Copyright 2009 Medical News Today Latest Primary Care / General Practice News From Medical News Today. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/sections/primary_care/ admin@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Admin) editors@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Editors) en-us Sat, 28 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172364.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172364.php The Rural Doctors Association of Australia (RDAA) is calling on the Australian Medical Association (AMA) Western Australian Branch to reverse its misguided approach of paying spotters fees for recruitment of overseas doctors. RDAA has described as ill-advised the campaign put in place by AMA (WA) Branch President, Professor Gary Geelhoed, which pays spotters fees to entice doctors from overseas to work in Western Australia. Primary Care / General Practice Fri, 27 Nov 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172310.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172310.php Melvin R. Kaplan, MD, FACP, a former Board Chair and one of the founders of the research institute that became Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center (LA BioMed), will be honored by the American College of Physicians for his lifetime devotion to the care of patients. At its April 22, 2010 meeting in Toronto, the American College of Physicians will present Dr. Kaplan with the Ralph O. Claypoole Sr. Primary Care / General Practice Thu, 26 Nov 2009 06:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172257.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172257.php High medical fees often catch patients off-guard while many plagued by medical debt file for bankruptcy. The Wall Street Journal reports: "When patients visit some doctors' offices and urgent-care clinics, they're increasingly running into something unexpected: billing as though they had gone to a hospital. Health Insurance / Medical Insurance Thu, 26 Nov 2009 06:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172258.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172258.php A radiology clinic in Manhattan's Upper East Side has two doors, an example of a new, two-tiered medical practice model favored by some doctors, MSNBC reports. One door opens to a crowded waiting room while the other opens into a small private room with four chairs and little or no waiting line. The crowded room is for patients whose insurance will pay for their visit. Primary Care / General Practice Thu, 26 Nov 2009 06:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172259.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172259.php The Baltimore Sun reports: "[P]harmaceutical companies that make … prescription drugs are also looking over the doctor's shoulder, keeping track of how many prescriptions for whose drugs the individual physician is writing." The data is used to hone marketing pitches to individual physicians with carefully selected research findings. Primary Care / General Practice Thu, 26 Nov 2009 04:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172250.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172250.php The New York Times reports that while the Senate health bill "includes nearly every big idea that health economists and medical researchers have for slowing cost growth - as well as for improving the patchwork quality of American health care, ... many of the ideas, like the rule on Medicare reimbursement, have been at least partly neutered. Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP Thu, 26 Nov 2009 02:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172096.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172096.php Providing physicians with a computerized order entry/decision support system that provides immediate feedback regarding imaging appropriateness at the time of ordering may be an effective solution to managing imaging utilization, according to an article in the December issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology, (JACR). Radiology / Nuclear Medicine Thu, 26 Nov 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172175.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172175.php The Medical College of Georgia is leading an initiative that could result in a paradigm shift in the care of patients with sickle cell disease. Blood / Hematology Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172094.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172094.php On-call radiology residents generally provide accurate preliminary interpretation of emergency neuroradiology CT scans after hours when attending neuroradiologist unavailable, according to results of a large study performed at a level I trauma center published in the December issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology (JACR). The accuracy of image interpretation is the most essential element of diagnostic radiology. Radiology / Nuclear Medicine Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172101.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172101.php The American College of Physicians (ACP), representing 129,000 internal medicine physicians and medical student members, believes that it is essential that research on the effectiveness and comparative effectiveness of different medical treatments not be influenced by political considerations. The U.S. Primary Care / General Practice Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172149.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172149.php Involving family members of pediatric cancer and hematology patients in medical rounds benefits both the family and the medical team, according to a new Indiana University School of Medicine study. Primary Care / General Practice Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172153.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172153.php The Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) is calling for registration and publication of the results of all clinical trials to be made obligatory. The German Federal Government must push for a mandatory regulation to be implemented at EU level; in the USA this obligation has been in force since 2008. This has been brought to a head by the publication of the final report on three antidepressants which was greatly hindered by Pfizer. Clinical Trials / Drug Trials Wed, 25 Nov 2009 06:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172134.