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NEW YORK– Rather than relying on more obstetricians to practice in rural settings with limited access to maternity care, family physicians should be trusted to provide “excellent, quality care” to expectant mothers living in less populated areas – including delivering babies by cesarean section.

That’s the recommendation of Dr. Richard A. Young, director of research in family medicine at John Peters Smith Hospital, Fort Worth, Tex.

In a video interview at the annual meeting of the North American Primary Care Research Group, Dr. Young talked about the role family physicians can play in providing quality obstetrical care in underserved areas, and how they can collaborate with local obstetricians to ensure quality care even in complex cases.

[email protected]

On Twitter @whitneymcknight

NEW YORK– Rather than relying on more obstetricians to practice in rural settings with limited access to maternity care, family physicians should be trusted to provide “excellent, quality care” to expectant mothers living in less populated areas – including delivering babies by cesarean section.

That’s the recommendation of Dr. Richard A. Young, director of research in family medicine at John Peters Smith Hospital, Fort Worth, Tex.

In a video interview at the annual meeting of the North American Primary Care Research Group, Dr. Young talked about the role family physicians can play in providing quality obstetrical care in underserved areas, and how they can collaborate with local obstetricians to ensure quality care even in complex cases.

[email protected]

On Twitter @whitneymcknight

NEW YORK– Rather than relying on more obstetricians to practice in rural settings with limited access to maternity care, family physicians should be trusted to provide “excellent, quality care” to expectant mothers living in less populated areas – including delivering babies by cesarean section.

That’s the recommendation of Dr. Richard A. Young, director of research in family medicine at John Peters Smith Hospital, Fort Worth, Tex.

In a video interview at the annual meeting of the North American Primary Care Research Group, Dr. Young talked about the role family physicians can play in providing quality obstetrical care in underserved areas, and how they can collaborate with local obstetricians to ensure quality care even in complex cases.

[email protected]

On Twitter @whitneymcknight

CHICAGO – Does clinical judgment improve or worsen an actuarial assessment of violence?

Forensic psychiatrist Brian A. Falls sought to answer the question in an inpatient study presented at the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law’s annual meeting. His research, conducted while Dr. Falls was a fellow at the University of California Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, analyzed whether adding clinical judgment to the use of the Classification of Violence Risk (COVR) tool led to better prediction of future violence. COVR is a software program that considers up to 40 risk factors to estimate a patient’s violence risk. Dr. Fall’s study found that clinical judgment improves overall actuarial assessment of violence but does not have the same relationship with all types of violence.

In a video interview at the meeting, Dr. Falls spoke about how clinical conclusions can affect the use of COVR and why different violence categories might have yielded contrasting results. The first-of-its-kind research might help evaluators better identify individuals prone to committing violence and those at less risk.

[email protected]

On Twitter @legal_med

CHICAGO – Does clinical judgment improve or worsen an actuarial assessment of violence?

Forensic psychiatrist Brian A. Falls sought to answer the question in an inpatient study presented at the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law’s annual meeting. His research, conducted while Dr. Falls was a fellow at the University of California Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, analyzed whether adding clinical judgment to the use of the Classification of Violence Risk (COVR) tool led to better prediction of future violence. COVR is a software program that considers up to 40 risk factors to estimate a patient’s violence risk. Dr. Fall’s study found that clinical judgment improves overall actuarial assessment of violence but does not have the same relationship with all types of violence.

In a video interview at the meeting, Dr. Falls spoke about how clinical conclusions can affect the use of COVR and why different violence categories might have yielded contrasting results. The first-of-its-kind research might help evaluators better identify individuals prone to committing violence and those at less risk.

[email protected]

On Twitter @legal_med

CHICAGO – Does clinical judgment improve or worsen an actuarial assessment of violence?

Forensic psychiatrist Brian A. Falls sought to answer the question in an inpatient study presented at the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law’s annual meeting. His research, conducted while Dr. Falls was a fellow at the University of California Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, analyzed whether adding clinical judgment to the use of the Classification of Violence Risk (COVR) tool led to better prediction of future violence. COVR is a software program that considers up to 40 risk factors to estimate a patient’s violence risk. Dr. Fall’s study found that clinical judgment improves overall actuarial assessment of violence but does not have the same relationship with all types of violence.

