JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association
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Despite a widespread interest in increasing the numbers of primary care physicians to improve care and to moderate costs, the relationship of the primary care physician workforce to patient-level outcomes remains poorly understood. ⋯ A higher level of primary care physician workforce, particularly with an FTE measure that may more accurately reflect ambulatory primary care, was generally associated with favorable patient outcomes.
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Measurement of plasma concentrations of the biomarker copeptin may help identify patients with heart failure at high and low risk of mortality, although the value of copeptin measurement in elderly patients is not fully known. ⋯ Among elderly patients with symptoms of heart failure, elevated concentrations of copeptin and the combination of elevated concentrations of copeptin and NT-proBNP were associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality.
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The risks associated with new-onset atrial fibrillation (AF) among middle-aged women and populations with a low comorbidity burden are poorly defined. ⋯ Among a group of healthy women, new-onset AF was independently associated with all-cause, cardiovascular, and noncardiovascular mortality, with some of the risk potentially explained by nonfatal cardiovascular events.