychiatry.

8 Nov 2011

New study questions effectiveness of current exercise referral schemes

Research commissioned by the NIHR Health Technology Assessment programme and carried out by research teams from the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry (PCMD) and the Universities of Exeter (Sport and Health Sciences) and Brunel (Health Economics Research Group), has called into question the effectiveness of exercise referral schemes as they are delivered at present.

7 Nov 2011

$New data from Savient's KRYSTEXXA Phase III trial on refractory chronic gout$

New data from Savient's KRYSTEXXA Phase III trial on refractory chronic gout

Savient Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that data providing further clarity and context surrounding the risk for and management of infusion reactions that may occur with KRYSTEXXA (pegloticase) in the treatment of refractory chronic gout (RCG) patients will be presented at the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) Annual Scientific Meeting in Chicago.

7 Nov 2011

State roundup: Puerto Rico settles disability battle with Feds

Puerto Rico has reached an agreement with the U.S. government ending a 12-year legal battle to improve the island's health system for the mentally disabled, local justice officials said Thursday. Federal officials had accused the U.S. territory of abusing and neglecting hundreds of mentally disabled people by not providing food, medication, adequate housing, therapy or mental health care.

5 Nov 2011

AAPM announces new plans for Safe Opioid Prescribing program

On the cusp of the recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report about the growing death toll from prescription drug deaths, the physician leadership of the American Academy of Pain Medicine announced its plans to roll-out a new education initiative: Safe Opioid Prescribing: Reversing the Trends.

5 Nov 2011

Vertex announces 16 grant recipients of Hep-C Circle of Care program

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated today announced that it has awarded 16 grants totaling approximately $1.5 million to a variety of academic, patient and community groups as part of the Vertex Hep-C Circle of Care program, a pilot competitive grants program designed to foster innovative approaches to patient care and support people living with chronic hepatitis C.

5 Nov 2011

Study: Birth cohort screening for HCV is cost effective in primary care setting

According to a new study being published early online in Annals of Internal Medicine, the flagship journal of the American College of Physicians, birth cohort screening for hepatitis C is cost effective in the primary care setting.

5 Nov 2011

NCQA recognizes three additional MetCare centers as PPC-PCMH

Metropolitan Health Networks, Inc., a leading provider of health care services in Florida, today announced that an additional three of its centers have been recognized by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) as Physician Practice Connections - Patient-Centered Medical Homes.

5 Nov 2011

Roundup: Mental health hospital woes; N.Y. Medicare scam bust

A Miami Herald series "Neglected to Death," focused this spring on critical breakdowns in Florida's enforcement system, including failures by the state's Agency on Health Care Administration to fully investigate deaths or to shut down some of the worst offenders among Florida's 2,850 assisted-living facilities. Although more states are using Medicaid money to pay for some portion of assisted living care for the poor, the federal government has a limited role in the facilities their oversight has been and will likely continue to be a state duty.

4 Nov 2011

Commercial disease management models do not reduce Medicare costs in America

At a time when everyone is looking for ways to reduce health care costs in America, using commercial disease management programs to reduce the fee-for-service Medicare costs associated with chronic conditions among senior citizens seems like a practical approach.

4 Nov 2011

ACP tells 112th Congress to 'go big' by reforming Medicare payments

The American College of Physicians (ACP) today told the 112th Congress to "go big" by reforming Medicare payments, including enacting a permanent end to scheduled Medicare sustainable growth rate (SGR) physician payment cuts.

4 Nov 2011

Marathon recovery tips

More than 40,000 runners have spent the past several months training for the ING New York City Marathon. Once they have completed the race and achieved their goals, there are measures they can take to facilitate recovery, decrease post-race discomfort and return to running without injury. Eating immediately after the marathon, icing sore muscles, and having a gentle massage are only a few of the tips that Michael Silverman, PT, MSPT, physical therapist from the Rehabilitation Department at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, offers runners who cross the finish line.

2 Nov 2011

First Edition: November 1, 2011

Today's headlines include a report that the health law's early retirees' health insurance fund may be running out.

1 Nov 2011

Emotional and psychological traumas may contribute to adult IBS

The psychological and emotional traumas experienced over a lifetime--such as the death of a loved one, divorce, natural disaster, house fire or car accident, physical or mental abuse—may contribute to adult irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), according to the results of a study unveiled today at the American College of Gastroenterology's (ACG) 76th Annual Scientific meeting in Washington, DC.

1 Nov 2011

Three centers to improve clinical preventive services and practices

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) awarded three-year grants totaling $4.5 million to support research in three centers that will focus on improving clinical preventive services and practices such as screening, counseling and use of preventive medications for patients.

1 Nov 2011

Even without depression, obesity raises health costs in Group Health study

Obesity and depression both dramatically increase health care costs, but they mainly act separately, according to a study published in the November 2011 Journal of General Internal Medicine by Group Health Research Institute scientists.

1 Nov 2011

PEPFAR and women's health in South Africa

This report, titled "Improving Women's Heath in South Africa: Opportunities for PEPFAR," by Janet Fleischman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, says that with "major change ... unfolding in health and HIV services in South Africa," "[t]he United States can find feasible, flexible ways to support" the decentralization of "HIV services to the primary care level ... even though its health program through the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is scaling down.

31 Oct 2011