Primary Care Updates from SGIM!

As a primary care doctor, I can say it takes a lot of time to stay updated on the world of internal medicine.  Fortunately, many annual conferences feature " update talks," which showcase the most recent and significant studies in internal medicine.  For those of you that may have missed the Society for General Internal Medicine conference (SGIM), here are some of my key take-home pearly from various update talks.  Of course, I encourage providers to look up the original source material for additional information.   

Innovations in Safety Net Primary Care - Specialty Care Collaboration

 

by Neda Ratanawongsa, MD

When my 4-year old asked me why I was staying at work last Tuesday evening, I told him, “To learn about how doctors can work together to take care of people.” 

I’m a primary care provider at the General Medicine Clinic at SFGH. Although I wish I could provide my patients with all of their care within my clinic’s walls, I rely on colleagues in medical and surgical specialties to help care for my patients’ concerns around diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, broken bones, and eyes.  When my patients and I need that help, I want the same quick access to specialists’ advice that my in-laws receive in their health networks. However, safety net health systems often experience long wait times for visits because there is such a high need for specialty clinics with limited appointment slots.  The referral system can also be confusing to patients because of communication barriers; over half of my patients speak a language other than English as their first language and have limited health literacy.  

Denti-Cal Benefits Return to California - Hooray!!

A friend who is a social worker recently informed me that Medi-Cal is reinstating coverage for dental services in the state of California. As a primary care doctor in an urban safety net hospital, all I can say is "HOORAY!!"

Preventing Death from Opioid Overdose: Important Facts About Naloxone 

Most people are now aware of the burgeoning epidemic of unintentional overdose due to prescription opioids.  This has been well-publicized by the national news media (NY Times section here; Wall Street Journal feature here), and well-known to the public due to several prominent celebrity deaths linked to prescription opioids (for example, Heath Ledger, Michael Jackson, and Philip Seymour Hoffman who reportedly received prescription opioids before transitioning to heroin).  Prescription opioids or opioid pain relievers include many familiar medications that are prescribed for pain including oxycodone (Oxycontin), morphine, hydromorphone (Dilaudid), and hydrocodone (Norco, Vicodin).   

Introducing the Next Generation of Leaders in Primary Care for the Underserved!

Friday, March 21st was an exciting day because we learned who our next class of primary care residents will be!  Our program -SFPC- is the San Francisco General Primary Care Track, which is part of the Univ of California, San Francisco Internal Medicine Residency.  We recruit medical students that are interested in primary care for underserved populations.

Without further ado... our new 8 residents!

Welcome to Mission: Health Equity!

Who We Are: Faculty from the Division of General Internal Medicine (DGIM) at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) who are based at San Francisco General Hospital & Trauma Center (SFGH), the city's public hospital.
For more information about the Department of General Internal Medicine, click here, and SFGH, here.

What We Care About: We are interested in issues that affect vulnerable populations.  The population we serve is "vulnerable" because our patients struggle with poverty, inadequate housing, food insecurity, lack of health coverage, trauma and violence, and poor health literacy.  These forces often result in striking health disparities, or unequal health outcomes.  Our mission is to use research, advocacy, education, and outstanding clinical care to achieve equitable health outcomes.  Additionally, we seek to identify and harness individual and community resilience factors that strengthen communities.
We strongly value primary care and multidisciplinary, team-based care for our patients, and are excited by the current climate of primary care transformation.  We closely collaborate with specialty colleagues to provide comprehensive care to our patients.

What We Will Post: 

• Commentary on medical, public health, and social science research related to vulnerable populations 
• Opinions on health policy related to underserved groups
• Updates on innovations in medical education oficiency, and poor health literacy.  These forces often result in striking health disparities, or unequal health outcomes.  Our mission is to use research, advocacy, education, and outstanding clinical care to achieve equitable health outcomes.  Additionally, we seek to identify and harness individual and community resilience factors that strengthen communities.