Primary Care News

Latest Primary Care / General Practice News From Medical News Today.

Total news: 25
Last news: August 31, 2007 08:00:00

GP leaders in Scotland welcomed the publication of the Audit Scotland report into Primary Care Out-of-Hours Services. Dr Dean Marshall, Chairman of the BMAs Scottish General Practitioners Committee, said: "This report highlights some of the fundamental issues that have hindered NHS Boards from developing integrated services for out-of-hours care. [click link for full article] - [Read more]

Elsevier, the world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, has introduced the latest edition of the Cecil Textbook of Medicine -- which has been in continuous publication longer than any other internal medicine textbook, and is considered one of the worlds most trusted medical references. [click link for full article] - [Read more]

Physicians often ignore or dismiss patient complaints about possible side effects of statins, according to a study published last week in the journal Drug Safety, the Washington Post reports. For the study, researchers led by Beatrice Golomb, an associate professor of medicine at the [click link for full article] - [Read more]

There is growing concern that the National Health Service (NHS) policy changes may be making the problem of recognizing serious illness in feverish young children more difficult, according to an Editorial in this weeks issue of the British Medical Journal. According to Anthony Harndern, Lecturer in General Practice, University of Oxford, medical professionals should be offering less telephone advice and more opportunities for prompt assessment by an experienced doctor. [click link for full article] - [Read more]

The 500-member Florida Medical Association House of Delegates over the weekend in Hollywood, Fla., met to discuss a number of potential policy changes, with much of the focus on access to care, the Miami Herald reports. [click link for full article] - [Read more]

The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Margaret Chan, opened an international primary care meeting here, saying "We cannot allow millions of people worldwide to die and keep on dying from treatable diseases." Speaking at the official opening of the "30/15" primary health care conference here this week with PAHO Director Dr. Mirta Roses, Dr. [click link for full article] - [Read more]

President, Dr Rosanna Capolingua, said that, after close examination of Labors plan for GP Super Clinics, the policy raises more questions than answers to the primary health care needs of Australian patients.Dr Capolingua said the Labor policy provides a lot of words that correctly identify the problem but little of substance to set out practical solutions. [click link for full article] - [Read more]

CMS issued final regulations prohibiting physicians from referring Medicare patients for certain items, services and tests provided by businesses in which they or their immediate family members have a financial interest. This regulation is the third phase of the final regulations implementing the physician self-referral prohibition commonly referred to as the Stark law. [click link for full article] - [Read more]

Hospitals and physicians in Illinois are fighting "last-minute" legislation that would implement a pilot program in which Medicaid beneficiaries in two counties would be required to join HMOs, the Chicago Tribune reports. The program, which began in 1990, so far has been voluntary, and less than 160,000 beneficiaries have enrolled in HMOs. [click link for full article] - [Read more]

The U.S. plans to launch a program to train health care workers in Mozambique in an effort to strengthen the countrys health system and fight HIV/AIDS and malaria, Mozambican Health Minister Ivo Garrido announced Wednesday after a meeting with HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt and Mozambican President Armando Guebuza, AIM/AllAfrica.com reports (AIM/AllAfrica.com, 8/22). [click link for full article] - [Read more]

The Australian Medical Students Association (AMSA) is pleased to see the Australian Labor Partys acknowledgement of General Practice as the frontline of the Australian healthcare system with its proposed $220 million GP Super Clinics plan. Labors policy aims to bolster primary care facilities in areas of workforce need and encourage young doctors into the field of general practice, and this is certainly a positive step forward. [click link for full article] - [Read more]

New Orleans health clinics "are vying for $100 million in federal funding for primary care" in an "attempt to become medical homes" for low-income residents and reduce residents reliance on Louisiana State Universitys Charity Hospital system, USA Today reports. [click link for full article] - [Read more]

A new online medical ethics course has been launched by the World Medical Association. Provided in cooperation with the Norwegian Medical Association, the course is designed primarily for physicians, but can be undertaken by any health professionals. The course is free of charge and when a physician has finished it he or she will receive a course diploma. [click link for full article] - [Read more]

Dawn Primarolo, Minister of State for Public Health launched the Health Inequalities Intervention Tool - an interactive website to help local health services and councils improve life expectancy in areas with the worst health and deprivation. [click link for full article] - [Read more]

Commenting on the survey on missed appointments, published yesterday 23/08/07 by Developing Patient Partnerships, Dr Laurence Buckman, chairman of the BMAs GPs Committee representing all UK family doctors, said: "Whilst we understand the frustrations that other patients and doctors feel when some people persistently fail to turn up for GP appointments, we think it is important that practices find out why this is happening before taking precipitant action. [click link for full article] - [Read more]

Hospitals increasingly are creating policies that encourage doctors who make medical mistakes to apologize to patients, the Chicago Tribune reports. In the past, physicians have been "too proud, too afraid of malpractice lawsuits and too worried about losing face" to make apologies, according to the Tribune. [click link for full article] - [Read more]

Doctors unconscious racial biases may influence their decisions to treat patients and explain racial and ethnic disparities in the use of certain medical procedures, according to Alexander Green from Harvard Medical School and his team. Their study1, published in Springers Journal of General Internal Medicine, is the first evidence of how unconscious race bias among doctors affects their clinical decisions. [click link for full article] - [Read more]

Newspapers recently published articles examining hospitals and physician ranking programs. Summaries appear below. [click link for full article] - [Read more]

Doctors taught empathy techniques by theater professors show improved bedside manner, according to a pilot study by a Virginia Commonwealth University research team.The findings may help in the development of medical curriculum for clinical empathy training. Clinical empathy skills allow doctors to recognize a patients emotional status and to respond to the patients needs. [click link for full article] - [Read more]

Despite the vast majority of patients being satisfied with access to their GP practice, as shown in an Ă‚Â£11 million government survey, the English Department of Health is adopting a bullying approach, says the BMAs GPs leader. Dr Laurence Buckman, the north London GP who chairs the BMAs GPs Committee, criticised the government for its aggressive heavy-handed approach and for failing to even attempt to talk to GPs about their plans. [click link for full article] - [Read more]