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Physician-patient encounters are full of teachable moments.

Medicare provides access to physician care that is equal to or even better than care available to Americans with private plans, according to a survey conducted in September 2010 from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC).

Surgeons married to physicians appear to face more challenges in balancing their personal and professional lives than do surgeons whose partners work in a non-physician field or stay at home, according to a recent study.

Lower-income families in high-deductible health plans are more likely to delay or forgo care due to cost than higher-income families who have similar coverage, according to researchers from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars program, Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

Most frequent medication errors and adverse drug events in primary care practices are communication problems and lack of knowledge, according to a recent study. Researchers from the Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University School of Medicine studied urban, suburban, and rural primary care practices in California, Connecticut, Oregon, and Texas that used MEADERS (Medication Error and Adverse Drug Event Reporting System) for 10 weeks, submitting 507 confidential event reports. Of the reports, 70% included medication errors only, whereas 2% included both medication errors and adverse drug events. Average time spent reporting an event was slightly more than 4 minutes.

Socioeconomic factors such as income and education levels, although strongly associated with broadband Internet use, are not the sole determinants of use, according to ?Digital Nation II,? a new report issued by the Department of Commerce?s Economics and Statistics Administration and National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

When researchers in Massachusetts used a computer-automated safety surveillance system of clinical outcomes registries for cardiovascular devices, they were able to identify a drug-releasing stent that had significantly higher rates of major adverse cardiac events than similar stents.

The American Medical Association has adopted a new policy in an effort to help physicians maintain a positive online presence and preserve the integrity of the patient-physician relationship.

Medical practices lag behind hospitals in their past efforts and future plans to address security issues related to electronic health records, according to responses to the 2010 HIMSS Security Survey, sponsored by Intel and supported by the Medical Group Management Association.

Patients are significantly more likely to abandon at the pharmacy prescriptions submitted electronically than those dropped off in person, according to the results of a study appearing in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Four primary care physician membership organizations issued a set of principles for Accountable Care Organizations, where a group of healthcare professionals accept a shared responsibility to deliver a broad set of medical services to a defined set of patients across the age spectrum and are held accountable for the quality and cost of care provided through alignment of incentives.

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Experience with certain patients inevitably become retained as "teaching points," both positive and negative, to be tucked away for use in future patient care.

One physician and his physician wife made a pledge early in their careers that they would not treat family members.

Learn of new PECOS regulations to ensure reimbursement in 2011.

As an increasing number of physicians migrate to electronic health records to replace their paper charts, concerns have been growing about the possibility of information being wiped out or no longer accessible.

Adding pharmacists to the primary care team in the office may help patients with chronic diseases such as diabetes better manage associated risks, according to a new study.

Daniel Z. Sands, MD, a practicing general internist, spoke at the American Academy of Family Physicians' Scientific Assembly about how engaging patients online can improve treatment adherence, lifestyle improvements, and outcomes.

Learn how to stay up with the competition that retail clinics offer to consumers.

Being diagnosed with sarcoidosis changes physician's perspective on practice of medicine.

Understand the difference between load and no-load mutual funds.

"Wow, that was easy!" How wonderful it would be if you could utter those words once your transition to electronic health records was complete.

What specialty in medicine compromises the quality of its work based on its model of care? The author of this article points to primary care.

Congress voted in late November to halt a 23% payment cut that was to take effect this month to physicians who accept Medicare.

More than 6 million New York residents will have access to Web camera or telephone physician encounters, according to BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York and American Well.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services launched a division last month charged with testing "new ways of delivering healthcare and paying healthcare providers that can save money for Medicare and Medicaid while improving quality of care," including the patient-centered medical homes, according to CMS.

One-third of 272 hospitals and practices surveyed that use an electronic health record system reported at least 1 known case of medical identity theft at their organization, according to results from HIMSS.

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