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Patient and primary care physician characteristics associated with billing incentives for chronic diseases in British Columbia: a retrospective cohort study

Background:

Incentive payments for chronic diseases in British Columbia were intended to support primary care physicians in providing more comprehensive care, but research shows that not all physicians bill incentives and not all eligible patients have them billed on their behalf. We investigated patient and physician characteristics associated with billing incentives for chronic diseases in BC.

Methods:

We conducted a retrospective cohort analysis using linked administrative health data to examine community-based primary care physicians and patients with eligible chronic conditions in BC during 2010–2013. Descriptive analyses of patients and physicians compared 3 groups: no incentives in any of the 4 years, incentives in all 4 years, and incentives in any of the study years. We used hierarchical logistic regression models to identify the patient- and physician-level characteristics associated with billing incentives.

Results:

Of 428 770 eligible patients, 142 475 (33.2%) had an incentive billed on their behalf in all 4 years, and 152 686 (35.6%) never did. Of 3936 physicians, 2625 (66.7%) billed at least 1 incentive in each of the 4 years, and 740 (18.8%) billed no incentives during the study period. The strongest predictors of having an incentive billed were the number of physician contacts a patient had (odds ratio [OR] for > 48 contacts 134.77, 95% confidence interval [CI] 112.27–161.78) and whether a physician had a large number of patients in his or her practice for whom incentives were billed (OR 42.38 [95% CI 34.55–52.00] for quartile 4 v. quartile 1).

Interpretation:

The findings suggest that primary care physicians bill incentives for patients based on whom they see most often rather than using a population health management approach to their practice.




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Surveillance of Omadacycline Activity Tested against Clinical Isolates from the United States and Europe: Report from the SENTRY Antimicrobial Surveillance Program, 2016 to 2018 [Epidemiology and Surveillance]

Omadacycline is a broad-spectrum aminomethylcycline approved in October 2018 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for treating acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections and community-acquired pneumonia as both an oral and intravenous once-daily formulation. In this report, the activities of omadacycline and comparators were tested against 49,000 nonduplicate bacterial isolates collected prospectively during 2016 to 2018 from medical centers in Europe (24,500 isolates, 40 medical centers [19 countries]) and the United States (24,500 isolates, 33 medical centers [23 states and all 9 U.S. census divisions]). Omadacycline was tested by broth microdilution following the methods in Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute document M07 (Methods for Dilution Antimicrobial Susceptibility Tests for Bacteria That Grow Aerobically; Approved Standard, 11th ed., 2018). Omadacycline (MIC50/90, 0.12/0.25 mg/liter) inhibited 98.6% of Staphylococcus aureus isolates at ≤0.5 mg/liter, including 96.3% of methicillin-resistant S. aureus isolates and 99.8% of methicillin-susceptible S. aureus isolates. Omadacycline potency was comparable for Streptococcus pneumoniae (MIC50/90, 0.06/0.12 mg/liter), viridans group streptococci (MIC50/90, 0.06/0.12 mg/liter), and beta-hemolytic streptococci (MIC50/90, 0.12/0.25 mg/liter), regardless of species and susceptibility to penicillin, macrolides, or tetracycline. Omadacycline was active against all Enterobacterales tested (MIC50/90, 1/8 mg/liter; 87.5% of isolates were inhibited at ≤4 mg/liter) except Proteus mirabilis (MIC50/90, 16/>32 mg/liter) and indole-positive Proteus spp. (MIC50/90, 8/32 mg/liter) and was most active against Escherichia coli (MIC50/90, 0.5/2 mg/liter), Klebsiella oxytoca (MIC50/90, 1/2 mg/liter), and Citrobacter spp. (MIC50/90, 1/4 mg/liter). Omadacycline inhibited 92.4% of Enterobacter cloacae species complex and 88.5% of Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates at ≤4 mg/liter. Omadacycline was active against Haemophilus influenzae (MIC50/90, 0.5/1 mg/liter), regardless of β-lactamase status, and against Moraxella catarrhalis (MIC50/90, ≤0.12/0.25 mg/liter). The potent activity of omadacycline against Gram-positive and -negative bacteria indicates that omadacycline merits further study in serious infections in which multidrug resistance and mixed Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial infections may be a concern.




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Antimicrobial Activity of the Quinoline Derivative HT61 against Staphylococcus aureus Biofilms [Susceptibility]

Staphylococcus aureus biofilms are a significant problem in health care settings, partly due to the presence of a nondividing, antibiotic-tolerant subpopulation. Here we evaluated treatment of S. aureus UAMS-1 biofilms with HT61, a quinoline derivative shown to be effective against nondividing Staphylococcus spp. HT61 was effective at reducing biofilm viability and was associated with increased expression of cell wall stress and division proteins, confirming its potential as a treatment for S. aureus biofilm infections.




