J Am Board Fam Med
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Multicenter Study
Urine Drug Testing Among Patients Prescribed Long-Term Opioid Therapy: Patient and Clinician Factors.
National guidelines recommend that patients with chronic noncancer pain prescribed long-term opioid therapy (LTOT) undergo periodic urine drug testing (UDT), yet UDT is performed inconsistently, and little evidence supports the utility of this approach. We examined patient and prescriber factors associated with UDT. ⋯ UDT was relatively infrequent in patients prescribed LTOT and associated with patient factors not known to confer greater opioid-related risk, such as race. In addition, there was significant clinician-driven variation in UDT. Given the uncertain clinical utility of such testing, these findings signal the need for strategies to address potential biases in the use of UDT.
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Clinician-patient miscommunication contributes to worse asthma outcomes. What patients call their asthma inhalers and its relationship with asthma morbidity are unknown. ⋯ Patients who use non-standard names for asthma inhalers experience increased asthma morbidity. Ascertaining what patients call their inhalers may be a quick method to identify those at higher risk of poor outcomes.
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Language concordance between Latinx patients and their clinicians has been shown to affect health outcomes. In addition, there is evidence that consistent continuity of care (COC) can improve health care outcomes. The relationship between language concordance and COC and their association with health equity in chronic disease is less clear. Our aim was to study the moderating effect of clinician and patient language concordance on the association between COC and asthma care quality in Latinx children. ⋯ Overall, Latinx children regardless of COC category or language concordance were more likely to receive the influenza vaccine. English-preferring Latinx children with persistent asthma received fewer inhaled steroid prescriptions compared with non-Hispanic White children. Panel chart review and seeing a practice partner might be one way to combat these inequities.
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Obesity is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States (US). Primary care medical practices can educate patients about the health effects of obesity and help patients with obesity lose and manage their weight. However, implementation of weight management in primary care is challenging. We sought to examine how practices that implement weight management services do so feasibly. ⋯ This study identified 4 models that may serve to overcome challenges in delivering weight management services in primary care. Based on practice characteristics, preferences, and resources, primary care practices can identify a model for successfully implementing weight management services that best fits their context and needs. It is time for primary care to truly address obesity care as the health issue it is and make it a standard of care for all patients with obesity.