Primary Care News and Research

Latest Primary Care News and Research

MHQP survey assesses patients' experiences with primary care since health reform law implementation

A report released today by Massachusetts Health Quality Partners provides the first comprehensive assessment of how patients rate their experiences with primary care since the state's groundbreaking health reform law was implemented.

24 Jun 2010

Americans spend more on health and get poorer care: Report

According to a Commonwealth Fund report released this Wednesday, Americans spend nearly twice as much as people from other developed countries on healthcare but get lower quality of care, less efficiency and have the least equitable health care system. The comparison was drawn with six other countries, Britain, Canada, Germany, Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand, and the United States ranked last. The report collected data from nationally representative patient and physician surveys in these seven countries in 2007, 2008, and 2009.

23 Jun 2010

US physicians concerned about health risk to patients from heat-damaged medicinal products

In a recent Harris Interactive survey of US physicians about the proper storage and handling of temperature-sensitive medicines prescribed and administered to patients, physicians reported being concerned about this issue, and the overwhelming majority are concerned that heat-damaged products resulting from cumulative exposure to temperatures outside the specified temperature range pose a health risk to patients. The announcement of the study findings was made today by Temptime Corporation.

23 Jun 2010

US lags in health system performance

Despite having the most expensive health care system, the United States ranks last overall compared to six other industrialized countries-Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom-on measures of health system performance in five areas: quality, efficiency, access to care, equity and the ability to lead long, healthy, productive lives, according to a new Commonwealth Fund report.

23 Jun 2010

Only doctors familiar with local health services should provide out of hours primary care: Experts

Only doctors familiar with local health services should provide out of hours primary care, argue two experts, following the death of a patient given an overdose of diamorphine by an out of hours doctor.

23 Jun 2010

Obama warns health insurers against using reform to boost premium rates, unveils new patient bill of rights

Today, during an address in the East Room of the White House following a meeting with executives of leading health insurance companies and state insurance commissioners, "President Barack Obama warned insurance firms … not to use his healthcare overhaul as an opportunity to enact big rate increases and said the federal government would work with states to monitor them."

23 Jun 2010

HHS, insurers, health systems preparing for health law's impact

Politico reports on the Department of Health and Human Services' HealthCare.gov, "the new Web portal that goes live July 1 and is designed to give consumers a place to research and compare health insurance plans. Since it will be the most tangible link to the health reform law for many Americans, health policy experts and administration officials say it's crucial that the site is well-designed, easy to navigate and free of the jargon that makes the field of health insurance so unintelligible to the public. ... When HealthCare.gov launches next Thursday, it will have information about insurance plans that users can sort based on their own situation and their eligibility for public insurance programs, like Medicare, the Children's Health Insurance Program and the new high-risk pools for individuals with pre-existing conditions" (Kliff, 6/22).

23 Jun 2010

Benioff family gifts $100 million for construction of new UCSF Children's Hospital at Mission Bay

Salesforce.com chairman and CEO Marc Benioff and his family have given a $100 million private gift to help fund the construction of the new UCSF Children's Hospital at the UCSF Mission Bay campus near downtown San Francisco. The gift is both the largest gift the donors have ever made and the largest gift ever granted specifically to the UCSF Children's Hospital.

22 Jun 2010

Gardner Family Health Network to deploy NextGen Ambulatory EHR, Practice Management, QSI Dental System

NextGen Healthcare Information Systems, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Quality Systems, Inc. and a leading provider of healthcare information systems and connectivity solutions, today announced an agreement with Gardner Family Health Network to deploy NextGen® Ambulatory EHR and NextGen® Practice Management, as well as the QSI Dental System. Gardner is the 42nd health center in California to partner with NextGen Healthcare.

22 Jun 2010

Study shows vitamin D deficiency is highly prevalent in patients with Type 2 diabetes

Vitamin D deficiency is highly prevalent in patients with Type 2 diabetes and may be associated with poor blood sugar control, according to a new study. The results will be presented Saturday at The Endocrine Society's 92nd Annual Meeting in San Diego.

22 Jun 2010

Diabetes disease management program helps Medicare patients reduce cost of medical care: Study

Medicare patients with diabetes and cardiovascular disease can significantly reduce both the cost of their medical care and rates of hospitalization by participating in a telephone-based diabetes disease management program, a new study finds. The authors will present their results Monday at The Endocrine Society's 92nd Annual Meeting in San Diego.

