Journal of general internal medicine
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Diet-related chronic diseases account for seven out of the ten leading causes of death in the USA. Food is Medicine (FIM) interventions can be effective adjuncts to standard medical care to address this cost burden. While the Food is Medicine Pyramid recommends some culinary skill development when integrating FIM into healthcare, the emphasis is on medically tailored meals and food provision. Hence, there is a practice gap to ensure patients develop the necessary skills to apply nutrition recommendations into improved food behaviors to achieve positive long-term health outcomes. ⋯ It describes how these interventions can and have been used in a clinical setting as adjuncts to clinical care. While there is published evidence for each modality individually, the literature lacks evidence of the value of an integrated approach. The framework therefore provides a roadmap to both identify best practices and evaluate outcomes that will inform viable financial models.
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Editorial
Decoding Homelessness: Z-Codes and the Recognition of Homelessness as a Comorbid Condition.
There are an estimated 653,100 people across the United States experiencing homelessness. Homelessness is an important social determinant of health associated with increased morbidity and mortality. ⋯ Here, we review the historical purpose and utilization of codes to identify SDOH ("Z-codes"); describe how the recent CMS policy change elevates the importance of homelessness within medical care and impacts reimbursement; analyze the potential risks and benefits of this change to patients, clinicians, and health systems; and assess barriers to implementation. We conclude by calling for health systems to move beyond simply documenting homelessness to meaningfully addressing health inequities in PEH.
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Editorial Review
Complexities of Physician Workforce Projection: Call for a Unified National Healthcare Workforce Policy.
Ensuring an adequate supply of physicians is paramount in securing the future of healthcare. To do so, accurate physician workforce predictions are needed to inform policymakers. ⋯ Moreover, while federal and state entities invest approximately $15 billion annually in graduate medical education (GME) payments, they have very little control over how the funding is used to shape the future physician workforce. In this article, we review physician workforce predictions from both an international and a domestic perspective and finally discuss how the creation of an apolitical, data-driven, expert-led panel at the federal level with sufficient authority to influence broader workforce policy is the optimal solution for ensuring an adequate supply of physicians for generations to come.