OBJECTIVE To compare the effectiveness of three computerized reminder systems in the delivery of five preventive procedures in family practice. DESIGN Prospective, randomized, controlled study. SETTING Ottawa Civic Hospital Family Medicine Centre. PARTICIPANTS Of 8502 patients 15 years of age or more who were not in a hospital or institution 5883 were randomly assigned, by family, to a co...

Background. Low health literacy affects more than one-third of American adults, resulting in poor physician-patient communication, worse health outcomes, and increased medical costs. Many physicians are uninformed of their patients’ health literacy status. Current paper-based surveys require extra staff, time, and resources for administration, while a computer-based survey may provide efficient...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Previous research has examined patients' attitudes toward use of exam room computers by physicians. Our objective was to determine patient attitudes toward physicians' exam room use of new tablet computers. METHODS A random sample of 96 patients was interviewed immediately following a visit to a physician at an outpatient family medicine clinic at a large academic me...

BACKGROUND Patients and physicians value effective communication and consider it an essential part of the medical encounter. This study examined physician-patient communication patterns, and interruptions in communication, during patient visits with family practice and internal medicine residents. METHODS Observational data obtained from 60 routine primary care office visits included the time...

BACKGROUND Clinicians cannot provide all recommended preventive services in a single office visit and must learn to prioritize. This skill is not overtly addressed in medical school. METHODS We designed a workshop to teach third-year medical students to prioritize preventive services during an office visit. In a prospective controlled trial, we compared performance on a standardized patient c...

The American Academy of Pediatrics policy statement "Options Counseling for the Pregnant Adolescent Patient" recommends the basic content of the pediatrician's counseling for an adolescent facing a new diagnosis of pregnancy. However, options counseling is just one aspect of what may be one of the more challenging scenarios in the pediatric office. Pediatricians must remain alert to the possibi...

The purpose of this preliminary study is to develop an operational definition of the closure phase of the medical visit. A listening group developed a definition of closure by consensus based on audiotaped data from 22 office visits to physicians. The group noted new problems in closure not previously raised. Closure was defined as the final phase of the medical visit in which the doctor and pa...

A methodology has been developed to determine the relative values of surgical procedures and medical office visits on the basis of resource costs. The time taken to perform the service and the complexity of that service are the most critical variables. Inter-specialty differences in the opportunity costs of training and overhead expenses are also considered. Results indicate some important diff...