Physician counseling of overweight patients about preventive health behaviors.

Background: Numerous studies show that many primary care physicians (PCPs) do not discuss preventive health behaviors related to diet and exercise with their overweight patients.

Purpose: To investigate whether certain counseling approaches by PCPs in their clinical encounters with patients are associated with improvements in care and resource utilization.

Methods: A total of 2205 patients in a large HMO were surveyed, during November and December 2010, about their health behaviors and perceptions of their interactions with their PCPs.

Innovations in access to care: a patient-centered approach.

To receive health care, patients with nonemergent problems must gain access to a complex, interdependent ambulatory care system currently structured around the conventional office appointment model. The system does not effectively accommodate diverse patient needs and preferences, contributing to both overuse and underuse of health care resources. A patient-centered access model would help patients secure appropriate and preferred medical assistance when and where it is needed.