Posts tagged as:

primary care

Support for the patient centered medical home in the House health reform bill

November 6, 2009

by Thomas C. Bent, MD
As the House of Representatives prepares to vote on its historic health care reform bill on Saturday, family physicians are heartened to see the support it gives to the emerging new model of care, the patient centered medical home.
The House bill is good news on many fronts. It would provide health [...]

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What is the best insulin regimen for patients with diabetes?

November 6, 2009

Originally published in Insidermedicine
The best method for taking insulin among individuals with type 2 diabetes has been identified in research published in the latest issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

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Vaccines do not cause autism in children, whether or not they have inborn errors of metabolism

November 6, 2009

Originally published in MedPage Today
by Michael Smith, MedPage Today North American Correspondent
Vaccination does not appear to cause autism or other health problems in children with inborn errors of metabolism, a researcher said here.
In a retrospective analysis, children with such conditions were not more likely than normal children to visit emergency rooms or need hospital [...]

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Are nurse unions using the H1N1 flu pandemic as a bargaining ploy?

November 5, 2009

by Toni Brayer, MD
Only in the United States could a virus like H1N1 bring out the worst in medical politics and greed. We are facing a pandemic that requires coordination, communication and the best of medical practice. But what are we getting? Strikes, lawsuits and anything but putting patients first.
The California Nurse Association (CNA), is [...]

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Clostridium difficile infection is spreading from the hospital to the community

November 5, 2009

Originally published in MedPage Today
by Charles Bankhead, MedPage Today Staff Writer
Clostridium difficile infection has spread from the hospital to the community but has proved manageable thus far.
From 1991 to 2005, the incidence of community-acquired C. difficile in Olmsted County, Minn., quadrupled but still remained less common than the hospital-acquired gastrointestinal infection, Sahil Khanna, MD, [...]

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How getting a viral infection can be beautiful

November 5, 2009

If getting sick weren’t so miserable, I’m sure more can appreciate the beauty of this video.
MedGadget points us to this NPR piece featuring Xvivo, a company that produces impressive medical and scientific animations. This one shows us how viruses infect cells and reproduce themselves.
Enjoy.

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Diagnosing and treating disease is only a small part of a doctor’s job

November 4, 2009

by Danielle Ofri, MD, PhD
If asked what a doctor does, most people would probably come up with the standard description of diagnosing and treating disease, usually while wearing an ill-fitting white coat. Before I entered practice, even during my medical training that probably would have been my answer too.
But my years in the trenches of [...]

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How long should children stay out of school after H1N1 flu?

November 4, 2009

Originally published in MedPage Today
by Michael Smith, MedPage Today North American Correspondent
Children appear to shed particles of the H1N1 pandemic flu virus longer than adults do, which may have implications for how long they stay out of school, a researcher said here.
The finding comes from an analysis of an outbreak in a Pennsylvania elementary [...]

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Christian Science prayer should not be a part of health reform

November 4, 2009

Hidden in the Senate version of health reform is wording that would require insurers to consider covering Christian Science prayer treatments.
Although not expected to be a big expense, this is causing some consternation, as it blurs the line between church and state. And this would likely invite other religious groups to organize, so they [...]

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H1N1 vaccine adverse events, and how to reassure patients

November 3, 2009

Originally published in MedPage Today
by Crystal Phend, MedPage Today Senior Staff Writer
Failure to account for background rates when considering adverse events from pandemic H1N1 flu vaccination could spark public panic, researchers cautioned.
Coincidental cases of dramatic events including sudden death, Guillain-Barré syndrome, and spontaneous abortion can be expected to boost the true incidence of adverse [...]

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Should tobacco companies pay for smokers’ CT scans to screen for lung cancer?

November 3, 2009

According to a potential ruling in Massachusetts, tobacco companies will have to pay for smokers’ screening CT scans.
The Boston Globe (via Doug Farrago) writes that the decision “would allow thousands of other Massachusetts smokers to join the lawsuit, which covers people 50 or older who have smoked at least one pack a day of Marlboro [...]

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Poll: Should boys get Gardasil, the HPV vaccine?

November 2, 2009

The FDA recently approved the vaccine against human papillomavirus for use in boys and men to prevent genital warts. The vaccine has been used successfully in females to prevent cervical cancer, which is associated with the virus.
But should we recommend the vaccine for men?
Studies have concluded that the HPV vaccine was successful in reducing [...]

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Is the impending physician shortage worse than we thought?

October 31, 2009

Originally published in MedPage Today
by Charles Bankhead, MedPage Today Staff Writer
The physician workforce in the U.S. is growing smaller and younger, according to data from the Census Bureau, but conflicting estimates make it difficult to determine just how many doctors are out there — and how many the nation will need.
The census survey showed 67,000 [...]

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Implementing an EMR or health IT system is harder than it looks

October 31, 2009

by Bob Wachter, MD
In 2001, when my colleagues and I ranked nearly 100 patient safety practices on the strength of their supporting evidence (for an AHRQ report), healthcare IT didn’t make the top 25. We took a lot of heat for, as one prominent patient safety advocate chided me, “slowing down the momentum.” Some called [...]

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Health reform ignores primary care doctors at its own peril

October 30, 2009

by Richard Reece, MD
I would like to introduce you a remarkable article by Edward J. Volpintesta, MD, a 65-year old solo primary care doctor in Bethel, Connecticut. Dr. Volpintesta is a veritable writing machine and has been published in The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, medical journals, and other publications. His articles cry [...]

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Depression is bad for your heart

October 30, 2009

Originally published in Journal Watch Psychiatry
by Steven Dubovsky, MD
And attaining remission significantly improves mortality risk in patients with acute coronary syndromes.

Depression is common after myocardial infarction (MI), and medical outcomes are worse in depressed patients. These researchers addressed long-term survival in a 6.7-year follow-up study of 361 patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) and [...]

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