Closer Look
Opinion: What's lost when patients see their test results before their doctors do
As a primary care doctor, Christopher Medrano frequently orders tests and imaging for chronic and acute conditions. It used to be common for labs to allow physicians to review results before alerting patients. Now, we all have immediate access through our electronic portals. "My patients often see the results before I do," Medrano writes in a STAT First Opinion. "Over time, this has led to more than a few snags."
While convenient for a Covid or strep test, immediate notification also eliminates the personal element between doctor and patient, something a waiting period might leave room for, he suggests. "I value this exchange with my patients, and I think they deserve to have it in a sensitive encounter with a professional rather than alone on a computer," he says. "Too often, we risk the chance of patients being left in the dark, which can quickly lead to confusion and fear." Read more.
Insurance
Half of insured people face hurdles to health care, survey says
High costs aren't the only barriers blocking even insured people from health care. Red tape, denied claims, and complexity also delay people from getting care or prevent it altogether, a new KFF survey says. At least half of respondents said they had trouble once or more last year, whether covered by their employers, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act's marketplace, or Medicare, and nearly half said their problems were not resolved to their satisfaction. Denials were less common from Medicare and Medicaid, but finding in-network providers was harder with Medicaid and marketplace coverage. Among those who had problems:
- Two-thirds rated their own health as "fair" or "poor."
- About three-quarters received mental health treatment in the past year.
- More than three-quarters had more than 10 provider visits in the past year.
Even so, overall most people (81%) gave their insurers "excellent" or "good" marks.
health
Light exercise encouraged after concussion, new consensus statement says
"Don't cocoon," advised John Leddy, director of the Concussion Management Clinic at the University of Buffalo. His two words in a briefing with reporters summed up a striking change in advice for managing concussions, part of a new consensus statement from the Conference on Concussion in Sport published today in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. Past practice sent people with mild concussions home to darkened rooms and days of inactivity.
New randomized clinical trials led the group to encourage student athletes, pros, and adult amateurs alike to engage in low-key physical and cognitive activity (but limited screen time) in the 48 hours after injury. Even if some symptoms, such as headache or dizziness, get a bit worse, that's OK because exercise helps avoid delayed recovery, the studies showed, but problems lasting more than four weeks need more attention. Other updates call for more research in kids under 12 and on long-term neurological effects.
Correction: I linked to the wrong JAMA study yesterday in an item about equine therapy being offered more often than medication to adolescents at residential addiction treatment centers. You can find the study here.
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