Primary Care

ATLANTA — Nearly one-third of primary care providers who treat patients with arthritis failed to follow Exercise Is Medicine guidance for physical activity, according to data presented at ACR/ARP 2019.

National Internal Medicine Day, October 28, was officially established by the ACP this year “to recognize internal medicine specialists and subspecialists who are united by a commitment to excellence and who make a difference in the lives of their patients every day,” ACP President Robert M. McLean, MD, MACP, told Healio Primary Care.

NEW ORLEANS — Primary care physicians’ decisions to file a report to Child Protective Services or to pursue alternative action is driven by numerous factors, according to a study presented at AAP National Conference & Exhibition.

Nonpharmacologic interventions, including massage and touch therapy, may be more effective than pharmacologic methods in reducing aggression and agitation in adults with dementia, according to findings published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

For older adults with multiple chronic conditions, an intervention program designed to align patient care with individual health goals may be associated with reductions in treatment burden and unwanted health care, according to a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Many primary care physicians lack knowledge of the risk factors, diagnostic criteria and management and prevention of prediabetes, according to results of a national survey published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

Today, the AMA released the 2020 CPT updates, which include new codes to report e-visits, home BP monitoring, and interdisciplinary care coordination between PCPs and specialists.

Hospitalizations related to ambulatory care-sensitive conditions, or ACSCs — such as dehydration and UTIs — are typically avoidable when patients receive quality primary care. Although evidence suggests the rates of inpatient hospitalizations for ACSCs have decreased in recent years, the rates of hospitalizations “for observation,” which do not count as inpatient admissions, have increased, according to researchers.

Primary care physicians increased their opioid prescribing when appointments were later in the day or if they were running behind schedule, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open.

More than 40% of parents report that they would be somewhat or very likely to change their child’s health care provider if they knew the office treated families who refuse vaccination, according to findings from a nationally representative survey of more than 2,000 parents.