In a video interview at the meeting, Dr. Falls spoke about how clinical conclusions can affect the use of COVR and why different violence categories might have yielded contrasting results. The first-of-its-kind research might help evaluators better identify individuals prone to committing violence and those at less risk.

[email protected]

On Twitter @legal_med

Communicating expectations to patients at their first visit and at follow-up is an important aspect of managing your dermatology practice. Dr. Gary Goldenberg discusses patient expectations for clinical conditions such as acne or psoriasis and for cosmetic treatments. He also advises what to do if you encounter a patient with unreasonable expectations.

Communicating expectations to patients at their first visit and at follow-up is an important aspect of managing your dermatology practice. Dr. Gary Goldenberg discusses patient expectations for clinical conditions such as acne or psoriasis and for cosmetic treatments. He also advises what to do if you encounter a patient with unreasonable expectations.

Communicating expectations to patients at their first visit and at follow-up is an important aspect of managing your dermatology practice. Dr. Gary Goldenberg discusses patient expectations for clinical conditions such as acne or psoriasis and for cosmetic treatments. He also advises what to do if you encounter a patient with unreasonable expectations.

WASHINGTON – The recent deadline extensions for meaningful use attestation are encouraging, but not enough. The process must be more user-friendly and clinically meaningful.

That’s according to Dr. Robert Wah, president of the American Medical Association. Dr. Wah discussed the AMA’s concerns about meaningful use and health information technology in a video interview – including whether there is enough of a focus on interoperability of electronic health records.

He also touched on the transition to the ICD-10 code set, again questioning whether the move is clinically useful and ultimately helps improve patient care.

Recently, Dr. Karen DeSalvo, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, was given an additional appointment as the acting assistant secretary for health to help with the effort to combat the Ebola epidemic. That caused concern among physicians that there could be a leadership vacuum at the Office of the National Coordinator at a time when so much is happening in health IT. Although it was later clarified that she would remain in charge of the effort, there are still some worries, Dr. Wah said.

[email protected]


On Twitter @aliciaault

WASHINGTON – The recent deadline extensions for meaningful use attestation are encouraging, but not enough. The process must be more user-friendly and clinically meaningful.

That’s according to Dr. Robert Wah, president of the American Medical Association. Dr. Wah discussed the AMA’s concerns about meaningful use and health information technology in a video interview – including whether there is enough of a focus on interoperability of electronic health records.

He also touched on the transition to the ICD-10 code set, again questioning whether the move is clinically useful and ultimately helps improve patient care.

Recently, Dr. Karen DeSalvo, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, was given an additional appointment as the acting assistant secretary for health to help with the effort to combat the Ebola epidemic. That caused concern among physicians that there could be a leadership vacuum at the Office of the National Coordinator at a time when so much is happening in health IT. Although it was later clarified that she would remain in charge of the effort, there are still some worries, Dr. Wah said.

[email protected]


On Twitter @aliciaault

WASHINGTON – The recent deadline extensions for meaningful use attestation are encouraging, but not enough. The process must be more user-friendly and clinically meaningful.

That’s according to Dr. Robert Wah, president of the American Medical Association. Dr. Wah discussed the AMA’s concerns about meaningful use and health information technology in a video interview – including whether there is enough of a focus on interoperability of electronic health records.

He also touched on the transition to the ICD-10 code set, again questioning whether the move is clinically useful and ultimately helps improve patient care.

Recently, Dr. Karen DeSalvo, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, was given an additional appointment as the acting assistant secretary for health to help with the effort to combat the Ebola epidemic. That caused concern among physicians that there could be a leadership vacuum at the Office of the National Coordinator at a time when so much is happening in health IT. Although it was later clarified that she would remain in charge of the effort, there are still some worries, Dr. Wah said.

