PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Primary care physicians play vital role in caring for diabetes patients

2012-12-11
(Press-News.org) Boston, MA – Previous research has shown that patients without a consistent primary care physician (PCP) have worse outcomes than those who do, but little is known about why this is true. New research from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) has brought to light the importance of the role of a primary care physician in a population of diabetes patients. Their findings are published in the December 10, 2012 issue of Diabetes Care. "We found that primary care physicians provide better care to diabetes patients when compared to other providers in a primary care setting because they were more likely to alter medications and consistently provide lifestyle counseling," said Alexander Turchin, MD, a physician and researcher in the Division of Endocrinology at BWH and the senior author of the paper. Dr. Turchin and his research colleagues designed a study to evaluate whether PCP's provide higher quality care to their patients by paying more attention to prescribed medications, offering lifestyle counseling more frequently or have a higher number of patient encounters when compared to other providers in a primary care setting including a covering physician or another provider such as a nurse practitioner or physician assistant. Researchers evaluated more than 27,000 patients with diabetes who were cared for in a primary care setting at two academic medical centers. Among these patients, there were nearly 585,000 primary care encounters over an average of five years and five months. Researchers report that 83 percent of those encounters were with a primary care provider. Additionally researchers report that covering physicians were the next most likely provider to see a patient, accounting for 13 percent of interactions, and they were also more likely to see a patient for an acute issue defined as a complaint of pain or infection. Across all patient encounters, medication intensification, defined as either adding a new medication or increasing the dose of an existing medication, happened approximately 10 percent of the time and lifestyle counseling, as measured by documentation in the electronic health record, happened 40 percent of the time. The overall mean time between encounters was 1.6 months. However, the odds of medication intensification were 49 and 26 percent higher respectively when a patient had an encounter with a PCP compared with a covering physician or mid-level provider. Additionally, the odds that lifestyle counseling occurred were 91 and 21 percent higher during an encounter with the PCP compared to a covering physician or another provider. "Access to care is important and covering physicians and other providers play an important role in increasing access, especially in patients with acute complaints. With growing focus on a team based approach to practicing medicine, this finding should help guide the development of new models of primary care, especially in the care of diabetes patients. Based on this finding, we would suggest better documentation and communication of the treatment plan through the electronic medical record to other care providers in efforts to help to bridge the gaps that we observed in this study," Dr. Turchin said. ### This study was funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (5R18HS017030), National Library of Medicine (5RC1LM010460) and Diabetes Action Research and Education Foundation. Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) is a 793-bed nonprofit teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School and a founding member of Partners HealthCare. BWH has more than 3.5 million annual patient visits, is the largest birthing center in New England and employs more than 15,000 people. The Brigham's medical preeminence dates back to 1832, and today that rich history in clinical care is coupled with its national leadership in patient care, quality improvement and patient safety initiatives, and its dedication to research, innovation, community engagement and educating and training the next generation of health care professionals. Through investigation and discovery conducted at its Biomedical Research Institute (BRI), BWH is an international leader in basic, clinical and translational research on human diseases, involving nearly 1,000 physician-investigators and renowned biomedical scientists and faculty supported by $640 million in funding. BWH continually pushes the boundaries of medicine, including building on its legacy in organ transplantation by performing the first face transplants in the U.S. in 2011. BWH is also home to major landmark epidemiologic population studies, including the Nurses' and Physicians' Health Studies, OurGenes and the Women's Health Initiative. For more information and resources, please visit BWH's online newsroom.


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Words have feelings

2012-12-11
Does the emotion in our voice have a lasting effect? According to Annett Schirmer and colleagues from the National University of Singapore, emotion helps us recognize words quicker and more accurately straight away. In the longer term however, we do not remember emotionally intoned speech as accurately as neutral speech. When we do remember the words, they have acquired an emotional value; for example words spoken in a sad voice are remembered as more negative than words spoken in a neutral voice. The study, looking at the role of emotion in word recognition memory, ...

NIH scientists reflect on gains in emerging infectious disease awareness, research and response

2012-12-11
WHAT: In a new essay, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., and David Morens, M.D., reflect on what has been learned about emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) in the two decades since a major report from the U.S. Institute of Medicine rekindled interest in this important topic. Heightened awareness of EIDs is itself a countermeasure against disease, note the authors. The emergence of new diseases can now be monitored in real time online through Internet resources such as ProMED. In 2012 alone, such resources kept the ...

Best of both worlds: Hybrid approach sheds light on crystal structure solution

2012-12-11
Understanding the arrangement of atoms in a solid — one of solids' fundamental properties — is vital to advanced materials research. For decades, two camps of researchers have been working to develop methods to understand these so-called crystal structures. "Solution" methods, championed by experimental researchers, draw on data from diffraction experiments, while "prediction" methods of computational materials scientists bypass experimental data altogether. While progress has been made, computational scientists still cannot make crystal structure predictions routinely. ...

Weekly dose reduces targeted drug's side effects, but not its activity against ALL

Weekly dose reduces targeted drugs side effects, but not its activity against ALL
2012-12-11
ATLANTA - A potent chemotherapy agent wrapped within a monoclonal antibody selectively destroys the malignant cells responsible for acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) in either weekly or monthly dosing, researchers report at the 54th ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition. This 'Trojan horse' assault on the cancer cells has significantly increased the response rate among patients with ALL, and now a clinical trial finds that weekly dosing works well and reduces side effects. "The CD22 antigen is a specific marker for B-cell malignancies and is expressed in more than 90 percent ...

