Primary Care News and Research

Latest Primary Care News and Research

Roundup: Mass. lawmakers struggle to reach agreement on cost controls; $100M grant for Calif. stem cell research; N.C. to move mentally ill from elderly homes

The House and Senate are under the gun to reach an agreement on how to lower health care costs while improving care. A conference committee aims to have a bill out on Sunday. Their deadline is Monday evening. In the meantime, several major issues are still unresolved, including what to do about hospitals that use their market clout to demand high prices that are not based on higher quality. Attorney General Martha Coakley, the state's top insurers and several consumer groups argue that price is a critical issue.

28 Jul 2012

Diabetes cutoffs don’t quite cut it for South Asians

Individuals of South Asian origin may require closer monitoring for Type 2 diabetes, suggest researchers.

27 Jul 2012

SAMHSA awards $22M in new funding to expand SBIRT services

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is announcing more than $22 million in new funding to expand implementing screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) services for adults in primary care and community health settings. SBIRT is an innovative approach to delivering early intervention and treatment services for persons with substance use disorders and for persons at risk for developing these disorders.

27 Jul 2012

University of York researchers launch major study of lymphoma and myeloma

Researchers at the University of York are launching a major study of lymphoma and myeloma aimed at promoting earlier diagnosis and improving survival for patients with these cancers, which are among the most common in the UK.

27 Jul 2012

Longer looks: Religious health care; 'The big lie' about expanding Medicaid

The Affordable Care Act has a section that exempts members of health care sharing ministries from purchasing insurance. The Amish, Mennonite, Christian Science and Indian tribe communities also are exempt from the penalty that will be incurred on Americans who fail to purchase health insurance by 2014.

27 Jul 2012

Injury risk increased in patients with serious mental illnesses

People with serious mental illnesses are significantly more likely to experience injuries than the general population, US study results show.

26 Jul 2012

Roundup: La. lawmakers angry they didn't get to decide on health cuts; New Jersey judges protect selves from health benefit cuts; Detailing Calif. health care budget struggles

Louisiana lawmakers bristled Monday about getting few details and no ability to decide the $523 million in budget cuts Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration has made to health care programs, largely to LSU's safety net health care facilities. Several complained the governor's top leaders weren't explaining the gravity of the slashing and the implications on the LSU network of public hospitals and clinics that care for the poor and uninsured in a state where one in five residents don't have health insurance.

26 Jul 2012

Malaria misdiagnosis: an interview with Dr Toby Leslie

Malaria is caused by a multi-staged parasite which is transmitted by the bite of infected female anopheles mosquitoes. It affects millions of people and kills more than 500,000 people throughout the world every year.

26 Jul 2012

Increased distribution of neurosurgeons may reduce risk of motor vehicle accident-related deaths

Researchers at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire have found an association between increasing the distribution of neurosurgeons throughout the United States and decreasing the risk of death from motor vehicle accidents (MVAs).

25 Jul 2012

First Edition: July 25, 2012

Today's headlines detail new Congressional Budget Office health law estimates that reflect the Supreme Court's decision on the Medicaid expansion.

25 Jul 2012

Roundup: Minn. seeks its own independent Medicaid audit; Feds renew Wis. Family Care program

The Minnesota Department of Human Services is commissioning an independent audit to respond to lingering questions about the state Medicaid program's past practices in paying private HMOs. The Medicaid rate-setting process also is the subject of several federal investigations. Questions have swirled at the state Capitol this year about whether Minnesota officials have been manipulating the rate certification process in Medicaid to wrongly gain excess federal funds.

25 Jul 2012

Topline results from first of four Phase 3 studies of Pfizer's bapineuzumab for Alzheimer's

Pfizer Inc. announced today that the co-primary clinical endpoints, change in cognitive and functional performance compared to placebo, were not met in the Janssen Alzheimer Immunotherapy R&D LLC (Janssen AI)-led Phase 3 trial of intravenous (IV) bapineuzumab in patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease who carry the ApoE4 (apolipoprotein E epsilon 4) genotype.

24 Jul 2012

Roundup: Plan for new Md. hospital advances; Outsourcing of prison health care gets scrutiny; Alaska Native medical center seen as model

Maryland officials are preparing to unveil this week a detailed plan for a $600 million regional hospital to replace the ailing Prince George's Hospital Center and establish a new health-care network throughout Prince George's County. The plans are part of a broad effort to improve health care in a county where an estimated 150,000 residents lack health insurance or have insufficient coverage and often rely on hospital emergency rooms for primary care.

24 Jul 2012

First Edition: July 23, 2012

In this Kaiser Health News video, Greg Millett, a senior policy advisor in the Office of National AIDS Policy, tells Joanne Silberner that the president's National HIV/AIDS Strategy has improved coordination among federal agencies and that the 2010 health law will improve access to care for those living with HIV/AIDS.

23 Jul 2012

Tool to predict and map hot spots for potential primary care shortages

Vanderbilt researchers have been selected to receive a national grant as part of a push to gauge the coming impact of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

21 Jul 2012

Research roundup: Gastric bypass costs, paying for psychotherapy

Health Expenditures Among High-Risk Patients After Gastric Bypass and Matched Controls -- A few studies have shown that bariatric surgery can help reduce health care spending by obese patients, particularly those with conditions such as diabetes. This latest study looked at 847 patients who received bariatric surgery through the Veterans Affairs medical system. Inpatient and outpatient spending both before and after surgery were compared to 847 obese patients who did not have the operation.

21 Jul 2012

Injury risk increased in patients with serious mental illnesses

People with serious mental illnesses are significantly more likely to experience injuries than the general population, US study results show.

20 Jul 2012

HealthHIV, CCO announce new series of CME/CE-certified interactive local live workshops

Clinical Care Options (CCO), a leader in next-generation medical education, information, and publishing for healthcare professionals, announces a new series of CME/CE-certified interactive local live workshops developed and implemented in partnership with HealthHIV, the leading national HIV nonprofit organization building the capacity of primary care providers to integrate HIV care into their practices.

20 Jul 2012

ACP testimony focuses on innovative solutions to align value with care

"We know that the current Medicare payment system is not serving the needs of patients, physicians or taxpayers," David L. Bronson, MD, FACP, president of the American College of Physicians (ACP), today told the House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Health.

19 Jul 2012

EMA accepts Pfizer’s bazedoxifene/conjugated estrogens MAA for review

Pfizer Inc. today announced that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) accepted for review the Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) for bazedoxifene/conjugated estrogens (BZA/CE), a potential new medicine for postmenopausal women with a uterus for the treatment of estrogen deficiency symptoms and treatment of osteoporosis in women at risk of fracture.

19 Jul 2012