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Antimicrobial Activity of Ceftolozane-Tazobactam and Comparators against Clinical Isolates of Haemophilus influenzae from the United States and Europe [Susceptibility]

Nine hundred Haemophilus influenzae clinical isolates from 83 U.S. and European medical centers were tested for susceptibility by reference broth microdilution methods against ceftolozane-tazobactam and comparators. Results were stratified by β-lactamase production and infection type. Overall, ceftolozane-tazobactam MIC50/90 values were 0.12/0.25 mg/liter, and 99.0% of isolates were inhibited at the susceptible breakpoint of ≤0.5 mg/liter; the highest MIC value was only 2 mg/liter. Our results support using ceftolozane-tazobactam to treat H. influenzae infections.




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Unorthodox Parenteral {beta}-Lactam and {beta}-Lactamase Inhibitor Combinations: Flouting Antimicrobial Stewardship and Compromising Patient Care [Commentary]

In India and China, indigenous drug manufacturers market arbitrarily combined parenteral β-lactam and β-lactamase inhibitors (BL-BLIs). In these fixed-dose combinations, sulbactam or tazobactam is indiscriminately combined with parenteral cephalosporins, with BLI doses kept in ratios similar to those for the approved BL-BLIs. Such combinations have been introduced into clinical practice without mandatory drug development studies involving pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic, safety, and efficacy assessments being undertaken. Such unorthodox combinations compromise clinical outcomes and also potentially contribute to resistance development.




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Rights group says Saudi Arabia is holding a senior prince incommunicado since March




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It's about time film began representing the lesbian gaze

In Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire, we finally steer away from seeing intimacy through the male gaze

The portrayal of lesbians in mainstream cinema tends to involve prosthetic vaginas and gratuitous sex scenes; so Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire comes as a breath of fresh air. It is the story of the burgeoning relationship between two young women – emancipated artist Marianne (Noémie Merlant), who is commissioned to paint a portrait of sexually repressed Héloïse (Adèle Haenel), leading to a heated romance.

On paper, it looks like the classic lesbian cinematic narrative – there is a buildup of tension, they finally kiss, and then their possibility of a future together seems doomed. However, what makes Portrait of a Lady on Fire different is its heightened self-awareness. The film is constructed with lesbian representation in mind through careful interrogation of the lesbian gaze. There is a lot of looking. Marianne looks at Héloïse because she has to secretly paint her, and Héloïse looks at Marianne out of curiosity. Eventually, there is a shift in the way they start looking at each other – out of desire.

Continue reading...




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Individualized mosaics of microbial strains transfer from the maternal to the infant gut

Researchers have used a microbiome 'fingerprint' method to report that an individualized mosaic of microbial strains is transmitted to the infant gut microbiome from a mother giving birth through vaginal delivery. They detailed this transmission by analyzing existing metagenomic databases of fecal samples from mother-infant pairs, as well as analyzing mouse dam and pup transmission in a germ-free, or gnotobiotic, mouse model, where the dams were inoculated with human fecal microbes.




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Cuba, Russia, Saudi Arabia are repressive regimes. They don’t belong on U.N. Human Rights Council | Opinion




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Colombian company creates bed that can double as coffin

A Colombian advertising company is pitching a novel if morbid solution to shortages of hospital beds and coffins during the coronavirus pandemic: combine them. ABC Displays has created a cardboard bed with metal railings that designers say can double as a casket if a patient dies. Company manager Rodolfo Gómez said he was inspired to find a way to help after watching events unfold recently in nearby Ecuador.





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BBC receives 168 complaints over 'biased' Michael Jackson documentary

'The Real Michael Jackson' aired on BBC2 in March





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Valencia could sell Geoffrey Kondogbia for just €30m with Tottenham linked

Valencia midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia could be available for around €30 million this summer amid reported interest from Tottenham.




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Luka Jovic is in a 'sort of crisis' at Real Madrid, says Serbia team-mate Aleksandar Mitrovic

Fulham forward Aleksandar Mitrovic says Serbia team-mate Luka Jovic is in crisis at Real Madrid.




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Newcastle takeover by Saudi Arabian-backed consortium is 'sportswashing', says Amnesty International

Newcastle United are in danger of being used as a "PR tool" by Saudi Arabia if the club's proposed takeover goes through, according to Amnesty International UK.




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Newcastle takeover: Amnesty International warns Premier League over Saudi Arabia-backed bid

Amnesty International has written to the Premier League saying it "risks becoming a patsy" unless it takes a serious look at Saudi Arabia's human rights record with regard to the takeover of Newcastle United.




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Newcastle takeover: beIN Sports urge Premier League to block Saudi Arabia-backed bid over piracy

The Premier League has been asked to consider blocking a Saudi-backed consortium's attempt to purchase Newcastle United by one of the league's major broadcast partners.




