Many primary care clinicians directly receive messages from patients via electronic health records’ portal inboxes. The COVID-19 pandemic saw a rapid uptick in this trend. Data suggests that this additional work is linked to clinician burnout. Penn Family Care, a primary care group at Penn Medicine, instead routed incoming messages to certified medical assistants who had been taught how to distribute each message to the most appropriate physician. There was a 40% decrease in the number of messages going directly to primary care physicians, and both practice and clinician efficiency showed improvement after adopting this team-based care model. Utilizing Medical Assistants ...

Background and Goal: Relational continuity, the ongoing relationship between a patient and a family physician, is linked to better patient care, fewer unnecessary procedures, hospitalizations, emergency department visits, and lower costs, along with higher patient satisfaction. With the rise of part-time practices, patients often see multiple family physicians within the same clinic. This study aimed to explore how continuity in a primary care clinic—separate from individual physician continuity—affects patient ...

Background: Currently, people of Latiné/e/x/o/a, Hispanic, and/or Spanish (LHS) origin make up 19.1% of the population of the U.S. There is great variation in the personal experiences and family backgrounds of LHS individuals, including differences in country of origin, time in the U.S., colonization histories and immigration experiences. Key Argument: This essay considers the importance of recognizing the heterogeneity of lived experiences among LHS populations in the U.S. in a health care context. Why ...

Background and Goal: Family physicians perform a wide range of procedures outside the hospital and tend to be office based. Examples may include surgical procedures such as excisions, suturing, and joint injections. Since the training can vary substantially, the Council of Academic Family Medicine (CAFM)  issued a statement on which procedures they recommend physicians be able to perform competently upon completion of a family medicine residency. The aim of this study was to determine the extent to which family physicians perform CAFM-recommended procedures for Medicare Part B, the outpatient portion ...

Background and Goal: Breast cancer is the second most common cancer among women in the U.S. Early detection of the disease through screening can greatly improve the chances of successful treatment and is an essential preventive service in primary care. The COVID-19 pandemic interrupted breast cancer screening as many screening programs were temporarily suspended due to personal concerns about exposure to the virus and the burden on the health care system. The goal of this study was to use real-world electronic health records (EHR) across the U.S. to examine the changes in breast cancer screening utilization since the COVID-19 pandemic and how the follow-up screening rates were impacted ...

Background & Goal: Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, 20% of adult primary care patients identified as lonely, representing a higher prevalence than many diseases commonly seen in primary care such as diabetes. Social isolation and loneliness are increasing over time, which is not only associated with increased health care utilization in primary care patients, but also with increased risk of chronic health conditions. Social isolation is reported to be equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes per day in terms of premature death. The U.S. Surgeon General recently released an advisory entitled, “Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation,” presenting a framework for action ...

Background: Prediabetes, a diagnosis intended to identify high-risk persons and prevent progression to diabetes, has been a topic of ongoing debate, and experts continue to disagree about its screening criteria, interpretation, and implications. Author Stance: An epidemiologist and health services researcher argues that prediabetes is overdiagnosed. A prediabetes diagnosis for patients like herself who are at low risk of developing type 2 diabetes can cause more harm than good. They may experience undue distress, undergo unnecessary consultations and tests, and pay additional health care costs. It may be implied—incorrectly—that ...

A research team designed a standardized process for helping low-income families navigate applications for federal nutrition support programs. Within a brief tablet-based nutrition screener completed at pediatric primary care visits, families were asked if they would like help applying for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. If they did, clinic staff followed up by telephone with application assistance. One limitation of this innovation is that some families were not able to be reached by telephone. Connecting ...

Background: A long-term relationship between a patient and their doctor, known as continuity of care, has seen a decline in recent decades in both the UK and the U.S. This decline has negatively impacted patient and physician health outcomes and  well-being. Editorial Stance: Building on Terrence McDonald and colleagues' research, which distinguishes between the continuity contributions of a practice and an individual clinician, increased physician continuity has been linked to reduced emergency department ...

