All Articles

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  FDA warnings on antidepressants may have backfired

  Changes in antidepressant use may have led to more teen suicide attempts.
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  Families like practical wellness program

  Group Health tests behavioral treatment for obesity in real-world setting
• 7 big cost-cutting ideas from the Birnbaum panel

  With the nation’s health care cost crisis worsening, we invited three leading experts on the topic to address Group Health’s annual Birnbaum Endowed Lecture. Challenging our community to deliver on its promise of affordable care for all, the panel offered plenty of ideas—along with some comic relief.
• Aging with an edge: The ACT study advances genetics and brain science

  What if scientists could combine the latest in genetics and brain science with decades of rich data from research and clinical visits? That interdisciplinary cross-fertilization is just what’s happening with Adult Changes in Thought (ACT), a joint Group Health–University of Washington (UW) study funded by the National Institute on Aging. After decades of studying Group Health seniors to pinpoint risk factors for conditions including dementia, ACT researchers are now collaborating with new partners to learn even more.
• Medical home adds value beyond electronic health record

  Electronic health records (EHRs) are one part of the patient-centered medical home. But improved health care quality is related to other aspects of the medical home, not just EHRs, according to an invited editorial in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
• Vaccinations: A public health benefit

  Most parents choose to protect their children from diseases such as measles, meningitis, polio, and whooping cough through vaccinations. But a rising number opt not to vaccinate their children fully according to the recommended schedule, and many parents have concerns about the safety or necessity of vaccines.
• What characteristics make up effective patient engagement?

  While many health care providers and health care organizations stress the importance of patient engagement, they have a long way to go to achieve effective patient communication. Paula Lozano, MD, senior investigator with GHRI, discussed the role readiness and other factors play in a patient’s decision to make a change in their health and well-being.