Results: For prevention, 92% )n=65( of the offices reported that they obtain a thorough medical history prior to treatment; however, only 11% )n=8( obtain vital signs for each visit. Using a preparedness percent score )0 to 100(, the mean level of preparedness of the office personnel in all surveyed dental offices was 55.2±20. The availability of emergency drugs was 35±35, and equipment was 19±22.

BACKGROUND Patient portals are being used to provide a clinical summary of the office visit or the after-visit summary (AVS) to patients. There has been relatively little research on the characteristics of patients who access the AVS through a patient portal and their beliefs about the AVS. OBJECTIVE The aim was to (1) assess the characteristics of patients who are aware of and access the AVS...

On a recent Wednesday, Leonard examined Jesse, a 100-pound pooch who is a mix of Leonberger, St. Bernard, and Labrador retriever. Jesse has arthritis and degenerative joint disease, and had her right hip replaced. Leonard, who charges $56 for an office visit, checked the pulse in Jesse's back leg, looked at the color of her tongue, and gently felt around for painful spots, which became obvious ...

Methods A sample of 36 doctors (54 years, range 32-71; 12 males) working in health public setting (23) or private office (13) filled in an ad-hoc questionnaire. The items included: available time to visit patient and prescribe AIT; patient’s education to AIT or therapeutic alternatives; time dedicated to AIT description; barriers to AIT prescription; patients elective for AIT and contraindicati...

Fatigue is a serious, QoL-limiting symptom of many neurologic conditions. Physicians should be thorough and consistent in their assessment for this problem and not let motor symptoms monopolize an office visit. Although the use of pharmacology to treat this problem has predominantly only anecdotal evidence of efficacy, several nonpharmacologic interventions may prove helpful. The directions of ...

LaGrange College attracts hundreds of freshman students across the Southeast each year. It would be beneficial to the college’s Office of Admissions to optimize admission counselors’ paths to reduce expenses on mileage and time. TheK-means algorithmwill be used to cluster students into groups based upon physical locations and to locate regional centers for the states of Alabama, Florida, and Ge...

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Objective The objective was to use syndromic surveillance data from the North Carolina Disease Event Tracking and Epidemiologic Collection Tool NCDETECT and from BioSense to quantify the burden on North Carolina (NC) emergency departments of oral health-related visits more appropriate for care in a dental office (ED). Calculations were sought in terms of the Medicaid-covered visit rate relative...

BACKGROUND Seasonal variation has been demonstrated in many diseases, including certain skin diseases. OBJECTIVE To determine whether there is seasonal variation in dermatologic office visits in the USA. METHODS Data on dermatologic office visits were obtained from representative visits to outpatient physicians in the USA from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey from 1990 to 1998. O...

OBJECTIVE Determine incremental increases in healthcare expenditures and utilization associated with allergic rhinitis (AR). METHODS Patients reporting a diagnosis of AR were extracted from the 2007 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey medical conditions file and linked to the consolidated expenditures file. AR patients were then compared to non-AR patients determining differences in healthcare u...