Patient-centered medical home: an emerging primary care model and the military health system.

The patient-centered medical home (PCMH) is a primary care model that aims to provide quality care that is coordinated, comprehensive, and cost-effective. PCMH is hinged upon building a strong patient-provider relationship and using a team-based approach to care to increase continuity and access. It is anticipated that PCMH can curb the growth of health care costs through better preventative medicine and lower utilization of services.

Treating eating disorders in primary care.

Binge-eating disorder, bulimia nervosa, and anorexia nervosa are potentially life-threatening disorders that involve complex psychosocial issues. A strong therapeutic relationship between the physician and patient is necessary for assessing the psychosocial and medical factors used to determine the appropriate level of care. Most patients can be effectively treated in the outpatient setting by a health care team that includes a physician, a registered dietitian, and a therapist.

Physician patterns of metabolic screening for patients taking atypical antipsychotics: a retrospective database study.

Objective: The aim of this retrospective database study was to determine rates of screening for metabolic side effects by physician specialty in community hospital patients prescribed atypical antipsychotics.

Method: A pharmacy database review identified patients who were prescribed atypical antipsychotics over a 6-month period from July 1, 2004, to December 31, 2004. This list of patients was then cross-referenced with the laboratory database to determine if screening laboratory tests for metabolic abnormalities had been ordered.

Use of atypical antipsychotic drugs in patients with dementia.

Increasingly, atypical antipsychotic drugs are prescribed for elderly patients with symptoms of psychosis and behavioral disturbances. These symptoms often occur in patients with Alzheimer's disease, other dementias, or Parkinson's disease. As the average age of Americans increases, the prevalence of Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease will rise accordingly.