Cost-effectiveness is modern medicine’s mantra. Put another way, when cheap solutions are found for common problems, let us embrace them.
One of medicine’s most common and vexing problems is death. It is a phenomenon with Continue reading
Dueling opinions on vitamin D
“Curiouser and curiouser,” cried Alice in her journey through Wonderland. And so might we primary care clinicians, soldiering forward to stamp out disease and promote good health in a sometimes confusing world. Our mission is made more challenging when Continue reading
More evidence to support delaying antibiotics in URIs
As all practicing clinicians know, patients often expect antibiotics when they come in with typical URI, sinusitis, otitis, or bronchitis symptoms. Clinicians understandably feel caught between a rock and a hard place. To accede to the antibiotic expectation helps patient Continue reading
It’s time for another Choosing Wisely update!
(See previous blog posts: https://phcprimarycare.org/?p=101 and https://phcprimarycare.org/?p=346.)
As a refresher, Choosing Wisely was created “to promote conversations between physicians and patients by helping patients choose care that is:
- Supported by evidence
- Not duplicative of other tests or procedures already received Continue reading
Does physical therapy really do anything for knee OA?
Let’s cut to the chase. Yes, it does.
If you’re having a busy day, feel free to exit out of our primary care blog now and resume your other activities. You’ve read the take-home message and you’re good to go.
If you have a few more minutes, feel free to read on. Continue reading
First, do no harm. Next… ?
Physicians live by the highest code of ethics. Primum non nocere, or first, do no harm, is a principle we all hear in medical school and which follows us throughout our careers. It reflects the importance of physicians, and all clinicians, avoiding actions which are Continue reading
“Honey, why does everyone on this cruise ship smell like Italian food?”
Researchers (D.H.Gilling et al.) recently investigated and published an article online in the Journal of Applied Microbiology about the antiviral efficacy of oregano oil. The active antiviral ingredient is carvacrol, the substance that gives oregano its distinctive smell. Continue reading
Which works better in acute asthma attacks, nebulizers or MDIs?
Before answering, be forewarned it is kind of a trick question.
For both adult and pediatric patients, asthma is one of the more common diagnoses we encounter in our clinics, EDs, and hospitals. And despite our best efforts to encourage Continue reading
Low-dose aspirin and gout
Aspirin use in gout patients can be challenging. Indeed, aspirin embodies the yin and yang of medical practice. At low-doses, it can be cardioprotective but it also blocks urate excretion by the kidneys. At higher doses Continue reading
Great quality conferences coming up
Partnership HealthPlan has always encouraged and promoted high quality care for our members. We encourage excellence in care through our Quality Improvement Program (QIP), a program which is very familiar to all Continue reading