Latest family physician Stories

Call for Nominations for NJ Family Physician of the Year TRENTON, N.J., April 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Is your family doctor the best of the best? Is he or she talented, caring---deserving of the title, New Jersey Family Physician of the Year? If yes, the New Jersey Academy of Family Physicians (NJAFP) is looking for a few great physicians to be considered for the Academy's 2013 Family Physician of the Year Award. Patients, the public and physicians are invited to submit nominations...

The dynamic relationship between family practice physicians and specialists has evolved dramatically over the last 20 years, largely due to recent advancements in medical technologies. In the rapidly evolving world of healthcare, Spring Creek Family Practice (http://springcreekfamilypracticesantarosa.com/) physicians James Trapnell, MD, and William Markoff, MD, explain what it means to be a family physician today, and how, through their partnership with Northern California Medical...

Family physician will share how Beacon efforts have helped transform his practice and community GRAND JUNCTION, Colo., June 19, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Health information technology can transform health care delivery, and federal support has helped make it possible. That's part of the message Dr. Gregory Reicks, a family physician in Grand Junction, Colo., will deliver to the White House today. He will represent Colorado Beacon at a White House and Department of...

Check-list for a healthy life: Quit smoking. Don't drink too much. Exercise regularly. Oops! You forgot something – up-to-date immunizations. Adult Canadians are not being immunized routinely for life-saving, vaccine-preventable diseases, according to Dr. Vivien Brown, an adjunct associate professor of McMaster University's Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine who lectures extensively to doctors and other health care professionals across Canada. The family physician said a...

Research links frequent prescribing to opioid-related deathsSome physicians are prescribing opioids such as OxyContin 55 times as often as others, according to a new study led by St. Michael's Hospital and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES). The study found most opioid-related deaths occur among patients treated by physicians who frequently prescribe opioids, suggesting doctors who prescribe a lot of opioids may not be doing so safely."We found that the 20 per cent of...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Feb. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Sermo (http://www.sermo.com), the world's largest online community for physicians, today announced its weekly hot topic. Nearly 500 physicians from 40 specialties participated in a Sermo post "It's 3am. I can't keep my solo practice open anymore" from a Family Medicine physician. Over 26% of respondents admitted they too had been forced to close, or are considering closing, their solo practice. This new polling data confirms the seriousness of...

Findings may help patients better tolerate antibioticsUp to one in five people on antibiotics stop taking their full course of antibiotic therapy due to diarrhea. Physicians could help patients avoid this problem by prescribing probiotics, according to a study by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University published in American Family Physician.Antibiotics target "bad" bacteria but may also kill the "good" bacteria in the large intestine,...

Family medicine physicians across the state are bracing for the health care crisis facing their patients when a 10% reduction in physician payments takes effect on July 1. "The State of California is putting the health of millions of patients at risk with these Medi-Cal cuts," said Jeffrey Luther, MD, president of the 7,000-member California Academy of Family Physicians (CAFP). "Some doctors are simply closing their doors to Medi-Cal patients," he said, "because the cost of providing care is...

Warning that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed 10% reduction in Medi-Cal payments will likely result in many physicians treating fewer Medi-Cal patients, family medicine physicians are opposing the cut. "This cut would be devastating to patient care," said Carla Kakutani, MD, president of the 7,000-member California Academy of Family Physicians (CAFP). Kakutani is joined today by physicians from Los Angeles, San Diego, Bakersfield, San Francisco, Santa Rosa, San Jose, Modesto,...