General Practice Medical Animation

Bush Administration 'Ignores Experts' On Proposed HHS Conscience Rule, Editorial Says
Choosing to "ignore the experts," the Bush administration plans to move forward with a proposed HHS rule that allows health care providers to opt out of care based on their moral or religious beliefs, a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette editorial says.

Health Care Workers Face Increased Risk Of Mortality From HIV, Other Bloodborne Diseases, Study Finds
A new CDC study published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine has found that health care workers face an increased risk of dying from bloodborne diseases, such as HIV, and related illnesses compared with workers in other fields, Reuters reports.

S.D. Abortion Script Threatens Doctor-Patient Relationship, NEJM Opinion Piece Says
A South Dakota law that requires a physician to tell a woman seeking an abortion that the procedure "will terminate the life of a whole, separate, unique, living human being" with whom she has an "existing relationship" signals "a new step in states' efforts to restrict abortion," Zita Lazzarini of the University of Connecticut Health Center and

Study Looks At Physicians' Likeliness To Refer Minority Patients To Clinical Trials
"Factors Influencing Physician Referrals of Patients to Clinical Trials" (.pdf), Journal of the National Medical Association: The study, by University of South Carolina medical researchers, looks at physicians' attitudes and beliefs about recruiting patients to clinical trials, particularly minorities.

Calling On Our Members Of Parliament: Face The Challenges Of Working In General Practice, Australia
Many general practitioners believe that members of the Australian Parliament are not aware of the pressures and challenges of working in our over stretched and under resourced general practice profession, The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) said today. "GPs specialise in patients not diseases and we care for our patients from cradle to grave. We experience each sector of the healthcare system in the same way that our patients do.

Most Massachusetts Physicians Surveyed Practice 'Defensive Medicine,' Which Could Be Driving Up State Health Care Costs
Eighty-three percent of physicians surveyed in Massachusetts say they practice so-called "defensive medicine" because they are concerned they might be sued by patients, a trend that adds at least $1.4 billion annually to state health care costs, according to a report by the Massachusetts Medical Society, the

Federal Appeals Court Upholds New Hampshire Law Prohibiting Sales Of Physicians' Prescribing Histories
The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston on Tuesday upheld a New Hampshire law prohibiting the sale of information about physicians' prescribing practices for use in prescription drug marketing, the AP/Lexington Herald-Leader reports (Love, AP/Lexington Herald-Leader, 11/18).

GE To Partner With Medical Institutions, Spend $200M Over Five Years To Develop Electronic Systems For Medical Information, Patient Records
General Electric and GE Healthcare officials on Tuesday at a conference in New York City announced plans to partner with several U.S. medical institutions on an effort to develop a national electronic health record system, the

Study Examines Effect Of Medicaid Payment Delays On Physician Participation
"Do Reimbursement Delays Discourage Medicaid Participation By Physicians?" Health Affairs: The study, released by the

Many Primary Care Physicians Unsatisfied With Profession, Survey Finds
Many primary care physicians are not satisfied with their profession and would not recommend medicine as a career, according to a survey released on Monday by the Physicians Foundation, Reuters/Boston Globe reports.

Fears Over Asthma Misdiagnosis Lead To British Lung Foundation Calls For Mass Retesting
The British Lung Foundation is calling for everyone over 35 with Asthma or the progressive illness Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) to be retested following evidence of confusion over diagnosis and treatment of the two respiratory diseases. A survey of 776 GPs from all over the UK carried out for the charity by Doctors.net.uk shows that most have difficulty differentiating between Asthma or COPD, causing misdiagnosis and distress amongst patients.

AMSA Receives Grant From Robert Wood Johnson Foundation To Empower New Generation Of Primary Care Leaders
The American Medical Student Association (AMSA), the nation's oldest and largest, independent association for physicians-in-training, today announced that it has received approximately $50,000 in support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) to empower the next generation of primary care leaders over the next five years with the goal of strengthening primary care in the United States.

Primary Care Provides Patients With Better Outcomes At Lower Cost, Urgent Need To Prevent Shortages Of Primary Care Physicians
A white paper , How is a Shortage of Primary Care Physicians Affecting the Quality and Cost of Medical Care?, released today by the American College of Physicians (ACP) documents the value of primary care by reviewing 20 years of research.

Health Information Technology Issues Tackled By UT Trainees
Many health care providers are overloaded with information. And more is coming. At The University of Texas School of Health Information Sciences at Houston (SHIS), research trainees are learning how to address the many issues raised by the explosion in e-information. SHIS recently received a 5-year, $1.3 million grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to teach six young investigators how to conduct research in health information technology (Health IT).

The Quality And Outcomes Framework Is One Government Target That Truly Benefits Patients, Says British Medical Association
The Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) is one government target that has brought real benefit to patients across the UK, the BMA said today (Wednesday 19 November 2008).