Primary care

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Primary care is a term used for the activity of a health care provider who acts as a first point of consultation for all patients. Continuity of care is also a key characteristic of primary care.

Primary care is an important form of health access for patients. Primary care involves the widest scope of health care including all ages of patients, patients of all socioeconomic and geographic origins, patients seeking to maintain optimal health, and patients with multiple chronic diseases. Common chronic illnesses include

A 2009 report by the New England Healthcare Institute determined that an increased demand on primary care by older, sicker patients and decreased supply of primary care practitioners has led to a crisis in primary care delivery. The research identified a set of innovations that could enhance the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of primary care in the United States.

For more information about Primary care, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with primary care

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Depression Patients More Apt to Receive Opioids for Chronic Pain

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

created Nov 16, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Chronic pain patients with a history of depression are three times more likely to receive long-term prescriptions for opioid medications like Vicodin compared to pain patients who do not suffer from depression, according ...


Online Cognitive Behavioural Therapy effective when delivered in real time by a therapist

Online Cognitive Behavioural Therapy effective when delivered in real time by a therapist

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

created Aug 21, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) seems to be effective when delivered online in real time by a therapist, with benefits maintained over 8 months. This method of delivery could broaden access ...


Busted: Student Disproves Popular Emergency Room Myth

Medicine & Health / Health

created Jun 08, 2009 | popularity 3.7 / 5 (12) | comments 3

Like the emergency room seen each week on ER, emergency departments in Canada increasingly seem overcrowded and chaotic. Emergency department overcrowding has been a pressing issue across the country for the last two decades. ...


Study examines quality and duration of primary care visits

Medicine & Health / Other

created Nov 09, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Adult primary care visits have increased in quality, duration and frequency between 1997 and 2005, according to a report in the November 9 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.


Higher health insurance costs force doctors to talk about money with patients

Medicine & Health / Other

created Nov 05, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

As health insurers require people to base more treatment decisions on out-of-pocket costs, physicians should learn to talk to patients about money, according to researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.


International survey of physicians in 11 countries reveals US lagging in access, quality, HIT use

Medicine & Health / Health

created Nov 05, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Fifty-eight percent of primary care doctors in the U.S. report their patients often have difficulty paying for medications and care, and half of U.S. doctors spend substantial time dealing with restrictions insurance companies ...


Women with chronic kidney disease more likely than men to go undiagnosed

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Nov 01, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Woman are at particular risk of their primary care physicians delaying diagnosis of chronic kidney disease (CKD), according to a paper being presented at the American Society of Nephrology's 42nd Annual Meeting and Scientific ...


Nearly 5 percent of the US population suffers from persistent depression or anxiety

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Dec 03, 2008 | popularity 3.3 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Though effective treatments are available for individuals suffering from chronic depression and anxiety, very little is known about how often these treatments are used or how prevalent these conditions are among the nation's ...


More than half of women with ovarian cancer face delay in diagnosis

More than half of women with ovarian cancer face delay in diagnosis

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Aug 26, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Many women with ovarian cancer can go undiagnosed for months because their symptoms are not always being investigated promptly, warn researchers at the University of Bristol in a study published ...


Study finds surprisingly high rate of patients readmitted to hospital within a month

Medicine & Health / Other

created Apr 01, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 2

When a patient is discharged from the hospital, just about the last thing he or she wants is to be back in again within the next month. But a new national study has found that's exactly what happens to one out of five Medicare ...


Blood tests and better communication skills could cut over-prescribing of antibiotics

Medicine & Health / Health

created May 21, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Improving communications skills and the use of a simple blood test could help cut the growing number of inappropriate prescriptions of antibiotics, a joint Cardiff University trial has discovered.


New research reveals 41 percent increase in children's short stay hospital admissions

Medicine & Health / Health

created Oct 15, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

The number of children being admitted to hospitals in England for short stays increased by 41 per cent between 1996 and 2006, according to research published in PLoS One today. The authors of the study, from Imperial Colleg ...


50 million new patients? More primary docs a must

Medicine & Health / Health

created Sep 13, 2009 | popularity 3 / 5 (1) | comments 0

(AP) -- When Dr. Robert Flaherty launched a private practice in 2001, he soon found himself cramming in as many patients as possible to make ends meet, leaving little time to discuss with them the steps they could take to ...


New recommendations on hoarseness for primary care physicians

Medicine & Health / Other

created Oct 05, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Primary care physicians face limitations when evaluating patients for voice problems including hoarseness (dyphonia), according to new research presented at the 2009 American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery ...


Insured African Americans more likely to use emergency room than other insured groups

Medicine & Health / Health

created Oct 07, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- African Americans enrolled in HMOs are far more likely to use the ER and to delay getting needed prescription drugs than HMO-insured members of other racial and ethnic groups, a new study has found.