Practice Management
A national survey of 2,650 U.S. adults aged 65 years and older examined how far patients are willing to travel for routine medical care before delaying or skipping appointments, as published in JAMA Network Open. Researchers found the median acceptable travel times were about 68 minutes for primary care, 128 minutes for specialty care, and 113 minutes for diagnostic visits. Higher income, higher education, and the ability to drive oneself were associated with greater willingness …
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Analysis of U.S. surveillance data found that HIV coinfection occurs in about 1 in 12 adolescents diagnosed with early syphilis, though the proportion has declined in recent years. Among 28,965 adolescents ages 15 to 19 with primary, secondary, or early latent syphilis from 2014–2023, 9% also had HIV, as reported in MedPage Today reporting on the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections. Additionally, 27% of the adolescents had unknown HIV status. In terms of trends, …
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The American Hospital Association (AHA) and healthcare solution providers are chiming in on how they want federal regulators to structure their oversight of artificial intelligence and its integration into clinical care. For example, AHA suggested that regulations should rely on existing rules to smooth the path to innovation while also preempting state laws. It also wants to see AI companies required to meet compliance standards for privacy and security as HIPAA-covered entities. Additionally, AHA emphasizes …
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In a cohort study of 516 children with viral respiratory infections who were hospitalized, researchers found 34 (6.6%) developed severe disease—defined as a clinical severity score greater than 3 (on a scale of 1-6), as published in JAMA Network Open. Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza were strongly associated with worse outcomes. In multivariable analysis, RSV diagnosis (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 4.26; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.80–10.10) and influenza diagnosis (AOR, 4.13; 95% CI, 1.88–9.04) …
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Pediatric hypertension affects approximately 3-5% of children, yet fewer than 25% of cases are diagnosed and more than 60% do not receive recommended follow-up. In a study presented in JAMA Network Open including 25 clinicians across 10 pediatric primary care clinics, researchers in Delaware and Pennsylvania identified 5 major barriers that could affect the detection of kids’ hypertension. In semistructured qualitative interviews, clinicians cited the absence of standardized clinical pathways (endorsed by 80%), inconsistent training …
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Lawmakers in Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Maine, Michigan, Ohio, and Washington are looking to add protections for patients with unpaid medical debt by prohibiting wage garnishment for bill collection, according to MedPage Today. Proponents are concerned that some garnishment might occur for incorrect billing or that siphoning away a worker’s wages could leave low-income families without the money they need for heat, food, or housing. However, providers have concerns about accumulating bad debt that could …
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At its annual Urgent Care Connect conference, Experity CEO David Stern, MD, announced that Bobby Ghoshal has been appointed as the company’s new CEO, and Stern will now lead in the role of executive chairperson of the board. Ghoshal joined Experity as president and chief operating officer in 2025, bringing 30 years of experience in healthcare, technology, operations, and acquisition leadership. He will guide the growth of several AI-driven Experity offerings, including AI Scribe, Care …
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A recent Cochrane review and meta-analysis evaluated the impact of “substituting nurses for physicians” in the hospital setting, based on the rationale that demand for health services is increasing worldwide at a time when there is also a shortage of physicians. Leveraging nurses more could be a way to improve access for many provider organizations. Across 80 randomized studies involving about 28,000 patients in 20 countries, researchers from Ireland, United Kingdom, and Australia found advanced …
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Sudden unexpected infant deaths (SUIDs) associated with the use of “inclined sleepers”—baby seats that are not firm or flat, which also do not align with the established recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)—kept rising even after such products were recalled in 2019, according to a study published in Pediatrics. From 2009 to 2023, there were 158 SUIDs in inclined sleepers, and 50 deaths (32%) occurred after 2019. An additional 108 deaths (68%) occurred …
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Researchers found combining a 15-pathogen point-of-care (POC) respiratory viral panel with an antimicrobial stewardship intervention program resulted in reduced antibiotic prescribing in an urgent care setting in Louisiana, as published in Microbiology Spectrum. Alongside the stewardship program—which included patient education and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s MITIGATE tool kit—the POC panel was used for 296 adult patients, and results were compared with 600 seasonally matched historical controls. Overall antibiotic prescribing decreased from 38.2% …
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