J Am Board Fam Med
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Despite the Affordable Care Act's insurance expansion, low-income Latinos are less likely to have a primary care provider compared with other racial/ethnic and income groups. We examined if community-based health care navigation could improve access to primary care in this population. ⋯ Community-based navigation has the potential to reduce barriers and improve access to primary care for low-income Latinos. In addition to expanding insurance coverage, policymakers should invest in health care navigation to reduce disparities in primary care.
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Little data exist on the well-being of older adults from Asian American (AA) communities. ⋯ AA older adults report lower life satisfaction and not needed receiving social and emotional support compared with all other race/ethnicities. Among AAs, Korean older adults were most likely to report poorer well-being. AA older adult communities may be in urgent need of further research and investment in interventions.
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Artificial intelligence (AI) in health care is the future that is already here. Despite its potential as a transformational force for primary care, most primary care providers (PCPs) do not know what it is, how it will impact them and their patients, and what its key limitations and ethical pitfalls are. ⋯ Primary care-as the dominant force at the base of the health care pyramid, with its unrivaled interconnectedness to every part of the health system and its deep relationship with patients and communities-is the most uniquely suited specialty to lead the health care AI revolution. PCPs can advance health care AI by partnering with technologists to ensure that AI use cases are relevant and human-centered, applying quality improvement methods to health care AI implementations, and advocating for inclusive and ethical AI that combats, rather than worsens, health inequities.
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Disruptions in primary care practices, like ownership change, clinician turnover, and electronic health record system implementation, can stall quality improvement (QI) efforts. However, little is known about the relationship between these disruptions and practice participation in facilitated QI. ⋯ Disruptions are prevalent in primary care, but practices can continue participating in QI interventions, particularly when supported by a facilitator. Facilitators may benefit from additional training in approaches for helping practices attenuate the effects of disruptions and adapting strategies to help interventions work to continue building QI capacity.
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Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid use disorder (MAT) is encouraged for primary care use, but evidence for effectiveness when fully integrated with primary care versus provided separately is limited. METHOD: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 257 MAT patients in our family medicine clinic to assess retention in treatment for patients receiving MAT integrated with primary care compared with our MAT patients who received their primary care elsewhere. ⋯ In this rural family medicine clinic, MAT integrated with primary care was associated with higher retention in treatment. Providing MAT as a component of comprehensive primary care may be superior to referring patients to an outside source.