New system for aircraft forecasts potential storm hazards over oceans

New system for aircraft forecasts potential storm hazards over oceans
2012-12-11
Contact: David Hosansky hosansky@ucar.edu 303-497-8611 Zhenya Gallon, NCAR/UCAR Media Relations zhenya@ucar.edu 303-497-8607 National Center for Atmospheric Research/University Corporation for Atmospheric Research New system for aircraft forecasts potential storm hazards over oceans BOULDER—The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) has developed a prototype system to help flights avoid major storms as they travel over remote ocean regions. The 8-hour forecasts of potentially dangerous atmospheric conditions are designed for pilots, air traffic ...

Does changing the price of medicine influence consumers' perceived health risk?

2012-12-11
Consumers assume their risk of getting a serious illness is higher when medications are cheaper because they believe that prices for life-saving products are based on need and not profit, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. "When consumers see lower prices for a life-saving product, they infer a higher need and thereby a greater risk that they can contract the disease. On the other hand, higher prices signal that a drug or treatment is inaccessible and thus the risk of getting a disease must not be all that great," write authors Adriana Samper ...

Eating or spending too much? Blame it on Facebook

2012-12-11
Participating in online social networks can have a detrimental effect on consumer well-being by lowering self-control among certain users, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. "Using online social networks can have a positive effect on self-esteem and well-being. However, these increased feelings of self-worth can have a detrimental effect on behavior. Because consumers care about the image they present to close friends, social network use enhances self-esteem in users who are focused on close friends while browsing their social network. This ...

Who are you calling old? How elderly consumers negotiate their identities

2012-12-11
Caregivers view elderly consumers as "old" when they can no longer perform everyday consumption activities on their own regardless of their actual age, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. "Consumption activities such as shopping, preparing meals, doing housework, going to the doctor, taking medications, and managing money serve as a means of identifying someone as old and a venue for working through conflicts that arise when older consumers who do not identify as old are treated as an 'old person' by family members and service providers," write ...

The current state of lung cancer treatment

2012-12-11
A review in the December issue of the journal Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine by Paul Bunn Jr, MD, University of Colorado Cancer Center investigator and past president of ASCO, IASLC and AACI describes the current state of lung cancer care. "We're in a new paradigm in which we realize this top cause of cancer deaths is actually a number of related diseases, each potentially with its own cause and cure," Bunn says. The review describes the shift from blanketing lung cancer with radiation and chemotherapy, to targeting the specific genetic mutations that cause ...

Battling brittle bones... with broccoli and spinach?

Battling brittle bones... with broccoli and spinach?
2012-12-11
Troy, N.Y. – A new study from engineering researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute shows, for the first time, how the little-understood protein osteocalcin plays a significant role in the strength of our bones. The findings could lead to new strategies and therapeutics for fighting osteoporosis and lowering the risk of bone fracture. Funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the study details how fractures in healthy bones begin with the creation of incredibly tiny holes, each measuring only about 500 atoms in diameter, within the bone's mineral structure. ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Scientists trace origins of now extinct plant population from volcanically active Nishinoshima

AI algorithm based on routine mammogram + age can predict women’s major cardiovascular disease risk

New hurdle seen to prostate screening: primary-care docs

MSU researchers explore how virtual sports aid mental health

Working together, cells extend their senses

Cheese fungi help unlock secrets of evolution

Researchers find brain region that fuels compulsive drinking

Mental health effects of exposure to firearm violence persist long after direct exposure

Research identifies immune response that controls Oropouche infection and prevents neurological damage

University of Cincinnati, Kent State University awarded $3M by NSF to share research resources

Ancient DNA reveals deeply complex Mastodon family and repeated migrations driven by climate change

Measuring the quantum W state

Researchers find a way to use antibodies to direct T cells to kill Cytomegalovirus-infected cells

Engineers create mini microscope for real-time brain imaging

Funding for training and research in biological complexity

The Journal of Nuclear Medicine Ahead-of-Print Tip Sheet: September 12, 2025

ISSCR statement on the scientific and therapeutic value of human fetal tissue research

Novel PET tracer detects synaptic changes in spinal cord and brain after spinal cord injury

Wiley advances Knowitall Solutions with new trendfinder application for user-friendly chemometric analysis and additional enhancements to analytical workflows

Benchmark study tracks trends in dog behavior

OpenAI, DeepSeek, and Google vary widely in identifying hate speech

Research spotlight: Study identifies a surprising new treatment target for chronic limb threatening ischemia

Childhood loneliness and cognitive decline and dementia risk in middle-aged and older adults

Parental diseases of despair and suicidal events in their children

Acupuncture for chronic low back pain in older adults

Acupuncture treatment improves disabling effects of chronic low back pain in older adults

How interstellar objects similar to 3I/ATLAS could jump-start planet formation around infant stars

Rented e-bicycles more dangerous than e-scooters in cities

Ditches as waterways: Managing ‘ditch-scapes’ to strengthen communities and the environment

In-situ molecular passivation enables pure-blue perovskite LEDs via vacuum thermal evaporation

[Press-News.org] Primary care physicians play vital role in caring for diabetes patients