INTRODUCTION The University of Chicago Medicine (UCM) partners with Chicago Family Health Center (Chicago Family) in the Diabetic Retinopathy Screening Program (DRP), a charity care program to screen uninsured and underinsured patients with diabetes for diabetic retinopathy, which is a leading cause of preventable vision loss in the US. The DRP faced operational challenges throughout its pilot ...

INTRODUCTION Iran introduced the urban family physician reform, based on the primary healthcare (PHC) approach, in 2012. The reform is restricted to two pilot provinces, which are Fars and Mazandaran and its policymakers request evidence of the reform progress. The study aimed to determine the accessibility of health care in the two pilot sites. METHODS A cross-sectional study using Primary C...

Abstract Background Low and middle income countries has recently implemented various reforms toward Universal Health Coverage (UHC). This study aims to assess the impact of Family Physician Plan (FPP) Transformation (HTP) on hospitalization rate in Iran. Methods We conducted an Interrupted Time Series (ITS) design. The data was monthly Mazandaran province over a period 7 years. Segmented regres...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the association between diagnostic labeling of respiratory tract infections (RTIs) and antibiotic prescription rates in family practice. DESIGN Descriptive analysis of outpatient chart review supplemented by interviews with physicians. Charts of patients attending 73 general practitioners were reviewed between October 1997 and February 1998. Two days of practice were eva...

www.aafp.org/afp AMERICAN FAMILY PHYSICIAN 1981 mented. All lesions are usually of similar size and shape. Patients “dig”at their skin to relieve itching or to extract imaginary objects that they believe are imbedded or extruding from their skin. The lesions are grouped at sites of the body that are easily accessible and usually exposed, such as the extensor surfaces of the extremities, face an...

managed in the primary care setting. Surveys suggest that approximately 20 percent of U.S. adults have symptoms of GERD at least once a week.4 A subgroup of patients with GERD develop severe complications that include erosive esophagitis, stricture formation, Barrett’s esophagus, and adenocarcinoma of the esophagus. Because Barrett’s esophagus is thought to be associated with the development of...

Research has shown that access to an asthma specialist improves asthma outcomes. We hypothesized that we could improve access to expert asthma care through a telemedicine link between an asthma specialist and a school-based asthma program. We conducted a prospective cohort study in 3 urban schools to ascertain the feasibility of using an asthma-focused telemedicine solution. Each subject was se...

INTRODUCTION The geographic maldistribution of physicians (their concentration in urban areas and shortage in rural areas) has long been an important political issue in post-war Japan. The aim of this study was to evaluate long-term transition in the geographic distribution of physicians, and to reveal which rural physician characteristics predict their retention in rural areas after 22 years. ...

The need for men to undergo screening for prostate cancer is controversial. Urologists are concerned about finding many men with minimal disease who may not require therapy or may be over-treated, while conversely missing men with clinically significant prostate cancer that could be treated and cured if found at an early enough stage. Most men today present to the physician with some symptoms a...