News Briefs: Week of April 11-15
This roundup includes the following news briefs: Partnership for Patients Seeks to Cut Medical Errors, Hospital Readmissions; U.S. Marshals Seize $6 Million in Triad Products; ACR Updates Medical Imaging Appropriateness Criteria; AAFP Has Minority Health Month Resources; and Medical Educators' Group Invites Substance Abuse Abstracts.
Match Shows Med Students Believe in Specialty's Future
Great news abounded for family medicine in this year's National Resident Matching Program, with a record-breaking 94.4 percent of our residency positions filled. More than 100 additional medical students chose family medicine this year compared with last, and the percentage of U.S. seniors who chose the specialty rose as well.
Regulations on Physician/Industry Interaction Must Include Clarification, Context, Consistency
The AAFP has joined with other members of the Council of Medical Specialty Societies, or CMSS, to urge CMS to ensure that regulations for the Physician Payments Sunshine Act, or PPSA, which was enacted as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act last year, are clear, contextual and consistent. "CMS should attend to
Risk Posed by Popular Teething Meds Prompts FDA Warning to Parents, Physicians
Family physicians and other health care professionals who provide care for infants may soon be fielding questions from parents about how best to soothe children who are teething. That's because the FDA issued a safety announcement on April 7 that warns parents and caregivers to not give OTC benzocaine gel or liquid products, such as Anbesol and Orajel, to children younger than 2 years old unless directed to do so by a physician. The agency's action comes in response to nearly two dozen reports of methemoglobinemia, a rare but potentially fatal condition in which the amount of oxygen carried through the bloodstream is greatly reduced, stemming from use of these medications.
Proposed MCAT Revisions Give More Weight to Applicants' Social Sciences Knowledge, Personal Traits
Preliminary recommendations for a new version of the Medical College Admission Test, or MCAT, include key changes to the content and format of the current MCAT that can help medical schools select students who are more likely to go into family medicine and primary care, say AAFP medical educators. According to a March 31 news release from the Association of American Medical Colleges, or AAMC, the proposed recommendations call for testing the behavioral and social sciences concepts that underlie students' capacity to learn about the human and social issues of medicine.
Patterns in Acute Hepatitis C
The incidence of acute hepatitis C virus (HCV) appears to have declined substantially over the past ...
Nurses Managing Patients Often Dissatisfied, Burned Out
University of Pennsylvania researchers have found that job dissatisfaction and burnout appears to be...
Drug Reduces Preterm Birth Risk
Hydroxyprogesterone caproate injection (Makena, Hologic, Inc.) has been approved by the FDA to reduc...
A Once-Daily Therapy for PHN
The FDA has approved gabapentin (Gralise, Depomed, Inc.) for once-daily treatment of postherpetic ne...
Hospitalizations Due to COPD
New data from the AHRQ show that there were about 822,500 hospital stays for COPD among adults aged ...
Smoking Increases ALS Risk
Smoking appears to increase the risk of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), according to results of...
Addressing the Potential for Physician Shortages
A report co-sponsored by the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation and the Association of Academic Health Cente...
Former AAFP President Touts Challenges, Opportunities Created by ACOs
When the Future of Family Medicine report was released in 2004, it noted that the delivery model for health care in the United States had to change if family medicine was going to continue to exist. Now, according to former AAFP President Ted Epperly, M.D., of Boise, Idaho, the emergence of accountable care organizations, or ACOs, that are based on the patient-centered medical home, or PCMH, could give family medicine an opportunity to realign the health care system.
News Briefs: Week of April 4-8
This roundup includes the following news briefs: Legislation Eliminating Health Law's 1099 Provision Heads to President's Desk; CMS Sticks to April 1 Enforcement Date for Home Health Face-to-Face Rule; Medicaid Physicians in California Face Deep Rate Cuts; Download Free Preventive Services Reference Charts; FPs Now Can Access TRICARE Formulary Data Using Epocrates; FDA Upgrades Web Page on Recalls, Withdrawals; Patient Safety Education Is Focus of New Quality Initiative; CDC Suggests Steps Physicians Can Take to Help Reduce Teen Pregnancies; and CMS Forum Focuses on PQRS and e-Rx Incentive Program Successes.
AAFP Member Defends Title VII Funding in Face of Possible Cuts
As Congress debates future funding levels for Title VII of the Public Health Service Act, AAFP member John Franko, M.D., arrived on Capitol Hill to defend the program against possible cuts, explaining its importance in sustaining and strengthening the nation's primary care workforce during a March 23 Capitol Hill briefing.
AAFP Backs Legislation to Make Medicare Payment Process More Transparent, Accurate
The AAFP has thrown its support behind a House bill that is attempting to bring more accuracy and transparency to the process used to assign relative values to Medicare services. Currently, the AMA/Specialty Society Relative Value Scale Update Committee, or RUC, provides the only guidance on values for Medicare services, but the Medicare Physician Payment Transparency and Assessment Act, H.R. 1256, would require CMS to use alternative means of verifying values for medical services, as well.
Resources Available to Help Docs, Patients Worried About Radiation From Japan Disaster
With updates from disaster-stricken Japan continuing to dominate news headlines and broadcasts, family physicians likely will be hearing questions from patients about radiation, potassium iodide and food safety. Several federal agencies are addressing those issues, and resources and information are available to help answer patients' questions. The CDC said in a March 27 health advisory that, based on Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, monitoring of air and rainwater, there is no indication for anyone in the United States to take potassium iodide -- which is used to protect thyroid glands from radioactive iodine in the event of a nuclear accident -- or to switch to bottled water because of the situation in Japan.
New Findings on Dementia & Mortality
A prospective historical study has found that dementia appears to be associated with more than doubl...
Smoking Status Often Misreported by Women
A report from the CDC analyzing data from the 1999–2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Su...
Speech, Swallowing, & Chemoradiotherapy
An American study has found that several factors appear to correlate with speaking and swallowing ou...
