A New EEG Study Finds That Transcendental Meditation Activates The Default Mode Network Of The Brain
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Patients who feel that their physicians treat them with respect and fairness, communicate well and engage with them outside of the office setting are more active in their own health care, finds a new study published in the journal Health Services Research. The study looked at how role relationships between patients and their physicians, which traditionally have followed a passive-patient and dominant-physician model, affect patient engagement.
Over a 10-year period, spending for Medicaid-enrolled patients with depression increased substantially but only minimal improvements in quality of care were observed, according to a report in the December issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. The study was carried out by Catherine A. Fullerton, M.D., M.P.H., of Harvard Medical School and Cambridge Health Alliance, Boston, and colleagues.
As we [American Psychological Association Practice Organization] reported last week, the situation on Capitol Hill has once again shifted dramatically with the failure of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction to reach agreement on $1.2 trillion in debt savings. Legislative leaders have begun to discuss options to address critical, time-sensitive issues by the end of the year, including the expiration of unemployment benefits, the Alternative Minimum Tax patch, tax extenders and Medicare extenders.
As you know, the APA Practice Organization has been hard at work on Capitol Hill to avert steep cuts to Medicare reimbursement for psychologists. The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, which faces a November 23 deadline to identify at least $1.2 trillion in debt savings, has clearly indicated that the future of Medicare is on the table.
The American College of Physicians (ACP) today told the 112th Congress to “go big” by reforming Medicare payments, including enacting a permanent end to scheduled Medicare sustainable growth rate (SGR) physician payment cuts. The urgent need for Congress to act was demonstrated by today’s release of a Medicare final rule, announcing a 27.4 percent across-the-board cut in Medicare payments to doctors on January 1, 2012.
Visiting a primary care clinician every two weeks was associated with greater control of blood glucose, blood pressure and cholesterol levels among patients with diabetes, according to a report in the September 26 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
A survey of U.S. primary care physicians shows that many believe that their own patients are receiving too much medical care and many feel that malpractice reform, realignment of financial incentives and having more time with patients could reduce pressures on physicians to do more than they feel is needed, according to a report in the September 26 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
The prevalence of self-reported mental health disabilities increased in the U.S. among non-elderly adults during the last decade, according to a study by Ramin Mojtabai, MD, PhD, of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. At the same time, the study found the prevalence of disability attributed to other chronic conditions decreased, while the prevalence of significant mental distress remained unchanged. The findings will appear in the November edition of the American Journal of Public Health.
Among patients who have had an ischemic stroke, use of cholesterol-lowering statin medications is not associated with subsequent intracerebral hemorrhage (bleeding in the brain), according to a report published Online First by Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Many U.S. adults believe that only extremely effective drugs without serious adverse effects are approved, but providing explanations to patients highlighting uncertainties about drug benefits may affect their choices, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. The article is part of the journal’s Less Is More series. Approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not necessarily ensure that a drug has a large or important benefit, or that all serious adverse effects of the drug are known, according to background information in the article.
