BACKGROUND Workforce experts predict a future shortage of cardiologists that is expected to impact rural areas more severely than urban areas. However, there is little research on how rural patients are currently served through clinical outreach. This study examines the impact of cardiology outreach in Iowa, a state with a large rural population, on participating cardiologists and on patient ac...

Complex billing practices cost the US healthcare system billions of dollars annually. Coding for outpatient office visits [known as Evaluation & Management (E&M) services] is commonly particularly fraught with errors. The best way to insure proper billing and coding by practicing physicians is to teach this as part of the medical school curriculum. Here, in a pilot study, we show that medical s...

The physician-patient relationship is part of the patient's larger social system and is influenced by the patient's family. A patient's family member can be a valuable source of health information and can collaborate in making an accurate diagnosis and planning a treatment strategy during the office visit. However, it is important for the physician to keep an appropriate balance when addressing...

this case report describes the endodontic treatment of a large cyst-like periradicular lesion a 29-year-old female with a large chronic periapical abscess in the region of right maxillary sinus presented into private practice, accompanied with non-vital first upper molar and poorly root treated second upper molar. conservative root canal treatment was carried out for both of the involved teeth ...

Methods. We surveyed 50 new adult patients attending a dermatology clinic visit for various dermatologic conditions. The 25 patients in the intervention group received a short brochure containing information about their dermatologist’s training, desire to provide high-quality health care, and contact information; 25 control patients did not receive the brochure. Both groups completed a postvisi...

OBJECTIVE To identify factors associated with the cost of treating high-cost Medicare beneficiaries. DATA SOURCES A national sample of 1.6 million elderly, Medicare beneficiaries linked to 2004-2005 Community Tracking Study Physician Survey respondents and local market data from secondary sources. STUDY DESIGN Using 12 months of claims data from 2005 to 2006, the sample was divided into pre...

OBJECTIVE To assess associations between secure patient-clinician email use and clinical services utilisation over time. DESIGN Retrospective cohort study between July 2010 and December 2013. Controlling for a utilisation surge around first secure email use, we analysed difference of differences between propensity score-matched groups of secure patient-clinician email users and non-users for ...

The authors describe the implementation of a depression care management (DCM) program at Colorado Access, a public sector health plan, and describe the program's clinical and system outcomes for members with chronic medical conditions. High medical risk, high cost Medicaid health plan members were identified and systematically screened for depression. A total of 370 members enrolled in the DCM ...

A community sentinel pediatrician-based epidemiological and virological surveillance study was conducted to estimate the incidence of gastroenteritis and laboratory-confirmed rotavirus-associated disease. The 1-year cumulative incidence of gastroenteritis in the cohort of children aged 0-5 years was 21%, with the highest rates in the 7-12-month and 13-18-month age groups (41.1% and 41.7%, respe...

THE INNOVATION Patients are engaged with their digital devices at nearly every office visit, texting, checking email, catching up on news, or gaming. I wanted to take advantage of the attention patients pay to their smartphones and turn it into an engagement opportunity. I developed QR (Quick Response) codes for online information about common health issues both to entertain and to educate. Thi...