[email protected]


On Twitter @aliciaault

BOSTON– In the search for safer alternatives to glucocorticoid therapy, DAGR (PF-0417327) may prove to be a contender. The investigational drug is a selective, high-affinity, dissociated agonist of the glucocorticoid receptor, and appeared to be associated with fewer potential adverse events than are typically seen with glucocorticoids in a phase II trial that compared 8 weeks of the drug against placebo and prednisone.

The findings suggest that DAGR is therapeutically equivalent to prednisone 10 mg once daily, but with side effects comparable with those seen with prednisone 5 mg once daily and with no clinical symptoms of adrenal insufficiency. Dr. Vibeke Strand, a rheumatologist and biopharmaceutical consultant in Portola Valley, Calif., presented data on the drug during the late-breaker session and discussed the implications of the findings at the annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology.

[email protected]

BOSTON– In the search for safer alternatives to glucocorticoid therapy, DAGR (PF-0417327) may prove to be a contender. The investigational drug is a selective, high-affinity, dissociated agonist of the glucocorticoid receptor, and appeared to be associated with fewer potential adverse events than are typically seen with glucocorticoids in a phase II trial that compared 8 weeks of the drug against placebo and prednisone.

The findings suggest that DAGR is therapeutically equivalent to prednisone 10 mg once daily, but with side effects comparable with those seen with prednisone 5 mg once daily and with no clinical symptoms of adrenal insufficiency. Dr. Vibeke Strand, a rheumatologist and biopharmaceutical consultant in Portola Valley, Calif., presented data on the drug during the late-breaker session and discussed the implications of the findings at the annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology.

[email protected]

BOSTON– In the search for safer alternatives to glucocorticoid therapy, DAGR (PF-0417327) may prove to be a contender. The investigational drug is a selective, high-affinity, dissociated agonist of the glucocorticoid receptor, and appeared to be associated with fewer potential adverse events than are typically seen with glucocorticoids in a phase II trial that compared 8 weeks of the drug against placebo and prednisone.

The findings suggest that DAGR is therapeutically equivalent to prednisone 10 mg once daily, but with side effects comparable with those seen with prednisone 5 mg once daily and with no clinical symptoms of adrenal insufficiency. Dr. Vibeke Strand, a rheumatologist and biopharmaceutical consultant in Portola Valley, Calif., presented data on the drug during the late-breaker session and discussed the implications of the findings at the annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology.

[email protected]

SAN FRANCISCO– Patients undergoing elective colorectal surgery had an overall mortality rate of 1.7% after 30 days, an analysis of data from 65,716 patients showed.

Patients with significant preoperative morbidity had a significantly higher risk of dying after the surgery, Dr. Alodia Gabre-Kidan and her associates reported at the annual clinical congress of the American College of Surgeons.

In a video interview, Dr. Gabre-Kidan discusses the results of the retrospective study, including the especially high risk for patients with preoperative renal failure or heart failure. The findings should help clinicians better counsel patients who are considering elective colorectal surgery, said Dr. Gabre-Kidan of Columbia University, New York.

Dr. Gabre-Kidan reporting having no financial disclosures.

[email protected]

On Twitter @sherryboschert

SAN FRANCISCO– Patients undergoing elective colorectal surgery had an overall mortality rate of 1.7% after 30 days, an analysis of data from 65,716 patients showed.

Patients with significant preoperative morbidity had a significantly higher risk of dying after the surgery, Dr. Alodia Gabre-Kidan and her associates reported at the annual clinical congress of the American College of Surgeons.

In a video interview, Dr. Gabre-Kidan discusses the results of the retrospective study, including the especially high risk for patients with preoperative renal failure or heart failure. The findings should help clinicians better counsel patients who are considering elective colorectal surgery, said Dr. Gabre-Kidan of Columbia University, New York.

Dr. Gabre-Kidan reporting having no financial disclosures.

[email protected]

On Twitter @sherryboschert

SAN FRANCISCO– Patients undergoing elective colorectal surgery had an overall mortality rate of 1.7% after 30 days, an analysis of data from 65,716 patients showed.

