General Internal Medicine

Researchers at Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences have identified a new way to predict which Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVR) patients may be at higher risk for hospital readmission. The article appears in “Structural Heart: The Journal of the Heart Team.” Aishwarya Bhardwaj, MD, internal medicine resident, is first author. Tharmathai Ramanan, MD, clinical cardiovascular disease fellow, is first co-author. Vijay S. Iyer, MD, PhD, associate professor of medicine, is principal investigator.

In an article about the risks of scaling back Medicaid, medical policy expert Nancy H. Nielsen, MD, PhD, senior associate dean for health policy, said: “We need to address the cost of medical care in this country and bring it more in line with the results in other countries,” and added that “you don't address that by going after the neediest.”

An article about the explosion of mobile apps designed for the digital health market reports patients of UBMD Internal Medicine can monitor their heart rate using a new smartphone app and last fall UB researchers sought the public’s participation in the Flu Survey app, a five-minute smartphone survey that asked users questions about symptoms, protective actions and frequently visited places.

The University at Buffalo aims to recruit more participants in its clinical trials by working with a group of patients led by Laurene M. Tumiel Berhalter, PhD, associate professor of family medicine and director of community translational research. According to SUNY Distinguished Professor Timothy F. Murphy, MD, senior associate dean for clinical and translational research, people in the community should be involved in all phases of clinical research. Additionally, Peter L. Elkin, MD, professor and chair of biomedical informatics and professor of internal medicine, has developed a cell phone application that helps patients access information about available clinical trials.

Nancy H. Nielsen, MD, PhD, senior associate dean for health policy and an internal medicine physician, is interviewed about her experience as a pre-diabetic patient enrollee in a local diabetes prevention program.

Not being able to ask patients about firearms would impair a physician’s important role as educator and counselor, says John R. Fudyma, MD, clinical associate professor of medicine and chief of general internal medicine.

Nancy Nielsen, MD, PhD, senior associate dean for health policy, provides insight about the long waits for health care that some veterans have experienced through the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Nancy Nielsen, MD, PhD, senior associate dean for health policy, provides insight about the lack of primary care physicians in Western New York. “The problem is serious, and it’s been serious for a while,” she says.

John R. Fudyma, MD, chief and clinical associate professor of general internal medicine, comments on hospitals' roles within communities in a news story about the struggles of facilities beset by fewer patients and rising costs.

Christian Lobo, a second-year medical student in the University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, says New York must encourage doctors to go into primary care, and reports that his UB medical education has “provided meaningful training and mentoring.”

Although a good understanding of context is important, the release of Medicare physician payment data aids transparency and is beneficial, according to Nancy H. Nielsen, MD, PhD, senior associate dean for health policy, and John R. Fudyma, MD, chief of general internal medicine.