Blog

In most doctors’ appointments, patients are given feedback on their health status, recommendations to improve their health, or both by their physician. Provision of feedback and recommendations are opportunities for physicians to foster patient engagement and cement patient adherence to treatment plans, but only if done right.

Duke Community and Family Medicine has partnered with the Duke Center for Research on Personalized Health Care to collaborate on a research study to investigate a more proactive, personalized and participatory approach to Duke Family Medicine’s diabetes shared medical appointments.

Recently, electronic health records have come to the forefront of medical reforms. Electronic health records (EHRs) are a digital version of a patient’s medical history that organizes relevant clinical data in real-time to organize and improve the quality of care.

The North American Primary Care Research Group held its Practice Based Research Networks Conference on June 28-30th in Bethesda, Maryland. The conference, which brought together primary care providers, clinical researchers, and patient and community advocates, was centered on engagement of communities of practice based research networks, patients, clinicians and practices.

Ralph Snyderman, MD, Chancellor Emeritus at Duke University and James B. Duke Professor of Medicine is also known as “The Father of Personalized Medicine.” How fitting that I was able to chat with him about the topic at the amazing Personalized Medicine World Congress (PMWC 15) that I attended a short time ago.

Recent studies have shown that mindfulness training may improve health outcomes. “Mindfulness” is an integration of meditation training and yoga, and helps the patient achieve a mental state of awareness through acknowledging & accepting the present moment and creating unity between the mind & body.

As a result of the announcement of the Precision Healthcare Initiative by President Obama at the end of January, innovative structures for improving healthcare are in the spotlight. 

In the current healthcare system, there is a lack of time for quality education, communication, and follow-up from the physician. The lack of patient engagement is exacerbated by a fragmented healthcare system where insurance coverage is tied to employment and patients must change providers when they change jobs.

Effective October 1, 2012, the Affordable Care Act mandated that health plans begin the process of adopting systems for the electronic exchange of health information.

Despite great advance in the field of personalized medicine and precision care therapies, there is still a dearth of progress in clinical models that use these emerging technologies to enhance preventive medicine.