Journal of general internal medicine
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Primary care physicians (PCPs) now widely use electronic health records (EHRs) during medical encounters. Experts in clinical communication issued recommendations for a patient-centered use of EHRs. However, they have never been validated by patients themselves. ⋯ Our study shows that patients' preferences regarding EHR-related behaviors are in line with most experts' recommendations. Such recommendations should be more consistently integrated into under- and postgraduate communication skills training.
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Evidence is limited as to whether the introduction of the Affordable Care Act (ACA)'s Medicaid expansions was associated with improvements in cardiovascular risk factors at the population level. ⋯ Using the nationally representative data of individuals who were affected by the ACA, we found that the ACA Medicaid expansions were associated with a modest improvement in cardiovascular risk factors related to hypertension and diabetes during the first 3 years of implementation.
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Personality is the description of an individual's tendencies when acting or reacting to others. Clinicians spontaneously form impressions of a patient's apparent personality yet such unstructured impressions might lead to snap judgments or unhelpful labels. Here we review the evidence-based five-factor model from psychology science for understanding personalities (OCEAN taxonomy). ⋯ Neuroticism is the tendency to experience negative emotions. An awareness of these five dimensions might help clinicians avoid faulty judgments from casual contact. Expert assessment of personality requires extensive training and data, thereby suggesting that clinicians should take a humble view of their own unsophisticated impressions of a patient's personality.