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Newcastle takeover: Government unlikely to intervene in Saudi Arabia-led deal

The Government is not likely to intervene in the proposed Saudi Arabia-led takeover of Newcastle United, according to Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden​.




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James Rodriguez to Inter Miami? Colombian star linked with switch to David Beckham's MLS franchise

James Rodriguez has been linked with a sensational switch to David Beckham's MLS franchise, Inter Miami.




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Brighton pay tribute to NHS with special shirt as Steven Alzate helps families in Colombia

Brighton and Hove Albion have designed a special shirt to pay tribute to the NHS and key workers during the coronavirus pandemic.




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Rapper BIA Shares Best Advice Mentor Pharrell Gave Her



BIA also dropped a quick quarantine verse to keep us going.




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Riot Games accuses regulators of 'questionable tactics' to block gender bias settlement

California state agencies argue that women who worked at the video game company could deserve up to $400 million. The company—and the lawyers for women who worked there—strongly disagree.




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Individualized mosaics of microbial strains transfer from the maternal to the infant gut

Researchers have used a microbiome 'fingerprint' method to report that an individualized mosaic of microbial strains is transmitted to the infant gut microbiome from a mother giving birth through vaginal delivery. They detailed this transmission by analyzing existing metagenomic databases of fecal samples from mother-infant pairs, as well as analyzing mouse dam and pup transmission in a germ-free, or gnotobiotic, mouse model, where the dams were inoculated with human fecal microbes.




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'I needed money': paroled drug mule Cassie Sainsbury speaks out in Colombia

The Australian woman walked free from a Bogota jail where she served three years for drug running, telling 60 Minutes "it doesn't feel real" to be out.




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'I needed money': paroled drug mule Cassie Sainsbury speaks out in Colombia

The Australian woman walked free from a Bogota jail where she served three years for drug running, telling 60 Minutes "it doesn't feel real" to be out.




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'I needed money': paroled drug mule Cassie Sainsbury speaks out in Colombia

The Australian woman walked free from a Bogota jail where she served three years for drug running, telling 60 Minutes "it doesn't feel real" to be out.




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Covid 19 coronavirus: Colombian-made hospital bed doubles as a coffin

A Colombian advertising company is pitching a novel if morbid solution to shortages of hospital beds and coffins during the coronavirus pandemic: combine them.ABC Displays has created a cardboard bed with metal railings that designers...




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Port Adelaide player accuses AFL of Victorian bias over training restrictions

Despite more relaxed coronavirus restrictions in South Australia and Western Australia, the AFL says it does not want clubs from those states training in bigger groups until Victorian teams are allowed to do so.




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Akebia soars on positive Ph III trial results for vadadustat

Shares of US biotech Akebia Therapeutics were up more than 35% at $11.72 by early afternoon today, after…



  • Akebia Therapeutics/Biotechnology/Drug Trial/Nephrology and Hepatology/Research/USA/vadadustat

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An important option in the fight against antimicrobial resistance

Positive Phase III data for Recarbrio (imipenem/cilastatin/relebactam) have been announced by New Jersey,…



  • Antibiotics and Infectious diseases/Biotechnology/Drug Trial/Merck & Co/Recarbrio/Regulation/Research/US FDA/USA

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District of Columbia Seafood Company, Owner and Employee Plead Guilty to Federal Trafficking Charges

A fish wholesaler, its owner and an employee have all pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia for the illegal purchase and sale of striped bass from the Chesapeake Bay and Potomac River from 2003 through 2007.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Colombian Paramilitary Leader Extradited to the United States to Face U.S. Drug Charges

Miguel Angel Mejia-Munera, a/k/a “El Mellizo,” was extradited today from Colombia to the United States to face narcotics trafficking charges. According to the indictment, Miguel Angel Mejia-Munera, together with his twin brother Victor, led a major Colombian narcotics trafficking organization known as “the Twins” or “Los Mellizos” Organization.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Fairfield, Calif., Couple Indicted on Federal Civil Rights Charge for Alleged Bias-Motivated Assault

A Fairfield, Calif., couple was indicted today by a federal grand jury in Sacramento, Calif., on federal civil rights charges related to an alleged bias-motivated assault on an Indian-American couple. The two-count indictment alleges that on the evening of July 14, 2007, Joseph and Georgia Silva committed a bias-motivated assault on another couple at a public beach in South Lake Tahoe, Calif.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Colombian National Arraigned on Charges of Providing Material Support to the FARC

A 32-year-old Colombian citizen, Luz Mery Gutierrez Vergara, who was extradited from the Republic of Colombia on Thursday, made her initial appearance today in federal court in Washington, D.C., to face charges for allegedly participating in a conspiracy to provide material support to the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, commonly known as the “FARC.”



