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• Teamwork brings $20 million for breast cancer screening research

  Should women start breast cancer screening at age 40 or 50? Every year or every other year? By mammography or breast MRI? As patients and physicians ask these and related questions, confident answers require solid evidence.
• People with dementia have more preventable hospitalizations

  Compared to individuals without dementia, people who subsequently developed dementia had a significantly higher rate of hospital admissions for all causes. They also had more admissions for “ambulatory care-sensitive” conditions, for which proactive care may have prevented hospitalizations. This suggests opportunities for improving outpatient care of seniors with dementia, according to research in the January 11 Journal of the American Medical Association.
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  How does team care improve depression and diabetes?

  Treating to target’ and self-care, says Group Health-UW research The growing number of people with multiple physical and mental chronic conditions are among the toughest—and costliest—to care for. The TEAMcare collaborative care program is a promising solution.
• Good growth is fueled by committed people doing their best work

  The new federal health-reform law requires free coverage for various preventive care services, including prenatal care, well-child visits, routine vaccinations, counseling to quit smoking, and tests related to chronic illness.
• Biopsy referral after PSA screening stays consistent

  The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recently concluded that evidence does not support recommending PSA screening for men under 75 years old at all, because the risks outweigh the benefits.
• GHRI leads initial evaluation of Mobile MyGroupHealth

  With use of mobile applications for smartphones growing, consumers now have easy access, on the go, to dozens of tools that search for health information, track symptoms, and log health-related actions. When Group Health designed its own free mobile app for members, launched in the summer of 2011, it consulted with James Ralston, MD, MPH—and decided to offer more.
• Physicians and the ethical dilemma of federal cuts to health care

  In less than three weeks, we’ll know whether Congress’ 12-member bipartisan “Super Committee” has succeeded. If it can’t find $1.2 trillion in federal deficit reductions over the next decade, we face reductions of the same magnitude as across-the-board cuts.