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Perelman School of Medicine
Medicaid "Fee Bump" to Primary Care Doctors Associated with Better Access to Appointments, According to Penn Study
The increase in Medicaid reimbursement for primary care providers, a key provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), was associated with a 7.7 percentage points increase in new patient appointment availability without longer wait times, according to results of a new 10-state study — co-authored by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and the Urban Institute, and funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation — published online-first by the New England Journal of Medicine.
Twitter Can Predict Rates of Coronary Heart Disease, According to Penn Research
Twitter has broken news stories, launched and ended careers, started social movements and toppled governments, all by being an easy, direct and immediate way for people to share what’s on their minds.
Penn Medicine Bioethicists Call for Return to Asylums for Long-Term Psychiatric Care
As the United States population has doubled since 1955, the number of inpatient psychiatric beds in the United States has been cut by nearly 95 percent to just 45,000, a wholly inadequate equation when considering that there are currently 10 million U.S. residents with serious mental illness.
Penn Medicine Researchers Discover Possible New General Anesthetics
Penn Medicine researchers, in a continuation of their groundbreaking work to better understand how anesthesia works in the body, have found the first new class of novel anesthetics since the 1970s. Their findings, published in February issue of Anesthesiology, detail the processes through which the group uncovered these compounds.
Penn Medicine Study: Endobronchial Forceps Effective in Retrieval of Tip-Embedded Inferior Vena Cava (IVC) Filters
When retrievable inferior vena cava (IVC) filters were approved for use in the United States in 2003 to prevent pulmonary embolism among patients unable to receive the standard blood thinner treatment, many experts anticipated most of them would be removed when no longer needed and IVC filter complications would decrease.
Life at Higher Elevation Linked to Lower Incidence of Lung Cancer, Penn Study Suggests
Here’s another potential reason to live up in the mountains. Lung cancer rates in both smokers and non-smokers are lower in higher-elevation counties in the western part of the United States, suggesting that oxygen may promote the incidence of lung cancer, according to a new study co-authored by a student at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
Patch or Pills? How Quickly Smokers Metabolize Nicotine May Point to Most Effective Way to Quit, Penn Study Finds
Nearly 70 percent of smokers who try to quit relapse within one week – daunting odds for people trying to kick the habit. Researchers have long theorized that some individuals may be genetically programmed to have an easier time than others, but with few clues about why, experts have been unable to guide smokers looking to quit toward a strategy – the nicotine patch versus prescription pills, for instance – with the best chance of success.
Penn Medicine Study: Web-based TAVR Marketing Found to Overstate Benefits, Understate Risks
Transcatheter aortic valve replacement, or TAVR, has been called one of the biggest advances in cardiac surgery in recent years. The procedure delivers a new, collapsible aortic valve through a catheter to the valve site within the heart - a repair that otherwise requires open heart surgery.
Wearable Tracking Devices Alone Won't Drive Health Behavior Change, According to Penn Researchers
New Year’s weight loss resolutions are in full swing, but despite all the hype about the latest wearable tracking devices, there’s little evidence that this technology alone can change behavior and improve health for those that need it most, according to a new online-first viewpoint piece in JAMA.
In the News
Fox 29 (Philadelphia)
Cannabis reclassification could be game-changer for U.S. drug policy
Michael Cirigliano of the Perelman School of Medicine says that marijuana deserves to be removed from the same category as LSD, heroin, and fentanyl.
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The Washington Post
Americans are sleeping more than ever. See how you compare
Mathias Basner of the Perelman School of Medicine says that work and traveling are the major sleep killers, with the majority of traveling being commuting to and from work.
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Newsweek
Man does DNA test, not prepared for what comes back ‘unusually high’
César de la Fuente of the School of Engineering and Applied Science and Perelman School of Medicine says that Neanderthal DNA provides insights into human evolution, population dynamics, and genetic adaptations, including correlations with traits such as immunity and susceptibility to diseases.
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Philadelphia Inquirer
Cardiac arrest recoveries are great stories, but they’re rare. We can fix that
In an opinion essay, Raina Merchant of the Perelman School of Medicine says that low survival rates for cardiac arrest can be improved by increasing rates of CPR.
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Women’s Health
How does fat leave the body? Experts explain the weight loss process
Colleen Tewksbury of the School of Nursing and Perelman School of Medicine says that waist circumference is a more accessible and potentially more helpful measure for fat loss than stepping on a scale.
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