Commonwealth Fund: Coming Out of Crisis: Patient Experiences in Primary Care in Four Years Post-Katrina - Despite being disproportionately low-income and uninsured, safety-net clinic patients in New Orleans are less likely to forgo medical care due to costs compared to most U.S. adults (41 percent vs. 27 percent). The survey of more than 1,200 adults, ages 18 to 64, who attend 27 primary care and pediatric clinics in New Orleans that received funding from the Primary Care Access and Stabilization Grant (PCASG), also found clinic patients were less likely to report inefficiencies in their care than the general population (4 percent vs. 34 percent). Clinic patients also experience greater accessibility to same-, next-day, or after-hours medical care compared to the general population of New Orleans (80 percent vs. 54 percent). "The early experience from the PCASG clinics in Louisiana shows that a comprehensive approach that is carefully planned and locally implemented ”with shared resources and ample support for community clinics ”has the potential to provide better-quality care for our nation's most vulnerable populations," the authors conclude (Doty et al., 1/15).

Journal of General Internal Medicine/American College of Physicians: Family Caregivers, Patients and Physicians: Ethical Guidance to Optimize Relationships - This paper (originally approved by the American College of Physicians Board of Regents on July 13, 2008) outlines four primary principles to help guide physicians in developing mutually supportive patient-physician-caregiver relationships: "Respect for the patient's dignity, rights, and values should guide all patient-physician-caregiver interactions; Effective communication and physician accessibility are fundamental to supporting the patient and family caregiver; The physician should recognize the value of family caregivers as a source of continuity regarding the patient's medical and psychosocial history and facilitate the intellectual and emotional transition to the end stage of serious chronic illness; When the caregiver is a health care professional, the physician should draw appropriate boundaries to ensure that the caregiver is not expected to function in a professional capacity in relation to the patient and that the caregiver receives appropriate support, referrals, and services" (Mitnick, Leffler, and Hood, 1/12).

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