Patients with significant preoperative morbidity had a significantly higher risk of dying after the surgery, Dr. Alodia Gabre-Kidan and her associates reported at the annual clinical congress of the American College of Surgeons.

In a video interview, Dr. Gabre-Kidan discusses the results of the retrospective study, including the especially high risk for patients with preoperative renal failure or heart failure. The findings should help clinicians better counsel patients who are considering elective colorectal surgery, said Dr. Gabre-Kidan of Columbia University, New York.

Dr. Gabre-Kidan reporting having no financial disclosures.

[email protected]

On Twitter @sherryboschert

WASHINGTON– With enrollment now open for the second year of Affordable Care Act coverage, what kinds of concerns do physicians have?

American Medical Association President Robert M. Wah discusses in this video interview the latest round of enrollment, and potential pluses and minuses for physicians, including the 90-day grace period. That aspect of the law gives patients who enroll in health plans through ACA marketplaces up to 90 days to pay premiums. Although insurers are liable for services rendered in the first month, physicians might be left without reimbursement for care given in the ensuing 60 days.

Another looming question as enrollment gets underway: Will patients be able to determine that their physicians are participating in a given network? The AMA and others have been pressuring the federal government and insurers to do a better job of updating network information. At its interim policy-making meeting in November, the AMA adopted a new policy urging any and all changes to be made before enrollment begins. The organization’s delegates also said that state regulators should be the primary enforcers of ensuring network adequacy.

Dr. Wah also discussed the AMA’s approach to ensuring that more Americans get health coverage through Medicaid, building on another policy passed by the delegates at the interim meeting.

[email protected]

On Twitter @aliciaault

WASHINGTON– With enrollment now open for the second year of Affordable Care Act coverage, what kinds of concerns do physicians have?

American Medical Association President Robert M. Wah discusses in this video interview the latest round of enrollment, and potential pluses and minuses for physicians, including the 90-day grace period. That aspect of the law gives patients who enroll in health plans through ACA marketplaces up to 90 days to pay premiums. Although insurers are liable for services rendered in the first month, physicians might be left without reimbursement for care given in the ensuing 60 days.

Another looming question as enrollment gets underway: Will patients be able to determine that their physicians are participating in a given network? The AMA and others have been pressuring the federal government and insurers to do a better job of updating network information. At its interim policy-making meeting in November, the AMA adopted a new policy urging any and all changes to be made before enrollment begins. The organization’s delegates also said that state regulators should be the primary enforcers of ensuring network adequacy.

Dr. Wah also discussed the AMA’s approach to ensuring that more Americans get health coverage through Medicaid, building on another policy passed by the delegates at the interim meeting.

[email protected]

On Twitter @aliciaault

WASHINGTON– With enrollment now open for the second year of Affordable Care Act coverage, what kinds of concerns do physicians have?

American Medical Association President Robert M. Wah discusses in this video interview the latest round of enrollment, and potential pluses and minuses for physicians, including the 90-day grace period. That aspect of the law gives patients who enroll in health plans through ACA marketplaces up to 90 days to pay premiums. Although insurers are liable for services rendered in the first month, physicians might be left without reimbursement for care given in the ensuing 60 days.

Another looming question as enrollment gets underway: Will patients be able to determine that their physicians are participating in a given network? The AMA and others have been pressuring the federal government and insurers to do a better job of updating network information. At its interim policy-making meeting in November, the AMA adopted a new policy urging any and all changes to be made before enrollment begins. The organization’s delegates also said that state regulators should be the primary enforcers of ensuring network adequacy.

Dr. Wah also discussed the AMA’s approach to ensuring that more Americans get health coverage through Medicaid, building on another policy passed by the delegates at the interim meeting.

[email protected]

On Twitter @aliciaault

CHICAGO – Two new types of drug-eluting, biodegradable polymer stents weren’t inferior to current drug-eluting stents, and they possibly may have caused fewer stent thrombosis episodes.

