Journal of general internal medicine
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Providing diagnostic and treatment information to patients is a core clinical skill, but evidence for the effectiveness of different information-giving strategies is inconsistent. This systematic review aimed to investigate the reported effects of empirically tested communication strategies for providing information on patient-related outcomes: information recall and (health-related) behaviors. ⋯ Using specific framing strategies for achieving specific communication goals when providing information to patients appears to have positive effects on information recall and patient health-related behaviors. The heterogeneity observed in this group of studies testifies the need for a more consistent methodological and conceptual agenda when testing medical information-giving strategies.
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It is not uncommon for medical specialists to predominantly care for patients with certain chronic conditions rather than primary care physicians (PCPs), yet the resource implications from such patterns of care are not well understood. ⋯ Older adults with diabetes who receive more of their ambulatory care from a PCP instead of a medical specialist show evidence of lower resource use.