Background and Goal: Nearly 500,000 children in the U.S. live with serious or life-threatening illnesses. Family caregivers, especially parents, face the challenges of managing complex medical needs, navigating the health system, and advocating for their children. This often leads to psychological distress, depression, and anxiety for caregivers. Understanding the experiences of parents of children with serious illnesses, especially those who are racially and ethnically diverse, remains limited. This study examined the experiences of Somali, Hmong, and Latin American parents in pediatric serious illness care, aiming to identify improvements and reduce disparities in pediatric ...

Background & Goal: Exam table paper is perceived as necessary for hygienic care; however, there is limited evidence for its efficacy. It may not stop disease transmission, and it may create a false sense of cleanliness. The Ontario Guidelines for Prevention & Control of Infection in Healthcare Settings do not endorse exam table paper, but rather recommend cleaning with specific low-level disinfectants (for example, 0.5% accelerated hydrogen peroxide). Additionally, there are negative economic and climate change impacts of using exam table paper. The average clinic seeing ...

Researchers at the School of Engineering of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) have developed a sustainable and controllable strategy to manipulate interfacial heat transfer, paving the way for improving the performance of eco-friendly cooling in various applications such as electronics, buildings and solar panels. As demand for effective cooling solutions continues to grow due to the rising global temperature, scientists worldwide have been actively exploring energy-saving cooling technologies that are more effective. Compared to active cooling, which entirely depends on energy consumption ...

Background and goal: Medical assistants (MAs) are among the fastest growing occupations within the U.S. primary care workforce, and many practices have expanded the roles and caregiving responsibilities of primary care MAs. However, little is known about organizational factors associated with MA support levels for primary care clinicians (PCCs).  Study Approach: This study analyzed the current ratio of medical assistants (MAs) to primary care clinicians based on responses to the second National Survey of Healthcare Organizations and Systems (NSHOS II), a 52-question survey ...

Asian Americans have been the targets of hate speech for generations, particularly during the COVID pandemic. But new research by the University of California, Davis, suggests that Asian American adolescents experience fewer incidents of hate speech in schools with stronger disciplinary structures and adult support.  A new study looks at hate speech experiences even before COVID, during the period between 2015 and 2019. The article, “Hate Speech Against Asian American Youth: Pre-Pandemic Trends and The Role of School Factors,” was published May 4 in the Journal of Youth and Adolescents. “Although hate against Asian American and Pacific Islander communities ...

Using ancient DNA extracted from the toe bone of a museum specimen, Harvard biologists have sequenced the genome of an extinct, flightless bird called the little bush moa, shedding light into an unknown corner of avian genetic history. Published in Science Advances, the work is the first complete genetic map of the turkey-sized bird whose distant living cousins include the ostrich, emu, and kiwi. It is one of nine known species of moa, all extinct for the last 700 years, that inhabited New Zealand before the late 1200s and the arrival of Polynesian human settlers. “We’re pulling ...

PHILADELPHIA — (May 28, 2024) — The Wistar Institute’s Paul M. Lieberman, Ph.D., and lab team led by senior staff scientist and first author, Samantha Soldan, Ph.D., have demonstrated how B cells infected with the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) can contribute to a pathogenic, inflammatory phenotype that contributes to multiple sclerosis (MS); the group has also shown how these problematic B cells can be selectively targeted in a way that reduces the damaging autoimmune response of multiple sclerosis. The lab’s findings were published in Nature Microbiology in the paper, “Multiple sclerosis patient derived spontaneous B cells have distinct EBV and ...

Among fathers, heart health was worse for men who became fathers under the age 25 First U.S. multiethnic longitudinal study to analyze cardiovascular health outcomes of fathers Results differed by race and ethnicity subgroups  Age-adjusted rate of death for Black fathers was lower than for nonfathers ‘Fatherhood may be protective for Black men’ CHICAGO --- Heart disease is the leading cause of death among men, and being a father may put men at an even greater risk of poor heart health later in life, reports a new study from scientists at Northwestern University and Ann & ...