But do the new stents reduce the risk of long-term stent thrombosis? How will their ease of use affect choice of stents? And how should long-term coronary events that aren’t related to the stents themselves shape approaches to secondary prevention?

In an interview at the American Heart Association scientific sessions, Dr. Robert Harrington shared his perspectives on these questions and connected the stent studies’ results with new findings in prevention research.

The two studies of the new stents were not large enough, nor were patients followed long enough, to prove an advantage in stent thrombosis rates in a definitive way. But the lead investigator in the everolimus-eluting Synergy stent study described the stent as more flexible and deliverable than current coronary stents.

Those usability features may make that stent an attractive option for interventional cardiologists even if clinical outcomes are not significantly improved, Dr. Harrington noted.

“These technical features, such as improved deliverability, are things that will resonate with the interventional community,” he said. “It offers another option for complex cases, and that appeals greatly to interventional cardiologists who are looking for technical solutions,” said Dr. Harrington, professor and chairman of medicine at Stanford (Calif.) University.

Dr. Harrington said that he had no disclosures regarding the studied stents, but he has received grants from several drug companies that market drugs used during and after patients undergo percutaneous coronary interventions.

[email protected]

On Twitter @mitchelzoler

CHICAGO – Two new types of drug-eluting, biodegradable polymer stents weren’t inferior to current drug-eluting stents, and they possibly may have caused fewer stent thrombosis episodes.

But do the new stents reduce the risk of long-term stent thrombosis? How will their ease of use affect choice of stents? And how should long-term coronary events that aren’t related to the stents themselves shape approaches to secondary prevention?

In an interview at the American Heart Association scientific sessions, Dr. Robert Harrington shared his perspectives on these questions and connected the stent studies’ results with new findings in prevention research.

The two studies of the new stents were not large enough, nor were patients followed long enough, to prove an advantage in stent thrombosis rates in a definitive way. But the lead investigator in the everolimus-eluting Synergy stent study described the stent as more flexible and deliverable than current coronary stents.

Those usability features may make that stent an attractive option for interventional cardiologists even if clinical outcomes are not significantly improved, Dr. Harrington noted.

“These technical features, such as improved deliverability, are things that will resonate with the interventional community,” he said. “It offers another option for complex cases, and that appeals greatly to interventional cardiologists who are looking for technical solutions,” said Dr. Harrington, professor and chairman of medicine at Stanford (Calif.) University.

Dr. Harrington said that he had no disclosures regarding the studied stents, but he has received grants from several drug companies that market drugs used during and after patients undergo percutaneous coronary interventions.

[email protected]

On Twitter @mitchelzoler

CHICAGO – Two new types of drug-eluting, biodegradable polymer stents weren’t inferior to current drug-eluting stents, and they possibly may have caused fewer stent thrombosis episodes.

But do the new stents reduce the risk of long-term stent thrombosis? How will their ease of use affect choice of stents? And how should long-term coronary events that aren’t related to the stents themselves shape approaches to secondary prevention?

In an interview at the American Heart Association scientific sessions, Dr. Robert Harrington shared his perspectives on these questions and connected the stent studies’ results with new findings in prevention research.

The two studies of the new stents were not large enough, nor were patients followed long enough, to prove an advantage in stent thrombosis rates in a definitive way. But the lead investigator in the everolimus-eluting Synergy stent study described the stent as more flexible and deliverable than current coronary stents.

Those usability features may make that stent an attractive option for interventional cardiologists even if clinical outcomes are not significantly improved, Dr. Harrington noted.

“These technical features, such as improved deliverability, are things that will resonate with the interventional community,” he said. “It offers another option for complex cases, and that appeals greatly to interventional cardiologists who are looking for technical solutions,” said Dr. Harrington, professor and chairman of medicine at Stanford (Calif.) University.

Dr. Harrington said that he had no disclosures regarding the studied stents, but he has received grants from several drug companies that market drugs used during and after patients undergo percutaneous coronary interventions.

[email protected]

On Twitter @mitchelzoler