J Am Board Fam Med
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Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a fairly common condition that, if left untreated, can lead to complications such as high blood pressure and heart disease. Polysomnography (PSG) is the most accurate method for diagnosing OSA, but it is a cumbersome and expensive test. A well-validated, easier to perform and less expensive alternative is the home sleep test (HST). The purpose of this review is to educate the primary care provider about the important differences between PSG and HSTs, the advantages and limitations of both modalities, identifying patients who are appropriate candidates for the HST, identifying patients in whom the HST should not be performed, and further evaluation of patients who have a negative HST.
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The Choosing Wisely campaign encourages physicians to avoid low-value care. Although widely lauded, no study has examined its impact on clinical decisions made in primary care settings. ⋯ Given that even small decreases of physician test ordering can produce large cost savings, the Choosing Wisely project may help achieve the health care triple aim.
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Whether availability of chiropractic care affects use of primary care physician (PCP) services is unknown. ⋯ Greater availability of chiropractic care in some areas may be offsetting PCP services for back and/or neck pain among older adults.
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Considerable controversy about the value of participating in Maintenance of Certification has recently arisen within the medical community. Despite this controversy, large numbers of family physicians certified by the American Board of Family Medicine participate in Maintenance of Certification for Family Physicians. Surprisingly, a small but significant number of charter diplomats--those initially certified by the American Board of Family Medicine at its founding--are engaged in the process.
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Review
The use of medical scribes in health care settings: a systematic review and future directions.
Electronic health records (EHRs) hold promise to improve productivity, quality, and outcomes; however, using EHRs can be cumbersome, disruptive to workflow, and off-putting to patients and clinicians. One proposed solution to this problem is the use of medical scribes. The purpose of this systematic review is to summarize the literature investigating the effect of medical scribes on health care productivity, quality, and outcomes. Implications for future research are discussed. ⋯ Available evidence suggests medical scribes may improve clinician satisfaction, productivity, time-related efficiencies, revenue, and patient-clinician interactions. Because the number of studies is small, and because each study suffered important limitations, confidence in the reliability of the evidence is significantly constrained. Given the nascent state of the science, methodologically rigorous and sufficiently powered studies are greatly needed.