Primary Care News and Research

Latest Primary Care News and Research

Innovative programs help blunt problems caused by primary care shortage

USA Today: "The shortage of primary care doctors could lead to longer waits not only for primary care, but also for specialty care as well as greater use of expensive emergency rooms for non-emergencies, researcher Walt Zywiak of Computer Sciences Corp., an international consulting company headquartered in Falls Church, Va., noted in a July report.

17 Aug 2010

Doctors online

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard's plans for e-health mean that physicians will be able to diagnose patients using webcams over the internet under a hi-tech health policy. Ms Gillard launched her futuristic health plans in Brisbane yesterday. Under this $392 million health plan, families with home computers will be able to get access to an after hours online doctor using webcams and internet messaging services such as Skype from July 2012. Services would improve once the Government rolls out its high-speed national broadband network.

16 Aug 2010

First Edition: August 16, 2010

Today's headlines reflect coverage of state health reform implementation issues as well as other emerging policy issues in the nation's health system.

16 Aug 2010

Georgetown researcher recommends more publication on chronic sinusitis

Facial pain. Nasal congestion. Postnasal drip. Fatigue. These are hallmark signs of chronic sinusitis, a swelling of tissue in the nasal and sinus cavity. The illness strikes millions of Americans each year and is one of the top five reasons patients visit their primary care doctor. Treating sinusitis is difficult in part because it's often not known if the cause is viral or bacterial. Unfortunately little information on the subject is available to internists says a new study by a Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) internist.

16 Aug 2010

Delegates explore agricultural cooperation, expanded ties at two-day China-Africa Agricultural Forum

Chinese and African officials concluded the China-Africa Agricultural Forum in Beijing on Thursday, which explored possibilities for agricultural cooperation and addressed food security issues, Xinhua reports.

16 Aug 2010

Research Roundup: Disabled Medicare Enrollees' challenges; Increasing ER visits; costs/benefits of Part D

Health Affairs: Medicare Doesn't Work As Well For Younger, Disabled Beneficiaries As It Does For Older Enrollees - This paper examines "how well Medicare works for [the 8 million] nonelderly disabled beneficiaries compared to the elderly, based on findings from a nationally representative survey of noninstitutionalized Medicare beneficiaries conducted in 2008 by the Kaiser Family Foundation."

16 Aug 2010

National organization releases “Lessons from the Frontlines” report on H1N1

The Canadian Medical Association (CMA), the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC), and the National Specialty Society of Community Medicine (NSSCM) today released Lessons from the Frontlines, a collaborative report on H1N1 describing the physician experience on the frontlines of the pandemic.

13 Aug 2010

Mass. docs will soon track patients who abuse prescription drugs; Wis. Catholic Church employees now eligible for birth control

The Boston Globe: "With a few computer keystrokes, Massachusetts physicians will soon be able to identify patients who travel from clinic to clinic in pursuit of potent prescription drugs that feed lethal addictions. State health regulators yesterday unanimously approved the new detection system designed to stop 'doctor shopping' by addicted patients who try to dupe doctors into prescribing narcotics. The practice, specialists said, has fueled a surge in drug-related deaths in Massachusetts" (Smith, 8/12).

13 Aug 2010

Somaxon second-quarter net loss reduces to $5.7 million

Somaxon Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the in-licensing, development and commercialization of proprietary branded pharmaceutical products and late-stage product candidates for the treatment of diseases and disorders in the central nervous system therapeutic area, today announced financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2010.

12 Aug 2010

Mental health bill for 2008 was $5.3 billion: Report

According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), the country is spending more and more to deal with its mental ailment burden. This emerged from a report from the AIHW saying that finances spent on mental health services between 2007 to 2008 were $5.3 billion. Of this around 60 per cent came from state and territory governments, 36 per cent from the Commonwealth, and the rest from private health funds.

11 Aug 2010

Rates of ED visits increase among adults with Medicaid: Study

From 1997 to 2007, the rates of visits to emergency departments in the U.S. increased significantly, particularly among adults with Medicaid, according to a study in the August 11 issue of JAMA.

11 Aug 2010

Cogent Healthcare announces new hospital medicine affiliation with Allegiance Health

Cogent Healthcare today announced a new hospital medicine affiliation with Allegiance Health, a 411-bed health system located in Jackson, Mich.

