This morning's Los Angeles Times reports on a growing trend of group medical appointments where specialists meets with groups of patients struggling with the same disease together. Some have raised privacy issues but this does not seem to have slowed down this trend.

http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-group-doctor-visits-20130917,0,1628117.story

A growing number of physicians around the nation are turning the traditional medical visit inside out, making what were once one-on-one, private appointments a group experience. Shared medical appointments are becoming more widespread as physicians look for more efficient and effective ways to treat increasing numbers of patients with chronic diseases. The visits could increase significantly under the nation's healthcare overhaul when millions more Americans gain insurance coverage and need to access doctors. Multi-patient appointments are especially valuable in areas with physician shortages, proponents say. Group appointments are being offered through UC San Diego to patients with diabetes<http://www.latimes.com/topic/health/diseases-illnesses/diabetes-HEDAI0000022.topic>, HIV<http://www.latimes.com/topic/health/diseases-illnesses/hiv-HEDAI0000088.topic> and liver disease. Obesity<http://www.latimes.com/topic/health/physical-conditions/obesity-HEDAI0000057.topic> and diabetes patients at the L.A. County-run Martin Luther King outpatient and specialty health clinic also have the option of attending group visits, and similar programs are being rolled out in Massachusetts, North Carolina and Ohio.
David B. Gaynon
[log in to unmask]
Huntington Beach CA, USA



List archives at http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/recmgmt-l.html
Contact [log in to unmask] for assistance
To unsubscribe from this list, click the below link. If not already present, place UNSUBSCRIBE RECMGMT-L or UNSUB RECMGMT-L in the body of the message.
mailto:[log in to unmask]