Primary Care News and Research

Latest Primary Care News and Research

Comp. effectiveness promises better, cheaper health care but cricits link it to rationing

"Federal health agencies, seeking to hand out stimulus funds to research the effectiveness of various medical treatments, said they will include projects that look in part at the cost of drugs and other treatments.

3 Aug 2009

Doctor shortage and disparities after reform examined, nurses prepare for changing role

A former Clinton administration official said last week that there aren't enough doctors in America to handle the increase in patients if health reform covers more uninsured, NPR reports.

3 Aug 2009

Divisions over future Medicare spending surface in house

"A week-old agreement among House Democrats to smooth out disparities in the way Medicare reimburses rural and urban health providers is in danger of crumbling, as disputes erupted Friday over what actually was agreed to," The Wall Street Journal reports.

3 Aug 2009

Maternal mortality; health system strengthening, Opinions

Columnist Nicholas Kristof examines maternal health in developing countries in his latest New York Times opinion piece. Kristof describes a Pakistani woman's birth experience to illustrate the sort of "dramas" that "play out constantly in poor countries" where one "woman dies a minute from complications of pregnancy or childbirth somewhere in the world, and 20 times as many suffer childbirth injuries," he writes.

30 Jul 2009

Primary care gets boost from stimulus money, experiment on 'medical home'

"Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius announced Tuesday that $200 million will be available for grants, loans, loan repayments and scholarships for the training of some 8,000 health professionals by the end of fiscal 2010," Congressional Quarterly reports.

30 Jul 2009

System 50 years out of date for chronic illness

Many people with chronic health conditions have more than one disease, which makes caring for them much more complex. Unfortunately, the way our health system is structured now, and the way it is paid for, reflects the health needs our society had about 50 years ago.

27 Jul 2009

NHS on the cards for an ailing Australian health system

A new report is recommending a Federal takeover of the Australian public health and dental system - the report by the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission (NHHRC) says the health system is under strain and in need of a new prescription.

27 Jul 2009

More than half of primary care doctor graduates are immigrants

"Nationally, about a quarter of all residency graduates began their medical training abroad. And in primary care - where there is a national shortage of physicians - more than half of all graduates are immigrants," The Concord Monitor reports.

22 Jul 2009

Health care experts examine top performing, low cost communities

Talk about health care reform efforts has focused largely on all that is wrong with the current system. In contrast, an event Tuesday in Washington, D.C., examined best practices in ten top performing communities where they spend less and have better quality of care.

22 Jul 2009

Small businesses, doctors voice concerns about health reform

"Small business is suddenly playing a big role in negotiations over health care," NPR reports. "Supporters and opponents of various plans to overhaul the system are all trying to paint themselves as champions of mom and pop entrepreneurs."

20 Jul 2009

Software improves patient satisfaction at discharge from hospital

When hospitalists use discharge communication software, patients and the outpatient doctors who carry out the care have better perceptions of the quality of the discharge process, according to new research published in the August issue of the Journal of Hospital Medicine.

17 Jul 2009

Insurer, tech vendor plan major 'telehealth' network

A major health insurer, UnitedHealth, and a computer networking company, Cisco Systems, are teaming up to create "a network of virtual clinics to make medical care available in offices, stores and rural areas around the country," Bloomberg reports.

16 Jul 2009

Women veterans don't always get privacy at VA clinics

Veterans Affairs hospitals and outpatient clinics under review are not always complying fully with federal privacy requirements, often exposing women when they bathe or receive exams, according to government auditors, The Associated Press reports.

15 Jul 2009

New research tool – map of genomic variation for diagnosing and identifying genetic problems

Genetics researchers have unveiled a powerful new resource for scientists and health providers studying human illnesses -- a reference standard of deletions and duplications of DNA found in the human genome. Drawn from over 2,000 healthy persons, the study provides one of the deepest and broadest sets of copy number variations (CNVs) available to date, along with a new research tool for diagnosing and identifying genetic problems in patients.

15 Jul 2009

Slumping economy hurts health system, but stimulus provides some relief

The receding economy has dragged down Michigan's health care system, "offering a preview of how a lingering recession could corrode Americans' hospitals, savings and health," the Wall Street Journal reports.

14 Jul 2009

Australian national health system on the waiting list

Any hope of a truly national health system as promised by Kevin Rudd in the run up to the last election now appears to have stalled, at least for the time being.

13 Jul 2009

Twenty people arrested in California Medicaid fraud case

Twenty people in California were arrested on Thursday "in a $4.6-million Medi-Cal fraud scheme that law enforcement officials allege used unlicensed individuals to provide in-home nursing care for disabled patients," The Los Angeles Times reports.

12 Jul 2009

Experts urge revamping of long-term Medicare funding mechanisms

Health policy experts see a major revamp of the long-term Medicare funding mechanisms as a critical part of health reform.

12 Jul 2009

Largest-ever study looks at safety of Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS)

They are a group of drugs which millions of people rely on to keep pain at bay but they can have unwanted side-effects which are sometimes more serious than the original health problem. Now scientists at The University of Nottingham are taking part in the largest-ever study on the safety of Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDS) that has ever been performed.

12 Jul 2009

States undergo a variety of health care policy developments

Connecticut: The Associated Press/Hartford Courant reports, "Gov. M. Jodi Rell has vetoed two health insurance bills he said were "well-intentioned" but "would cost the state billions of dollars before any economic recovery is complete."

9 Jul 2009