March 15, 2013

Certain tests can be helpful to stratify risk, direct anesthetic choices, and guide post-operative management, but should not be performed when they are not medically necessary. The decision to order preoperative tests should be guided by the patient's clinical history…

Difficult clinical encounters can leave the physician and patient feeling frustrated. Contributing factors to difficult encounters may be related to the physician, patient, situation, or a combination. Recognizing these factors can lead to a more effective office visit.

Gastrointestinal bleeding may be characterized as overt, occult, or obscure, with the source of bleeding not visible to the patient or the physician. This article reviews the possible causes of gastrointestinal bleeding; methods of investigation and evaluation are also discussed.

Legislation Proposed to Eliminate SGR Formula and Boost Medicare Payments | Data Collection for Physician Payments Sunshine Act Begins in August 2013 | Practice Facilitators and Care Managers May Enhance Team-Based Care | CDC Provides Infographic on Pertussis

Difficult clinical encounters add to other persistent sources of stress for physicians today, increasing the risk of burnout. Interventions focusing on mindfulness, or the ability to be purposefully attentive and present in every moment, are promising tools to help physicians…

Implementation of a universal mammographic screening program leads to an increase in the diagnosis of invasive breast cancer, because of improved detection of clinically significant cancer and overdiagnosis.

Case Study: A 59-year-old healthy, postmenopausal woman presents for a routine health maintenance visit. She has an intact uterus and no history of skeletal fractures. She asks if menopausal hormone therapy would help prevent chronic illness, specifically stroke and dementia.

Photo Quiz presents readers with a clinical challange based on a photograph or other image.

What are the effects of interventions for the removal of asymptomatic renal or ureteric stones? What are the effects of interventions for the management of acute renal colic?

Daily multivitamin supplementation results in a minimal, if any, reduction in epithelial cell cancers in men. This study found no significant benefit to multivitamin supplementation in reducing the risk of prostate, colorectal, lung, or bladder cancers. The risks of cancer…

The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) has released a guideline for the management of acute bacterial rhinosinusitis in children and adults in the community or emergency department settings. Each recommendation includes a quality of evidence grade (i.e., strong or…

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends against the use of combined estrogen and progestin for the prevention of chronic conditions in postmenopausal women.

There is no evidence that it is beneficial to screen for hepatocellular carcinoma in symptomatic patients with HCV.