Reducing clinical inertia in hypertension treatment: a pragmatic randomized controlled trial.

Clinical inertia is a major contributor to poor blood pressure (BP) control. The authors tested the effectiveness of an intervention targeting physician, patient, and office system factors with regard to outcomes of clinical inertia and BP control. A total of 591 adult primary care patients with elevated BP (mean systolic BP ≥ 140 mm Hg or mean diastolic BP ≥ 90 mm Hg) were randomized to intervention or usual care.

Rates of screening colonoscopy are not increased when women are offered a female endoscopist in a health promotion outreach program.

Background: In surveys, almost 50% of women prefer a female endoscopist (FE) to perform their screening colonoscopies (SCOs).

Objective: To assess whether offering women an FE is associated with higher rates of SCOs.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

A patient recall program to enhance decisions about prostate cancer screening: a feasibility study.

Background: Lack of time and competing demands limit the ability of patients and providers to engage in informed decision-making discussions about prostate cancer screening during primary care visits. We evaluated a patient recall intervention to mitigate these challenges.

Methods: Using mail and telephone outreach we invited men age 50-74 years without a PSA test in the prior 12 months to make appointments with their primary care providers in order to discuss the pros and cons of PSA-based prostate cancer screening.