BACKGROUND Pregnant women were recruited into the Alberta Pregnancy Outcomes and Nutrition (APrON) study in two cities in Alberta, Calgary and Edmonton. In Calgary, a larger proportion of women obtain obstetrical care from family physicians than from obstetricians; otherwise the cities have similar characteristics. Despite similarities of the cities, the recruitment success was very different. ...

This paper analyzes the workflow and implementation of electronic health record (EHR) systems across different functions in small physician offices. We characterize the differences in the offices based on the levels of computerization in terms of workflow, sources of time delay, and barriers to using EHR systems to support the entire workflow. The study was based on a combination of questionnai...

This paper analyzes the workflow and implementation of electronic health record (EHR) systems across different functions in small physician offices. We characterize the differences in the offices based on the levels of computerization in terms of workflow, sources of time delay, and barriers to using EHR systems to support the entire workflow. The study was based on a combination of questionnai...

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to determine whether physician offices located in high-minority and low-income neighborhoods have different levels of access to information technology than offices located in lower-minority and higher-income areas. DESIGN A cross-sectional survey was conducted of pediatrics, family medicine, and general practice offices in Orange County, California. Survey ...

PURPOSE To assess the impact of 2005 and 2006 reductions in chemotherapy reimbursement, mandated in the Medicare Modernization Act, on patterns of chemotherapy receipt in the last 14 days of life. PATIENTS AND METHODS Included in the study were Medicare beneficiaries dying with poor-prognosis cancer from 2003 to 2007. We compared pre- and postreform probability and frequency of chemotherapy r...

BACKGROUND The availability of Internet-based continuing medical education is rapidly increasing, but little is known about recruitment of physicians to these interventions. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to examine predictors of physician participation in an Internet intervention designed to increase screening of young women at risk for chlamydiosis. METHODS Eligibility was based ...

Administrative costs account for 25 percent of health care spending, but little is known about the portion attributable to billing and insurance-related (BIR) functions. We estimated BIR for hospital and physician care in California. Data for physician practices came from a mail survey and interviews; for hospitals, from regulatory reporting; and for private insurers, from a consulting company....

OBJECTIVES (a) To find out how much patient information material on display in family physicians' offices refers to management choices, and hence may be useful to support informed and shared decision-making (ISDM) by patients and (b) to evaluate the quality of print information materials exchanged during the consultation, i.e. brought in by patients or given out by family physicians. DESIGN A...