Journal of general internal medicine
-
Multicenter Study Comparative Study
How well do doctors know their patients? Factors affecting physician understanding of patients' health beliefs.
An important feature of patient-centered care is physician understanding of their patients' health beliefs and values. ⋯ Physicians were not good judges of patient's health beliefs, but had a substantially better understanding when patients more actively participated in the consultation. Strategies for increasing physicians' awareness of patients' health beliefs include preconsultation assessment of patients' beliefs, implementing culturally appropriate patient activation programs, and greater use of partnership-building to encourage active patient participation.
-
Malignant pleural effusions (MPE) are a frequent cause of dyspnea and discomfort at the end of cancer patients' lives. The tunneled indwelling pleural catheter (TIPC) was approved by the FDA in 1997 and has been investigated as a treatment for MPE. ⋯ Based on low-quality evidence in the form of case series, the TIPC may improve symptoms for patients with MPE and does not appear to be associated with major complications. Prospective randomized studies comparing the TIPC to pleurodesis are needed before the TIPC can be definitively recommended as a first-line treatment of MPE.
-
Comparative Study
The import of trust in regular providers to trust in cancer physicians among white, African American, and Hispanic breast cancer patients.
Interpersonal trust is an important component of the patient-doctor relationship. Little is known about patients' trust in the multiple providers seen when confronting serious illness. ⋯ Our results suggest that patients are very trusting of their breast cancer providers. This is an important finding given that research with other populations has shown an association between trust and patient satisfaction and treatment adherence. Our findings also suggest that a trusting relationship with a regular provider facilitates trusting relationships with specialists. Additional work is needed to increase interpersonal trust among black women.
-
Democrats and Republicans have turned to the concept of "high-risk pools" to provide health care for those Americans who face the dual challenge of uninsurance and serious health difficulties. Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), these "high-risk" individuals will receive extensive help and regulatory protections, in concert with a new system of health insurance exchanges. However, these federal provisions do not become operational until 2014. ⋯ This analysis explores the adequacy of such funding. Using 2005/06 data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), we find that approximately 4 million uninsured Americans have been diagnosed with emphysema, diabetes, stroke, cancer, congestive heart failure, angina, or a heart attack. To provide adequate health care for uninsured individuals with chronic diseases, the federal PCIP appropriations would need to be many times higher than either Democrats or Republicans have proposed.