http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. As hospitals look for ways to improve patient satisfaction and boost their Medicare reimbursement, a Henry Ford Hospital study found that an inpatient pharmacist-directed anticoagulation service (PDAS) might be an unexpected opportunity. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-pharmacist-directed-anticoagulation-impact-patient-satisfaction.html Health Fri, 10 May 2013 16:34:09 EST news287422439 In a small study of 39 primary care doctors and 208 of their patients, Johns Hopkins researchers have found that physicians built much less of an emotional rapport with their overweight and obese patients than with their patients of normal weight. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-physicians-bond-overweight-patients.html Overweight and Obesity Mon, 22 Apr 2013 17:05:05 EST news285869099 Patient satisfaction is an important indicator of a hospital's service quality, but new Johns Hopkins research suggests that it doesn't necessarily reflect the quality of the surgical care patients receive. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-patient-satisfaction-hospital-quality-surgical.html Health Wed, 17 Apr 2013 16:00:01 EST news285423634 (HealthDay)—Clinical outcomes are positive for patients with chronic low back pain due to degenerative disc disease who undergo lumbar fusion, according to a review published in the April 1 issue of Spine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-fusion-disc-related-chronic-pain.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 10 Apr 2013 19:10:01 EST news284834795 (HealthDay)—For octogenarian patients with lumbar disc herniation, unilateral laminectomy and discectomy seems safe and effective, according to a study published in the April issue of the Journal of Spinal Disorders and Techniques. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-lumbar-disc-herniation-surgery-effective.html Surgery Mon, 08 Apr 2013 18:30:01 EST news284661587 (HealthDay)—A geographically based value index to set Medicare reimbursements may not take into account differences in health care decision-making by individual practitioners or organizations, according to an interim report released March 22 by the Institute of Medicine (IOM). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-geographic-index-efficient.html Health Thu, 04 Apr 2013 14:40:01 EST news284302548 Quality is a central component of any discussion around health care and one of the key dimensions and measurements of quality care is the patient experience. However, many healthcare organizations struggle to become 'patient focused' and fail to score well on patient satisfaction surveys. New research from Brigham and Women's Hospital, published in the March edition of British Medical Journal Quality and Safety, offers a potential explanation—insufficient support from hospital management to improve the patient experience by engaging physicians and nurses in the process. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-patient-satisfaction-chasm.html Health Fri, 01 Mar 2013 10:30:05 EST news281356161 (HealthDay)—Requiring patients interested in spinal surgery to first see a rehabilitation physician reduces the number of spinal surgeries, reduces costs, and leaves patients largely satisfied, according to a study published in the Feb. 1 issue of Spine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-pre-op-physiatry-spinal-surgery.html Surgery Tue, 05 Feb 2013 13:30:01 EST news279292204 In a study of patients at two HIV clinics in the Houston area, researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center found that those who were satisfied with the care they received had higher adherence to care and higher retention rates. Their report appears today in PLOS ONE. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-patient-satisfaction-hiv.html HIV & AIDS Wed, 30 Jan 2013 17:13:42 EST news278788362 A physiotherapy service based on initial telephone assessment has the ability to provide faster access to the service and cut waiting times, a study published today in BMJ suggests. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-physiotherapy-equally-good-patient-results.html Health Tue, 29 Jan 2013 18:30:01 EST news278676630 (HealthDay)—For patients who undergo midface rejuvenation surgery, the rate of dissatisfaction with outcome is associated with malar hypoplasia and loss of elasticity, according to a study published online Jan. 24 in JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-predictors-dissatisfaction-midface-rejuvenation-idd.html Surgery Fri, 25 Jan 2013 13:30:01 EST news278341443 Medical students, doctors and nurses can be taught to use a more holistic, patient-centered approach during medical consultations, focusing on the person and not just their medical complaint, finds a new review in The Cochrane Library. Furthermore, short term training (less than 10 hours) was as effective as longer-term training. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-health-patients.html Health Wed, 19 Dec 2012 09:43:43 EST news275132618 Hypnotherapy helps fight IBS symptoms. These are the findings of a thesis from Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden which proposes implementing this treatment method into the care of severe sufferers of this common disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-hypnosis-patients-ibs.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 18 Dec 2012 12:27:52 EST news275056061 Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine have identified reliable predictors of pain by surveying patients throughout their hospital stays about the severity of their pain and their levels of satisfaction with how their pain was managed by hospital staff. Using this data, interdisciplinary teams treating patients were able to identify patients at higher risk for pain prior to, or immediately upon, their admission to the hospital, and create and implement intervention plans resulting in patients reporting lower levels of pain and higher levels of satisfaction with their pain management. The study is published online in the American Journal of Medical Quality. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-predictors-inpatient-pain.html Health Fri, 21 Sep 2012 11:46:41 EST news267446793 The American College of Physicians (ACP) and the Society of General Internal Medicine (SGIM) explore the ethical dimensions of the patient-centered medical home (PCMH) in a new position paper published by the Journal of General Internal Medicine: "The Patient-Centered Medical Home: An Ethical Analysis of Principles and Practice." The text is also available on ACP's website. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-acp-sgim-pcmh-aligns-principles.html Health Mon, 30 Jul 2012 14:41:46 EST news262878089 A common, painful hip condition in elite athletes may be able to be repaired with an improved surgical technique, according to researchers presenting their work at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's Annual Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland today. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-hip-reconstruction-technique-good-outcomes.html Other Sat, 14 Jul 2012 05:42:42 EST news261463354 A new once-daily pill combining three antiretrovirals and a booster molecule is a safe and effective alternative to two widely used drug regimens for newly diagnosed HIV-positive adults who have had no previous treatment. The findings of two large international randomized trials published in this week's Lancet also indicate that the new "Quad" pill is faster acting, doesn't have the neuropsychiatric side effects associated with other combinations, and could improve compliance with treatment. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-once-daily-quad-pill-hiv-safe.html HIV & AIDS Thu, 28 Jun 2012 18:30:01 EST news260123746 New long-lasting weekly injections of fertility hormones are as safe and effective as standard daily injections, according to Cochrane researchers. The researchers compared weekly and daily hormone injections in a Cochrane systematic review and found no difference in pregnancies or serious side effects between the two regimens. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-weekly-fertility-daily.html Obstetrics & gynaecology Tue, 12 Jun 2012 19:00:06 EST news258745420 (Medical Xpress) -- Given the amount of time they spend with patients, it's nurses more often than physicians who tend to a patient's pain. But few studies have shown how nurses can work with patients to best determine that degree of pain – and what effect standardizing these interactions has on keeping the hurt at bay while boosting patients' agency in, and satisfaction with, their pain management. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-scripted-interactions-patient-pain.html Other Tue, 05 Jun 2012 06:22:26 EST news258096140 The American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute's Procedural Sedation/Patient Safety Practice Improvement Module (PIM) has received approval from the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) to be part of ABIM's Approved Quality Improvement (AQI) Pathway. Internal medicine physicians, gastroenterologists and any internal medicine subspecialists using procedural sedation can engage in quality improvement through the AGA Procedural Sedation/Patient Safety PIM to earn maintenance of certification (MOC) practice performance credit. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-aga-independently-abim-approved-module-gi.html Other Mon, 07 May 2012 17:02:14 EST news255628925 Scientist say there is an urgent need for research into all aspects of follow-up care in lung cancer. The study presented in the May 2012 issue of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer's (IASLC) Journal of Thoracic Oncology focused on different follow-up strategies for patients with lung cancer. After searching the published literature and databases, researchers analyzed four studies and could not determine that one method was preferred over another. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-urgent-effective-follow-up-lung-cancer.html Cancer Sun, 15 Apr 2012 13:09:45 EST news253713812 Higher-spending hospitals do have better outcomes for their emergency patients, including fewer deaths, according to a Vanderbilt study released as a working paper through the National Bureau of Economic Research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-higher-spending-hospitals-deaths-emergency-patients.html Health Tue, 03 Apr 2012 11:17:27 EST news252670641 According to a study in the April issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology, the department of radiology at the University of Colorado in Denver has developed a convenient, pocket-sized reference card to communicate the effective doses and radiation risks of common adult radiologic exams to referring physicians and patients. The Adult Dose-Risk Smartcard is part of the department's ongoing efforts to ensure safe medical imaging. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-radiology-department-smartcard-adult-radiologic.html Cancer Mon, 02 Apr 2012 10:28:52 EST news252581326 The minimally invasive hernia repair procedure known as total extraperitoneal inguinal hernioplasty (TEP) was associated with higher patient satisfaction, less chronic pain and less impairment of inguinal (groin) sensation compared to the open surgical Lichtenstein repair, according to a study published in the March issue of Archives of Surgery. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-surgical-minimally-invasive-hernia-techniques.html Surgery Mon, 19 Mar 2012 16:00:01 EST news251376475 As health care reform expands the use of "report cards" to grade health care providers, greater attention to reporting methods may be needed to assure the quality of such efforts, according to a new RAND Corporation study. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-ways-health-care-cards.html Health Mon, 05 Mar 2012 16:41:04 EST news250188058 A new training program for emergency department staff at Rhode Island Hospital teaches communication skills by having staff take part in simulations of real patient experiences. The goal is to improve the patient experience by standardizing both team and patient communication in an emergency department (ED) setting. The program will be presented at the 12th Annual International Meeting on Simulation in Healthcare (IMSH) in San Diego, Calif. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-good-dont-patients.html Other Sun, 29 Jan 2012 04:08:00 EST news247032470 Giving overweight or obese patients a gut hormone that suppresses appetite leads to clinically beneficial weight loss as well as reduced blood pressure and cholesterol levels, finds a study published in the British Medical Journal today. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-gut-hormone-weight-loss-overweight.html Overweight and Obesity Tue, 10 Jan 2012 18:54:21 EST news245444054 Despite increased use of total hip arthroplasty (THA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA), there is a notable lack of consensus about optimal postoperative treatment. Aquatic therapy has been shown to have a beneficial effect, and it is typically begun two weeks after surgery, after the wound has healed. According to a new study published in the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, beginning aquatic therapy just 6 days after TKA may lead to improved results, while delaying its onset an additional week may be more appropriate after a THA. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-aquatic-therapy-total-knee-arthroplasty.html Other Wed, 21 Dec 2011 04:40:01 EST news243664181 A study from Rhode Island Hospital examined how the perception of roles among emergency department staff can impact patient satisfaction. Through a web survey with embedded interventions, the researchers were able to determine where gaps exist in key indicators of patient satisfaction, while staff reported changing or reconsidering how these factors play into their roles. The paper was published in the European Journal of Emergency Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-staff-perceptions-roles-impact-patients.html Other Tue, 01 Nov 2011 11:30:57 EST news239365850 A new study in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS) found that patients with herniated lumbar disc symptoms were significantly worse if the patients had symptoms for more than six months prior to treatment, compared to those who had symptoms for six months or less. Symptoms included pain, function, general health, work status and patient satisfaction. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-surgical-treatment-months-lumbar-disc.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 25 Oct 2011 13:30:48 EST news238768237