11 Aug 2010

Study shows physicians reluctant to use finasteride for prostate cancer

Despite the dramatic results of the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial (PCPT), which showed a significant reduction in prostate cancer among those taking finasteride, physicians have not increased its use, according to a study published in the September issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

11 Aug 2010

State News: Ex-Anthem Blue Cross president speaks out; Clinics to fill in N.M. primary care gap

The Los Angeles Times: "The abrupt resignation last month of Anthem Blue Cross' president is offering a glimpse of an internal struggle that has roiled California's largest for-profit health insurer for months. Leslie Margolin was the public face of Anthem this year when it sought to raise individual insurance rates as much as 39%.

11 Aug 2010

Today's Opinions and Editorials: Bringing down health care costs; More on the Medicare trustees report

Short of transforming the medical payment system, can we bring down health care costs by feasible fixes? Yes, by reducing the number of services that must be covered by every insurance policy and requiring higher copayments for patients using the highest cost providers (Robert Pozen, 8/10).

11 Aug 2010

Nat'l Health Services Corps spending more to increase primary care docs in underserved areas

The Washington Post reports on the Obama administration's efforts "to bring thousands of young primary care doctors to underserved areas … and keep them there. The administration recently invested more than $1 billion from the stimulus and the health-care law into the National Health Services Corps to beef up doctor recruitment.

10 Aug 2010

Patient navigator program to educate Hmong women on cervical cancer

The Asian-American community of Hmong women in California carries a stunning burden of cervical cancer and resulting mortality four times as high as non-Hispanic white women in California do.

7 Aug 2010

MDinsight clinical quality system to help hospitals, physicians achieve meaningful use requirements

MDdatacor, Inc., a leader in health care quality management solutions for insurers and health care providers, today announced that its MDinsight clinical quality system will help hospitals and physicians achieve many of the meaningful use requirements as outlined in the recently announced final rules of the HITECH Act.

7 Aug 2010

President Obama issues Proclamation recognizing National Health Center Week

President Barack Obama today issued a Presidential Proclamation recognizing August 8 - 14, 2010 as National Health Center Week. "During National Health Center Week, we recognize the important work of Community Health Centers for their role in providing quality, accessible, and affordable patient care as we strive to build a health care system equipped for the 21st century," said the President.

7 Aug 2010

Asynchronous telepsychiatry provides primary-care physicians greater access to psychiatric consultation

A new study by researchers at the UC Davis School of Medicine has found that psychiatrists can accurately assess a patient's mental health by viewing videotaped interviews that are sent to them for consultation and treatment recommendations.

7 Aug 2010

Primary Care News and Research

Latest Primary Care News and Research

Innovative programs help blunt problems caused by primary care shortage

Doctors online

First Edition: August 16, 2010

Georgetown researcher recommends more publication on chronic sinusitis

Delegates explore agricultural cooperation, expanded ties at two-day China-Africa Agricultural Forum

Research Roundup: Disabled Medicare Enrollees' challenges; Increasing ER visits; costs/benefits of Part D

National organization releases “Lessons from the Frontlines” report on H1N1

Mass. docs will soon track patients who abuse prescription drugs; Wis. Catholic Church employees now eligible for birth control

Somaxon second-quarter net loss reduces to $5.7 million

Mental health bill for 2008 was $5.3 billion: Report

Rates of ED visits increase among adults with Medicaid: Study

Cogent Healthcare announces new hospital medicine affiliation with Allegiance Health

Study shows physicians reluctant to use finasteride for prostate cancer

State News: Ex-Anthem Blue Cross president speaks out; Clinics to fill in N.M. primary care gap

Today's Opinions and Editorials: Bringing down health care costs; More on the Medicare trustees report

Nat'l Health Services Corps spending more to increase primary care docs in underserved areas

Patient navigator program to educate Hmong women on cervical cancer

MDinsight clinical quality system to help hospitals, physicians achieve meaningful use requirements

President Obama issues Proclamation recognizing National Health Center Week

Asynchronous telepsychiatry provides primary-care physicians greater access to psychiatric consultation

Clue's CEO Rhiannon White on the Future of Femtech and PCOS

Freezing Point Osmometry in Life Science Applications

Precision in every drop: Inside Hamilton’s syringe technology

Primary Care News and Research

Latest Primary Care News and Research

Clue's CEO Rhiannon White on the Future of Femtech and PCOS

Freezing Point Osmometry in Life Science Applications

Precision in every drop: Inside Hamilton’s syringe technology

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