Recently added articles from Family Practice News:
Survey: FPs retool practices to cope with recession: patients skip preventive care; fees are cut.(NEWS)(Survey)
Jun 01, 2009; ... Family doctors are changing the way they work, providing more charity care, and cutting fees as the recession impacts their patients and their practices, according to a survey released by the American Academy of Family Physicians. More than half of physicians who responded to ...
Wait times to see an FP vary considerably in big cities.(NEWS)
Jun 01, 2009; ... New patients wait about 20 days on average to get an appointment with a family physician, according to a survey of wait times in 15 large cities. A new patient seeking an appointment for a routine physical exam could wait anywhere from 3 to 100 days, with an average wait time of ...
Medicare declines to cover virtual colonoscopy: CMS: while CTC is promising, questions need to be answered about health outcomes in an elderly population.(NEWS)
Jun 01, 2009; ... Medicare will not pay for computed tomographic colonography for colorectal cancer screening, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced last month. "We have determined that there is insufficient evidence on the test characteristics and performance of screening CT ...
Economy hits women's health care, childbearing trends.(NEWS)
Jun 01, 2009; ... CHICAGO -- Women forced to make tough economic choices are skipping annual ob.gyn, visits, cutting back on their medications, and postponing childbearing, according to a Gallup Organization survey released in conjunction with the annual meeting of the American College of Obstetricians and ...
CV disease/colorectal ca connection being missed.(CARDIOVASCULAR MEDICINE)
Jun 01, 2009; ... DENVER -- Physicians often miss the opportunity to recommend colorectal cancer screening in patients with cardiovascular risk factors, a national survey indicates. Screening for colorectal cancer (CRC) in patients with cardiovascular risk factors is particularly important ...
Undiagnosed diabetes may affect 3.8% of adults.(METABOLIC DISORDERS)
Jun 01, 2009; ... The prevalence of elevated hemoglobin [A.sub.1c] levels in adults without a history of diabetes is 3.8%, based on an analysis of data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. This indication of a significant prevalence of undiagnosed diabetes was seen in an ...
Part D 'doughnut hole' affects quarter of diabetic patients.(METABOLIC DISORDERS)
Jun 01, 2009; ... LONG BEACH, CALIF. -- About one-quarter of diabetes patients receiving Medicare Part D drug benefits enter the coverage gap--the so-called "doughnut hole"--that comes after using $2,250 in medications during a single year. Although some of these patients have supplemental drug ...
Flu shot advice hits home with asthma patients: children who receive recommendation from their physician are far more likely to get vaccinated.(INFECTIOUS DISEASES)
Jun 01, 2009; ... BALTIMORE -- Among children with asthma who received a recommendation from their physician to get the influenza vaccine, the rate of subsequent vaccination was 76%, compared with 16% among children who reported not receiving a recommendation from their physician. The low ...
Response to influenza vaccine may be blunted in the elderly.(INFECTIOUS DISEASES)
Jun 01, 2009; ... CHICAGO -- Trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine may not elicit a clinically adequate antibody response in elderly adults, pilot data suggest. Based on blood assays taken before and 4 weeks after administration of the Fluarix 2007/2008 formula, 88% of 71 community-dwelling ...
Psoriasis studies conflict on CV mortality risk.(SKIN DISORDERS)
Jun 01, 2009; ... MONTREAL -- Mortality rates are significantly increased in patients with severe psoriasis compared with the general population, according to two new studies. But the studies have conflicting results regarding cause of death, researchers reported at the annual meeting of the ...
Ultrasound pinpoints endometrial hyperplasia diagnosis in adolescents.(WOMEN'S HEALTH)
Jun 01, 2009; ... SAN ANTONIO -- Increased endometrial thickness on ultrasound is a strong risk factor for endometrial hyperplasia in adolescent and young women with prolonged, irregular menstrual bleeding. "There are very scarce data on adolescent women," Dr. Mee Hwa Lee said. So she and her ...
Weight reduction key to cutting endometrial ca risk in obese patients.(WOMEN'S HEALTH)
Jun 01, 2009; ... DENVER -- Even long-term use of oral contraceptives can't nullify the substantially increased risk of endometrial cancer conferred by obesity, results of a case-control study show. "These results highlight the importance of weight reduction in the primary prevention of ...
Diabetes may raise risk of hepatocellular cancer.(DIGESTIVE DISORDERS)(Clinical report)
Jun 01, 2009; ... DENVER -- Diabetes appears to be an independent risk factor for hepatocellular carcinoma, with the risk rising as duration of the endocrine disease increases, according to an ongoing, prospective case-control study. Also, the magnitude of risk for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) ...
FDA warns about liver risks of recalled dietary supplement.(DIGESTIVE DISORDERS)
Jun 01, 2009; ... Reports of severe liver injuries--including one fatality--associated with Hydroxycut brand dietary supplements have prompted a nationwide product recall, the Food and Drug Administration announced last month. The products are marketed as weight-loss aids, energy-enhancers, low-carbohydrate ...
Use of antiepileptics linked to increase in fracture risk.(NEUROLOGIC DISORDERS)
Jun 01, 2009; ... SEATTLE -- Older adults in the general population have an elevated risk of fractures related to osteoporosis if they take certain antiepileptic drugs, according to a population-based analysis. "Prior studies have shown that antiepileptic drugs [AEDs] are associated with an ...
Infections emerge long after cancer's treatment.(CANCER)
Jun 01, 2009; ... DENVER -- Long-term survivors of Hodgkin's lymphoma are at increased risk for pneumonia and other severe infections, even 20 years or more after the diagnosis of their malignancy, according to a Swedish national study. Hospital registry data were analysed from all 6,946 Swedes ...
Panel wrestles with criteria for genetic test coverage.(CLINICAL ROUNDS)
Jun 01, 2009; ... BALTIMORE -- If Medicare is going to pay for genetic tests, what criteria should it use to decide which to cover? That was one of the questions tackled by a Medicare Evidence Development and Coverage Advisory Committee panel at a May meeting. The 17-member panel included an ...
Health reform options include boost to primary care.(PRACTICE TRENDS)
Jun 01, 2009; ... The health reform package being crafted in Congress could include Medicare payment bonuses to primary care physicians and general surgeons, according to policy options released by leaders of the Senate Finance Committee. The 52-page paper is a first look at the proposals on the ...
Coalition pledges to cut rise in health care costs by $2 trillion.(PRACTICE TRENDS)
Jun 01, 2009; ... Leaders of several health care and labor organizations met with President Obama at the White House and proposed ideas to reduce the growth in health care costs by as much as $2 trillion over the next decade. In a letter sent to the president, the six organizations--the American ...
Palliative care team makes house calls.(PRACTICE TRENDS)
May 15, 2009; ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] AUSTIN, TEX. -- Americans can get almost anything delivered to their homes, but it might not be so easy to get the doorbell to ring when you're most in need. "There are more than 1,000 hospital-based palliative care teams in the United States, ...