22 Jun 2010

Reform law gives major boost to community health centers, medical homes

The Washington Post: "The health-care legislation signed into law in March provides a major boost to community health centers: $11 billion over five years. The first of these federally supported primary-care clinics opened in 1965." The law also provides funding designed to increase the supply of primary-care providers. And, "[o]n Wednesday, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius announced that the federal government will spend $250 million in programs to increase the number of doctors, nurses and other care providers.

21 Jun 2010

Doctors, Pelosi pan Senate-passed 'doc fix' plan

USA Today: Doctors are limiting the number of new Medicare patients they are seeing, concerned about reimbursements pay from the federal program. "Recent surveys by national and state medical societies have found more doctors limiting Medicare patients, partly because Congress has failed to stop an automatic 21% cut in payments that doctors already regard as too low.

21 Jun 2010

HHS Secretary announces new $250M investment to improve health and well-being of Americans

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced $250 million in new Affordable Care Act investments to support prevention activities and develop the nation's public health infrastructure.

19 Jun 2010

Medicare begins 21% payment cuts to physicians

Today, Medicare begins processing physician payments with the drastic 21 percent cut that Congress failed to stop, and now seniors and physicians are paying the price of Congress' Medicare mismanagement.

19 Jun 2010

TFAH recognizes steps taken by Obama Administration on Prevention and Public Health Fund

Trust for America's Health today recognized the crucial first steps taken by the Obama Administration to allocate the recent health reform Act's Prevention and Public Health Fund, but acknowledged that in year one, half of the Fund's dollars were redirected outside the scope of its Congressional intent.

19 Jun 2010

Research roundup: Medical homes working in poor areas, designing insurance exchanges, health law's effects

Moving Forward On Health Reform - This edition explores the issues relating to the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, including the impact of the law on health insurance as well as state and federal governments, large employers and public opinion and opportunities for small physician practices to pool resources in order support medical homes, among others (June 2010).

19 Jun 2010

Patients' relationship with primary care physician improves health care quality: Study

Patients who report having a regular doctor either at a community health center or at the physician's office report receiving better quality health care, and have a better health care experience, than patients who have a regular place of care, but lack an established physician relationship. The findings are part of a study published in the May Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, and authored by Anne Beal, MD, MPH, head of the Aetna Foundation, and Susan Hernandez, MPA, formerly of The Commonwealth Fund.

19 Jun 2010

Tea and coffee consumption linked with reduced heart disease: Study

Coffee and tea drinkers may not need to worry about indulging - high and moderate consumption of tea and moderate coffee consumption are linked with reduced heart disease, according to a study published in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology: Journal of the American Heart Association.

19 Jun 2010

Friday Opinions: Uwe Reinhardt, Reps. Ron Paul and John Sarbanes, Minnesota nurses' strike

Alas, the penalties baked into the bill for disregarding the mandate, though not trivial, are low enough that many younger and healthier individuals are likely to find paying the penalty cheaper than owning up to the mandate. If that happens in significant numbers, as well it might, the premiums that private insurers will have to charge for the mandated coverage in the small-group market will be driven correspondingly higher (Uwe Reinhardt, 6/18).

19 Jun 2010

Primary Care News and Research

Latest Primary Care News and Research

MHQP survey assesses patients' experiences with primary care since health reform law implementation

Americans spend more on health and get poorer care: Report

US physicians concerned about health risk to patients from heat-damaged medicinal products

US lags in health system performance

Only doctors familiar with local health services should provide out of hours primary care: Experts

Obama warns health insurers against using reform to boost premium rates, unveils new patient bill of rights

HHS, insurers, health systems preparing for health law's impact

Benioff family gifts $100 million for construction of new UCSF Children's Hospital at Mission Bay

Gardner Family Health Network to deploy NextGen Ambulatory EHR, Practice Management, QSI Dental System

Study shows vitamin D deficiency is highly prevalent in patients with Type 2 diabetes

Diabetes disease management program helps Medicare patients reduce cost of medical care: Study

Reform law gives major boost to community health centers, medical homes

Doctors, Pelosi pan Senate-passed 'doc fix' plan

HHS Secretary announces new $250M investment to improve health and well-being of Americans

Medicare begins 21% payment cuts to physicians

TFAH recognizes steps taken by Obama Administration on Prevention and Public Health Fund

Research roundup: Medical homes working in poor areas, designing insurance exchanges, health law's effects

Patients' relationship with primary care physician improves health care quality: Study

Tea and coffee consumption linked with reduced heart disease: Study

Friday Opinions: Uwe Reinhardt, Reps. Ron Paul and John Sarbanes, Minnesota nurses' strike

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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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