“This consideration could be the starting point to study whether Silibinin could contrast tumor progression, aging and inflammaging through molecular and cellular mechanisms [...].” BUFFALO, NY- May 28, 2024 – A new review paper was published in Oncotarget's Volume 15 on May 23, 2024, entitled, “The importance of integrated therapies on cancer: Silibinin, an old and new molecule.” In this new review, researchers Elisa Roca, Giuseppe Colloca, Fiorella Lombardo, Andrea Bellieni, Alessandra Cucinella, Giorgio Madonia, Licia Martinelli, Maria Elisa Damiani, Ilaria Zampieri, and ...

A pioneering study has used extensive global datasets and machine learning to map the activities of seafloor invertebrate animals, including worms, clams and shrimps, across the entire ocean, revealing for the first time critical factors that support and maintain the health of marine ecosystems. The international team, led by Texas A&M University and including investigators from Yale University and the University of Southampton, specifically focused on the unsung yet vital role burrowing animals play as "ecosystem engineers" in shaping nutrient ...

OAK BROOK, Ill. – Low-level light therapy appears to affect healing in the brains of people who suffered significant brain injuries, according to a study published today in Radiology, a journal of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). Lights of different wavelengths have been studied for years for their wound-healing properties. Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) conducted low-level light therapy on 38 patients who had suffered moderate traumatic brain injury, an injury to the head serious enough to alter cognition and/or be visible on a brain scan. Patients received ...

Background and Goal: Team-based care is considered the gold standard in delivery models. It uses integrated clinical teams with diverse skills and perspectives to provide efficient, high-quality health care services. Within these teams, individuals from minoritized racial-ethnic groups, often referred to as persons of color (POC), typically occupy roles with less authority (e.g., medical assistants), while white individuals more frequently hold positions of greater power (e.g., physicians). Few studies have explored the viewpoints of staff members in lower-power roles, who are disproportionately POC and constitute the majority of a health care team. This study aims to ...

NRG Oncology (NRG), a National Cancer Institute (NCI) National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN) group focused on improving outcomes for adults with cancer through multi-center clinical research, recently announced two new Vice-Chairs to co-lead the NRG Patient Advocate Committee (PAC) alongside the current PAC Committee Chair, Dorothy Erlanger. Marlyn Molero, was appointed as Vice-Chair of the NRG PAC. Marlyn is a clinical researcher in the oncology area with Commonspirit Research Institute as well as a Spanish interpreter at Vituity. Marlyn brings a unique perspective to the NRG PAC leadership ...

The toe tapping behavior of various amphibians has long attracted attention from researchers and pet owners. Despite being widely documented, the underlying functional role is poorly understood. In a new paper, researchers demonstrate that Dyeing poison frogs modulate their taps based on specific stimuli.  Dyeing poison frogs, Dendrobates tinctorius, have been shown to tap their posterior toes in response to a range of prey sizes, from small fruit flies to large crickets. In the present study, ...

Irvine, Calif., May 28, 2024 — A multidisciplinary research team at the University of California, Irvine has revealed that the circadian clock – the biological pacemaker that governs daily rhythms in physiological processes, including immune functions – can be leveraged to enhance the efficacy of checkpoint inhibitor cancer therapy. Checkpoint inhibitors block different proteins from binding to tumor cells, allowing the immune system’s T cells to kill the tumor.   The study, published online ...

(MEMPHIS, Tenn. – May 27, 2024) As gene sequencing technologies become more powerful, our understanding of cellular diversity has grown in parallel. This led scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to create a tool to improve the ease and accuracy with which investigators can study specific subpopulations of cells. The tool, named Conditional Viral Expression by Ribozyme Guided Degradation (ConVERGD), allows researchers to specifically access these subgroups of cells and precisely manipulate ...