Avoidable after-hours calls to physicians in family medicine.

Objectives: To assess avoidability in after-hours telephone calls. Identification of predictors of avoidable calls is necessary so that system changes can be implemented in the interest of efficiency in patient care.

Background: A new after-hours family physician call service was established in a large group practice to replace some of the resident call shifts and meet patient expectations.

Use of a decision aid to improve treatment decisions in osteoporosis: the osteoporosis choice randomized trial.

Objective: Poor adherence to therapy, perhaps related to unaddressed patient preferences, limits the effectiveness of osteoporosis treatment in at-risk women. A parallel patient-level randomized trial in primary care practices was performed.

Methods: Eligible postmenopausal women with bone mineral density T-scores less than -1.

Can an office practice telephonic response meet the needs of a pandemic?

Introduction: the H1N1 (subtype hemagglutinin 1 neuraminidase 1) influenza pandemic of 2009 was associated with a large increase in demand for primary care office visits. However, many patients with H1N1 symptoms or exposure could be assessed and treated with telephone protocols.

Methods: specific H1N1 influenza telephone protocols were developed by Mayo Clinic physicians using Centers for Disease Control recommendations.

Impact of retail medicine on standard costs in primary care: a semiparametric analysis.

Retail medicine clinics have become widely available. However, few studies have been published that compare retail clinic costs of care to standard medical visits for similar patients. The purpose of this study was to compare standard medical costs during a 6-month period after visiting a retail medical clinic to care received in a conventional medical office setting.

Protocol for the Osteoporosis Choice trial. A pilot randomized trial of a decision aid in primary care practice.

Background: Bisphosphonates can reduce fracture risk in patients with osteoporosis, but many at-risk patients do not start or adhere to these medications. The aims of this study are to: (1) preliminarily evaluate the effect of an individualized 10-year osteoporotic fracture risk calculator and decision aid (OSTEOPOROSIS CHOICE) for postmenopausal women at risk for osteoporotic fractures; and (2) assess the feasibility and validity (i.e.

Nurse-based telephone protocol versus usual care for management of URI and acute sinusitis: a controlled trial.

Two hundred and twelve patients with upper-respiratory-tract infection (URI) or sinusitis were treated using a nurse-based telephone protocol. This study evaluated the clinical outcomes and satisfaction of the patients compared with patients receiving usual care. For patients with URI, the rate of antibiotic administration was lower in the nurse-based telephone-treatment group (28% vs.