Family medicine research that provides compelling, urgent data to improve patient care

Abstract

Herein is positive, mixed, and negative news-albeit all useful-on family medicine topics. The time to depression remission can be dramatically reduced. There is compelling evidence on how to improve medication reconciliation. There is a major underestimated determinant of the length of intrauterine device use. Data on the convoluted nature of the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, transition could cause heart sink for doctors. Another article notes how family physicians can improve the usability of electronic health records by working with vendors. Targeting abstinence for patients with alcohol dependency and daily use may help. Charlson comorbidity scores plus a polypharmacy measure are useful to estimate readmission risk. This issue also includes excellent reviews on pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV prevention and breast milk oversupply. The Robert Graham Center provides data on the types of medical professionals working with family physicians in their offices. See the related commentary on page 4 by Rosenthal for a discussion on the patient-centered medical home articles also published in this issue.