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172134.php The Wall Street Journal reports on "20 health-care advances to give thanks for this Thanksgiving." Among the most key: "Life expectancy in the U.S. reached an all-time high of 77.9 years in 2007, the latest year for which statistics are available, continuing a long upward trend. (That's 75.3 years for men and 80.4 years for women.) ... Primary Care / General Practice Wed, 25 Nov 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172129.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172129.php The New York Times Prescriptions Blog reports on a ripple in "the Senate's predominant history as an old-boys' club." It notes that "to move the bill forward for full debate, the Democrats' last two crucial votes came from women: Senators Mary L. Landrieu of Louisiana and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas. Health Insurance / Medical Insurance Wed, 25 Nov 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172032.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172032.php Like everybody, health care professionals enjoy a pay raise for a job well done. But in some instances, financial incentives for health care performance may actually backfire. A new UCLA study shows that patient-care performance ratings for 25 medical groups across California improved significantly following the launch of a statewide pay-for-performance program in 2004 - but not when incentives focused on doctors' productivity. Primary Care / General Practice Wed, 25 Nov 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172037.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172037.php Low-income children who don't access health care from the same place or provider over the long term are significantly more likely to have unmet health care needs compared with those who do, according to a new study published in the journal Pediatrics. Studies like this are crucial to informing the financing and delivery of quality health care for children, the researchers report. Pediatrics / Children's Health Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171978.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171978.php Surgeons who are burned out or depressed are more likely to say they had recently committed a major error on the job, according to the largest study to date on physician burnout. The new findings suggest that the mental well-being of the surgeon is associated with a higher rate of self-reported medical errors, something that may undermine patient safety more than the fatigue that is often blamed for many of the medical mistakes. Primary Care / General Practice Tue, 24 Nov 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171957.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171957.php A plan to reopen Los Angeles' Martin Luther King Jr. hospital as a private, nonprofit facility in partnership with the University of California is the latest example in a new trend among public hospitals that has lead to greater efficiency, and often quality elsewhere, The New York Times reports. Primary Care / General Practice Tue, 24 Nov 2009 04:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171956.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171956.php While all Americans will eventually die, CBS's 60 Minutes reports, it may turn some heads to find out how much the government will spend when it happens -- in 2008, about $50 billion in the last two months of life. "You might think this would be an obvious thing for Congress and the president to address as they try to reform health care. Seniors / Aging Tue, 24 Nov 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171958.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171958.php The Miami Herald reports: "Some parts of the country already lack an ample supply of general internists, pediatricians and family physicians, forcing patients to drive further or wait longer for care. If a comprehensive health reform bill passes and extends coverage to millions of uninsured Americans, many are asking if there will be enough primary-care doctors to handle the increased demand for medical services. Primary Care / General Practice Tue, 24 Nov 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171962.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171962.php "Hospitals that disproportionately care for poor patients are less likely than other hospitals to have adopted health information technology," according to an October study published in Health Affairs, American Medical News reports. IT / Internet / E-mail Mon, 23 Nov 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171812.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171812.php The House voted largely along party lines Thursday to permanently end annual cuts in doctors' Medicare payments, which the Congress has temporarily averted from year to year, the Associated Press reports. Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP Mon, 23 Nov 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171840.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171840.php Purchasing prescription drugs in a three-month supply rather than a one-month supply has long been regarded as a way to reduce the cost of drugs for patients and third-party payers. New research from the University of Chicago quantifies the savings for the first time. Pharmacy / Pharmacist Mon, 23 Nov 2009 02:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171811.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171811.php The Associated Press further analyzed its poll from earlier this week, with an eye on medical malpractice limits: "54 percent favor making it harder to sue doctors and hospitals for mistakes taking care of patients, while 32 percent are opposed. The rest are undecided or don't know. But congressional Democrats are reluctant to press forward on the issue. Litigation / Medical Malpractice Mon, 23 Nov 2009 02:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171830.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171830.php As electronic health records become more widely deployed, increasing amounts of health information are being collected. This data has many beneficial applications, such as research, public health, and health system planning. In a recent study, Dr. IT / Internet / E-mail