Medicine & Health

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 29-Oct-2026 11:16 ET (29-Oct-2026 15:16 GMT/UTC)

27-Jul-2026

Comprehensive navigation service beats signposting for connecting primary care patients to needed resources

American Academy of Family Physicians
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A randomized, controlled trial found that patients assigned to a comprehensive navigation service, which helps patients understand the complexities of the medical system, had a significantly higher rate of self-reported access to needed resources three months after enrollment compared with control involving traditional signposting (50.3% vs 35.8%). The study compared two levels of social prescribing among 326 randomized patients in Ontario, Canada, and their impact on access to needed health and social resources and equity for Ontario’s Francophone minority population.

Journal

The Annals of Family Medicine

27-Jul-2026

Handheld cardiac ultrasound guided by artificial intelligence may offer early detection and substantial savings for patients and clinics

American Academy of Family Physicians
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Nine family medicine clinics across Granada, Madrid, and Barcelona piloted a program that taught family physicians to perform echocardiography with an AI-guided handheld ultrasound device.

Journal

The Annals of Family Medicine

27-Jul-2026

Patients with long-term relationships with family physicians may have fewer urgent hospital admissions and lower hospital costs

American Academy of Family Physicians
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A retrospective cohort study using longitudinal data from 100,450 patients across 48 general practices in and around Amsterdam found that patients registered with their practice for longer than 5 years had 9% to 21% lower odds of urgent hospital admission and 17%-28% lower hospital costs compared to those registered for 0 to 5 years.

Journal

The Annals of Family Medicine

27-Jul-2026

“Paradoxes” in social care tensions shed light on better ways to integrate social care into primary care

American Academy of Family Physicians
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A theory study identified 12 paradoxes in literature surrounding social care – health care that addresses the patient’s social needs – in primary care ambulatory contexts with the goal of offering a more nuanced understanding of social care to help integrate it into clinical practice.

Journal

The Annals of Family Medicine

27-Jul-2026

Primary care physicians weigh in on the trade-offs between health system employment and independent practice

American Academy of Family Physicians
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A qualitative interview study of 30 U.S. primary care physicians identified five major themes regarding the day-to-day experiences of independent practitioners and those employed by health systems. Health system physicians reported less autonomy in scheduling and operations, but greater financial and legal protections.

Journal

The Annals of Family Medicine

27-Jul-2026

Family medicine residency program directors report their programs do not directly assess self-directed learning skills

American Academy of Family Physicians
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The survey, part of a larger survey conducted by the Council of Academic Family Medicine Educational Research Alliance (CERA), asked family medicine residency directors about their program’s readiness to teach and assess self-directed learning skills.

Journal

The Annals of Family Medicine

27-Jul-2026

Study identifies four self-care decision-making patterns among patients with multiple cardiometabolic conditions

American Academy of Family Physicians
Peer-Reviewed Publication

This qualitative interview study explored the self-care decision-making processes of 27 adults with multiple cardiometabolic conditions in Zhejiang Province, China.

Journal

The Annals of Family Medicine

27-Jul-2026

Study highlights the values of generalist physicians as health care grows more fragmented

American Academy of Family Physicians
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A qualitative theory study identified three themes in how generalist physicians understand their own work and role.

Journal

The Annals of Family Medicine

27-Jul-2026

Patients with long-term relationships with family physicians may have fewer urgent hospital admissions and lower hospital costs

American Academy of Family Physicians
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A retrospective cohort study using longitudinal data from 100,450 patients across 48 general practices in and around Amsterdam found that patients registered with their practice for longer than 5 years had 9% to 21% lower odds of urgent hospital admission and 17%-28% lower hospital costs compared to those registered for 0 to 5 years.

Journal

The Annals of Family Medicine