Journal of general internal medicine
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To determine the effect of an out-of-hours primary care physician (PCP) cooperative on the caseload at the emergency department (ED) and to study characteristics of patients utilizing out-of-hours care. ⋯ In the city of Maastricht, the Netherlands, the PCP cooperative reduced the use of hospital emergency care during out-of-hours care.
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Ethnic diversity among physicians may be linked to improved access and quality of care for minorities. Academic medical institutions are challenged to increase representation of ethnic minorities among health professionals. ⋯ Soliciting input from faculty provides tangible ideas regarding interventions to improve an institution's diversity climate.
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Patients' religious commitments and religious communities are known to influence their experiences of illness and their medical decisions. Physicians are also dynamic partners in the doctor-patient relationship, yet little is known about the religious characteristics of physicians or how physicians' religious commitments shape the clinical encounter. ⋯ Physicians' religious characteristics are diverse and they differ in many ways from those of the general population. Researchers, medical educators, and policy makers should further examine the ways in which physicians' religious commitments shape their clinical engagements.
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During congressional debate over the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit, much attention was focused on nominal benefit design. Relatively little attention was paid to details about how plans would operate, such as the design of drug formularies. ⋯ We encourage the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to develop standardized tools to provide physicians and patients with up-to-date and easily accessible information about covered drugs on each plan's formulary (perhaps via a central website) and a national set of easy-to-follow procedures for reconsideration and appeals. Such efforts should reduce administrative burden and better allow physicians to help patients obtain needed medications.