  • OPA Press Releases

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Attorney General Eric Holder Delivers Remarks at Columbia College Commencement

"Graduates, as you dive head first toward tomorrow, I call upon you to never loosen nor lose your grip on hope. The optimism that seems to come naturally with youth need not be lost as the years pass."




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Three Colombian Nationals Arrested, Charged in Alien Smuggling and Visa Fraud Scheme

Three Colombian nationals have been arrested in Colombia on charges of conspiracy to commit alien smuggling for profit, alien smuggling for profit, and conspiracy to commit visa fraud in connection with their alleged roles in an extensive and sophisticated visa fraud scheme against the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá, Colombia.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Former District of Columbia Police Officer Pleads Guilty to Tax Charges

Willie Borden, a former Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department officer, pleaded guilty today to a criminal tax charge before U.S. District Court Judge James Robertson.



  • OPA Press Releases

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United States Transfers Three Guantanamo Detainees to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Three Saudi nationals were transferred today from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia under appropriate security measures.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Leader of Colombian Drug Cartel and Former FBI Top-Ten Fugitive Pleads Guilty to Drug, Murder and Racketeering Charges

Diego Montoya Sanchez, 48, one of the leaders of the Norte Valle Colombian drug cartel and a former FBI Top Ten Fugitive, pleaded guilty today in Miami to drug trafficking, murder and racketeering charges.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Colombian National Pleads Guilty to Role in Defrauding the Export-Import Bank of the United States of More Than $1 Million

Febe Durango-Rueda, 52, a Colombian national, pleaded guilty on Nov. 20, 2009, to participating in a scheme to defraud the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) of more than $1 million.



  • OPA Press Releases

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District of Columbia Seafood Company, Two Employees Charged with Purchasing Illegally Harvested Striped Bass

A Washington, D.C., fish wholesaler and two of its employees have been charged in U.S. District Court in Maryland for the purchase of illegally harvested striped bass, commonly referred to as rockfish, from the Potomac River from 1995 through 2007.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Attorney General Eric Holder Speaks at the Columbia University School of Law Commencement

"To return today, as our Nation’s Attorney General, to the place where I first studied the law, where I first dreamed of both serving the cause of justice and our country’s Department of Justice, is an extraordinary privilege," said Attorney General Holder.




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Colombian Trafficker with Links to Mexican and Colombian Cartels Extradited from Mexico to the U.S.

Pedro Antonio Bermudez, also known as “El Arquitecto,” was arraigned Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, N.Y., following his extradition on June 15, 2010, from Mexico to the United States on charges of participating in an international drug trafficking conspiracy.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Attorney General Eric Holder Speaks at the Department of Justice’s 2010 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month Program

"With your help and engagement, we’re working to ensure that the Justice Department lives up to its responsibility to provide a work environment where every employee is respected and given an equal opportunity to thrive," said Attorney General Holder.




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Attorney General Eric Holder Speaks at the District of Columbia College Access Program Graduation Celebration

"Over the last decade, you have redefined statistics, expectations, and, most importantly, possibilities for students across this city," said Attorney General Holder.




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Jury Convicts District of Columbia Fish Wholesaler & Two Employees for Purchasing Illegally Harvested Striped Bass

Following a five-week trial, a fish wholesaler and two of its employees were found guilty with purchasing illegally harvested striped bass, known locally as rockfish, from the Potomac River in Virginia and Maryland from 1995 through 2007.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Three Colombian Nationals Extradited to the United States to Face Alien Smuggling and Visa Fraud Charges

Three Colombian nationals have been extradited from Colombia to the United States on charges of conspiracy to smuggle aliens for profit, alien smuggling for profit, and conspiracy to commit visa fraud in connection with their alleged roles in an extensive and sophisticated visa fraud scheme through which they fraudulently procured visas from the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá, Colombia.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Justice Department Reaches Agreements to Protect Rights of Military and Overseas Voters from Colorado, District of Columbia, U.S. Virgin Islands and Hawaii

The Justice Department today announced that it has reached agreements with Colorado, District of Columbia, U.S. Virgin Islands and Hawaii officials to help ensure that military service members and U.S. citizens living overseas have an opportunity to participate fully in the Nov. 2, 2010 federal general election.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Three Colombian Nationals Plead Guilty to Alien Smuggling and Visa Fraud Charges

Three Colombian nationals pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to smuggle aliens for profit and conspiracy to commit visa fraud in connection with their roles in an extensive and sophisticated visa fraud scheme through which they fraudulently procured visas from the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá, Colombia.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Leader of Colombian Drug Trafficking Organization and Associate Found Guilty of Conspiring to Import Multiple Tons of Cocaine into the United States

Christian Fernando Borda and Alvaro Alvaran-Velez, two narcotics traffickers aligned with the Autodefenses Unidas de Colombia (AUC), were found guilty today in U.S. District Court of conspiring to import ton-quantities of cocaine into the United States.



  • OPA Press Releases