Journal of general internal medicine
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Observational Study
Prospective Observational Study on the Prevalence and Diagnostic Value of General Practitioners' Gut Feelings for Cancer and Serious Diseases.
General practitioners (GPs) have recognized the presence of gut feelings in their diagnostic process. However, little is known about the frequency or determinants of gut feelings or the diagnostic value of gut feelings for cancer and other serious diseases. ⋯ Gut feelings are consistently present in primary care medicine, and they play a substantial role in a GP's clinical reasoning and timely diagnosis of serious disease. The sense of alarm must be taken seriously and used to support diagnostic evaluation in patients with a new reason for encounter.
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Depression is often untreated or undertreated, particularly among underrepresented groups, such as racial and ethnic minorities, and individuals of lower socioeconomic status. Electronic health information exchange (HIE) is a recommended practice to improve care coordination and encourage patient engagement in services, but it remains underutilized in depression care. Understanding factors affecting acceptance and adoption of this technology among underrepresented patient populations is needed to increase dissemination of HIE within mental health treatment. ⋯ Respondents desire greater transparency in their depression care. While HIE was perceived to improve the overall quality of depression care, stigma associated with mental illness undermined more robust adoption of this technology among underserved populations.