Read AMA Morning Rounds®’ most popular stories in medicine and public health from the week of March 3, 2025–March 7, 2025.
Health care workers have lower mortality rates than general population, analysis finds
Healio (2/28, Rhoades) reported that most health care workers, “particularly physicians, had a lower mortality rate compared with the general population.” However, the “benefit was not present among women and diverse groups,” with the researchers stating “the broader effect of structural racism and sexism in society at large.” They added that “factors like record-high levels of stress and burnout and impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic ‘may be associated with the health of physicians and other health care workers, warranting an updated, large-scale evaluation of their mortality.’” The analysis was published in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Editor’s Note: You are why we fight. Click here to learn how the AMA is fighting for physicians on burnout, Medicare payment reform and more.
Half of adults, a third of children and teens worldwide will have overweight or obesity by 2050, reports say
MedPage Today (3/3, Monaco) reports that more than “half of adults and a third of kids and teens around the world will have overweight or obesity by 2050, according to two reports using data on 204 countries and territories.” Investigators found that “if observed trends over the past 30 years continue, the total number of adults ages 25 and older living with overweight...or obesity...will reach 3.8 billion by 2050 – more than half of the likely global adult population at that time.” Investigators also found that “356 million young people ages 5 to 14 years and 390 million young people ages 15 to 24 years are projected to have overweight or obesity by 2050.” The findings were published in The Lancet.
Physicians face increased volume of patient inbox messages, EHR working time since onset of COVID-19 pandemic
Healio (3/4, Southall) reports, “Patient medical advice request inbox work and electronic health record time spent has remained elevated since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to study results.” Researchers found that “primary care physicians received the most patient medical advice request messages and patient phone calls, with a mean of 24 patient calls and 16 patient medical advice request messages per week.” In addition, they “also observed an increase in mean weekly active working time in the EHR across all specialties after the onset of the pandemic.” Researchers concluded the “findings indicate that the increased volume of patient inbox messages and time spent on EHRs are ongoing sources of physician workload.” The study was published in JAMA Internal Medicine.
You may also be interested in: Which physician specialty spends the most time in the EHR?
Visualizing, explaining patients’ risk for coronary artery disease may improve statin adherence
Healio (3/5, Buzby) reports, “Visualizing and explaining patients’ risk for coronary artery disease using coronary CT and coronary calcium scoring may improve statin adherence and subsequently lower risk for future CAD events, researchers” found. The findings come from “the CAUGHT-CAD study of CAC scoring in patients with intermediate CAD risk and a family history of CAD but ineligible for a statin.” The research was published in JAMA.
MedPAC discusses proposed changes to Medicare physician fee schedule
Medical Economics (3/6, Payerchin) reports the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) opened its latest two-day meeting Thursday with “almost 90 minutes of discussion of the best ways” to evaluate “changes to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, focusing on balancing access, costs, and physician pay.” There was general agreement on draft recommendations that “suggest replacing current updates with an annual update based on a portion of the [Medicare Economic Index] and improving payment rate accuracy.” They emphasized the accuracy of fee schedule relative value units, which is “important because misvaluation can lead to incentives to oversupply or undersupply services” and can influence “vertical consolidation and non-Medicare insurer decisions.” Commissioners also discussed “establishing a floor and ceiling for reimbursement changes and the implications of [advanced alternative payment model] incentives.”
Editor’s Note: Click here to read why the AMA welcomes MedPAC’s move toward Medicare reform
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Table of Contents
- Health care workers have lower mortality rates than general population, analysis finds
- Half of adults, a third of children and teens worldwide will have overweight or obesity by 2050, reports say
- Physicians face increased volume of patient inbox messages, EHR working time since onset of COVID-19 pandemic
- Visualizing, explaining patients’ risk for coronary artery disease may improve statin adherence
- MedPAC discusses proposed changes to Medicare physician fee schedule
