Single-visit first-trimester care with point-of-care ultrasound cuts emergency visits by 81% for non-miscarrying patients

Enhancing first trimester obstetrical care: the addition of point-of-care ultrasound

2024-11-25

(Press-News.org) The Bethesda Family Medicine Clinic in St. Paul, Minnesota, established a bi-monthly Early Pregnancy Dating & Risk Assessment Clinic in September 2022. The clinic introduced an integrated approach, combining point-of-care ultrasound with immediate, multidisciplinary first-trimester care. This integration allowed the clinic to quickly identify high-risk cases and offer timely intervention for issues such as miscarriage or abnormal pregnancies, reducing emergency visits, urgent clinic appointments, and first-trimester phone inquiries by 81% for non-miscarrying patients. Clinic implementation led to more timely diagnosis of abnormal pregnancies and improved education and support for all patients, including those who experience miscarriage.

Enhancing First Trimester Obstetrical Care: The Addition of Point-of-Care Ultrasound

Allison Newman, MD, et al

Woodwinds Hospital Family Medicine Residency Program, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Minnesota Medical School, St. Paul, Minnesota

PRE-EMBARGO LINK (Link expires at 5 p.m. ET November 25, 2024)

PERMANENT LINK

END

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Study reveals impact of trauma on health care professionals in Israel following 2023 terror attack

2024-11-25

Research Brief Background and Goal: The October 7, 2023, terrorist attack in southern Israel forced the evacuation of countless individuals, placing intense demands on health care personnel. Primary care clinicians, who are at the forefront of treating severely traumatized evacuees, are often exposed to secondary trauma, which can affect their mental health and job performance. This study investigated the levels of burnout, well-being, and resilience among health care staff working in primary care clinics in Israel during the aftermath of the attack. Study Approach: This cross-sectional ...

Primary care settings face barriers to screening for early detection of cognitive impairment

2024-11-25

Background and Goal: Early detection of cognitive impairment is essential for improving patient outcomes, but primary care settings face significant challenges in screening. This special report summarizes key points and gaps in knowledge about methods for detecting cognitive impairment in primary care clinics. Key Insights: The report highlights the importance of addressing the rising incidence of cognitive impairment as the population ages, particularly with new treatments for early Alzheimer’s disease now available. It advocates for creative solutions to manage the increased workload, such as partnering with community health workers and leveraging telehealth. ...

November/December Annals of Family Medicine Tip Sheet

2024-11-25

Editorial War Takes a Toll on Family Doctors Trying to Care for Patients Background: This issue of Annals of Family Medicine includes four articles discussing the impact of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict on family doctors and patients in the region. These articles offer perspectives from academic family doctors who have firsthand experience living and working in the region to reveal the complexity and impact of this conflict. Editorial Stance: The decision to publish these articles was ...

Antibiotics initiated for suspected community-acquired pneumonia even when chest radiography results are negative

2024-11-25

Original Research Background and Goal: This study explored how chest X-ray results influence antibiotic initiation by general practitioners in France when managing patients with suspected pneumonia. Study Approach: A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted with adult patients with suspected pneumonia who received chest X-rays as part of their evaluation. To analyze factors associated with antibiotic initiation, patients’ characteristics were compared at inclusion and at 28 days between patients with positive chest X-rays (indicating pneumonia) and patients with negative chest X-ray results. Main Results: The sample included 259 ...

COVID-19 stay-at-home order increased reporting of food, housing, and other health-related social needs in Oregon

2024-11-25

Background and Goal: Efforts to address the health-related social needs (HRSN) of Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, such as housing and food, during the COVID-19 pandemic were insufficient. This research examined HRSN data from the Accountable Health Communities (AHC) study collected in Oregon to understand changes in HRSN for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries at the onset and during the first two years of the pandemic. Study Approach: The study sample included 21,522 Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries screened for overall health-related social needs between ...

UW-led research links wildfire smoke exposure with increased dementia risk

2024-11-25

As Baby Boomers hit retirement, about 1 in 6 Americans is now over the age of 65. The number of Americans living with dementia is projected to skyrocket — but the proportion of older Americans who develop dementia has actually decreased. The exact reason why is uncertain, but various lifestyle and environmental factors can influence a person’s risk of cognitive decline. One recently discovered risk is air pollution. Studies have linked exposure to a type of air pollution called fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, with an increased risk of developing dementia, and researchers suspect ...

Most U.S. adults surveyed trust store-bought turkey is free of contaminants, despite research finding fecal bacteria in ground turkey

2024-11-25

WASHINGTON, D.C. ؚ— More than six out of 10 U.S. adults who took part in a Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine/Morning Consult survey last week say they wouldn’t eat turkey contaminated with feces, yet consumer research has shown more than half of store-bought packages of ground turkey tested positive for it. The poll included 2,183 adults interviewed Nov. 18 to Nov. 20, 82% of whom said they plan to eat turkey for Thanksgiving this year. Of those, 87% said they trust it’ll be free from contaminants, but 65% said if they knew it was contaminated with fecal bacteria, they’d be unlikely to eat it. In research conducted by Consumer Reports in ...

New therapy from UI Health offers FDA-approved treatment option for brittle type 1 diabetes

2024-11-25

A new therapy for brittle type 1 diabetes, the only treatment currently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, is available exclusively at UI Health in Chicago. Pancreatic islet cell therapy is a treatment approved by the FDA only for adults with type 1 diabetes who struggle to control their blood sugar levels due to frequent episodes of severe low blood sugar and hypoglycemia unawareness, a condition that occurs when patients can’t detect that their blood sugar is dropping. This new therapy, called Lantidra, is derived from a deceased donor pancreas. To regulate blood glucose, the drug is infused into the patient’s liver where insulin is produced. ...

Alzheimer's: A new strategy to prevent neurodegeneration

2024-11-25

A future treatment for Alzheimer disease may involve a nasal spray. Researchers at Università Cattolica and Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS have discovered that by inhibiting the brain enzyme S-acyltransferase (zDHHC) through a nasal-spray drug, they can counteract the cognitive decline and brain damage typical of the disease. The study has been led by Professor Claudio Grassi, Director of the Neuroscience Department, and Professor Salvatore Fusco, with the collaboration of the University of Catania. The researchers observed that the post-mortem brains of Alzheimer patients contained an excess of S-acyltransferase, ...

A clue to what lies beneath the bland surfaces of Uranus and Neptune

2024-11-25

Diamond rain? Super-ionic water? These are just two proposals that planetary scientists have come up with for what lies beneath the thick, bluish, hydrogen-and-helium atmospheres of Uranus and Neptune, our solar system's unique, but superficially bland, ice giants. A planetary scientist at the University of California, Berkeley, now proposes an alternative theory — that the interiors of both these planets are layered, and that the two layers, like oil and water, don't mix. That configuration neatly explains the planets' unusual magnetic fields and implies ...