Journal of general internal medicine
-
We know little about how much time low-income patients and physicians spend discussing pain during primary care visits. ⋯ Pain-related discussions comprise a substantial proportion of time during primary care visits. Future research should evaluate the relationship between time spent discussing pain and the quality of primary care pain management.
-
Despite federal guidelines calling for the reduction of obesity and elimination of health disparities, black-white differences in obesity prevalence and in medical expenditures and utilization of health care services persist. ⋯ Black-white racial differences in total medical expenditures were observed in each body weight category and were significantly different in the obese I class, overweight, and healthy weight categories. Obese blacks also spent a smaller amount than obese whites--the insignificance might be due to the smaller sample size. These differences cannot be fully explained by socio-demographics, health conditions, or health beliefs. Black-white differences in medical expenditures may be largely due to relatively inexpensive types of care (office-based visits, outpatient care, medication) rather than more costly ones (inpatient care, ER).
-
Survey data suggest that many people fear genetic discrimination by health insurers or employers. In fact, such discrimination has not yet been a significant problem. ⋯ It concludes that medical providers and health care institutions must be familiar with the general intent and specific terms of GINA, and should continue to collect genetic information that can contribute to the high quality provision of medical treatment. Not doing so violates their medical mission and diminishes the quality of care patients deserve.
-
Doctor rating websites are a burgeoning trend, yet little is known about their content. ⋯ The majority of Internet reviews of primary care physicians are positive in nature. Our findings reaffirm that the care encounter extends beyond the patient-physician dyad; staff, access, and convenience all affect patient's reviews of physicians. In addition, negative interpersonal reviews underscore the importance of well-perceived bedside manner for a successful patient-physician interaction.