Emotional eating in adults:The role of socio-demographics, lifestyle behaviors, and self-regulation- Findings from a US national study

Background: Emotional eating, the tendency to overeat in response to negative emotions, has been linked to weight gain. However, scant evidence exists examining the prevalence and correlates of emotional eating among large samples of adults in the United States (U.S.). Hence, we examine the relationship among individual and socioeconomic factors, health behaviors, and self-regulation with emotional eating patterns among U.S. adults. Methods: Cross-sectional analysis of 5863 Family Health Habits Survey participants. Multivariable, ordered, logistic regression was employed to examine the relationship between the frequency of the desire to eat when emotionally upset (never, rarely, sometimes, often, and very often) and the independent variables. Results: Analysis reveals that 20.5% of the sample tended to emotionally eat often or very often. Being female, non-Hispanic White, and of younger age were all related to a higher likelihood of emotional eating. Additionally, inability to delay gratification (impatience) was related to an 18% increased likelihood (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.05–1.33) for emotional eating. Finally, emotional eating was significantly related to more frequent fast-food consumption. Conclusions: Program planners might need to develop targeted interventions aimed at enhancing emotional regulation skills while addressing these less healthful behaviors (e.g., fast-food intake) with the goal of obesity and chronic disease prevention

Free Labor! How To Successfully Use Student Interns In Your Practice

Medical practices have an untapped talent pool of free labor: students needing internships in health administration, health information management, and related programs. An internship, or pre-professional practice, refers to the experience whereby students are able to gain invaluable field experience that is beneficial to both medical practices and students. The first article of a three-part series on utilizing student interns in medical practice, this article provides an overview about this untapped resource and provides the reader with information about internships; the different types of internships available; the benefits to the practice, preceptor, and intern; and pitfalls to avoid. Copyright © 2009 by Greenbranch Publishing LLC

You\u27Ve Got Them, Now What? Successfully Mentoring Student Interns

This article, the third in the series, is designed to help medical group practices understand the mentoring process, which is critical to the success of the internship. This article provides medical group practices with tips to successfully mentor student interns in order to maximize the experience for both parties. This article provides characteristics of good mentors, a framework for the learning experience, tips on how to successfully mentor students, and a discussion of the benefits to the mentor and student intern. Copyright © 2009 by Greenbranch Publishing LLC

Internship Logistics: Successfully Navigating The Internship Process

This article, the second in the series, is designed to help medical practices understand how the internship process works. This article helps practice managers perform a needs analysis in order to determine if a student intern is appropriate, provides tools to help structure the internships and forms to evaluate the process, and identifies ways for the practice to avoid legal pitfalls when employing interns. Copyright © 2009 by Greenbranch Publishing LLC

Retire Already! Managing Physicians Who No Longer Want To Work, But Have To

The economic downturn has wreaked havoc on our professional lives and has presented a whole host of challenges including managing physicians who can no longer retire due to the reduced value of their retirement savings. As a result, many medical practices are burdened with physicians who are disinterested in continuing to work in the practice, but who remain solely due to financial reasons. This article will provide practice managers with several means to encourage these retired-on-the-job physitians to improve their attitudes and productivity levels, or do what they have already informally done-retire. Specifically, this article reviews four options for dealing with such employees, including: (1) coaching; (2) offering flexible work options; (3) changing revenue-sharing agreement; and (4) dismissal. Copyright © 2010 by Greenbranch Publishing LLC

Administrative Decision Making: A Stepwise Method

Today\u27s health care organizations face tremendous challenges and fierce competition. These pressures impact the decisions that managers must execute on any given day, not to mention the ever-present constraints of time, personnel, competencies, and finances. The importance of making quality and informed decisions cannot be underestimated. Traditional decision making methods are inadequate for today\u27s larger, more complex health care organizations and the rapidly changing health care environment. As a result, today\u27s health care managers and their teams need new approaches to making decisions for their organizations. This article examines the managerial decision making process and offers a model that can be used as a decision making template to help managers successfully navigate the choppy health care seas. The administrative decision making model will enable health care managers and other key decision makers to avoid the common pitfalls of poor decision making and guide their organizations to success. ©2008Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc

Emergency Department Utilization By Insured Users: A Study Of Motivating Factors

Emergency departments (EDs) represent a critical entryway into America\u27s health care delivery system and are under significant pressure. This study seeks to understand why insured patients use EDs rather than more appropriate medical alternatives available to reduce the strain they are placing on this critical portal of entry. This exploratory research study surveyed insured patients presenting to 1 of 4 Central Florida EDs. Factor analysis and cluster analysis were used to identify groups of insured ED users defined by motivating factors. This study found that there exists a disconnect between insured individuals and the primary care system. Copyright © 2010 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

Sustainability And The Health Care Manager: Part Ii

Are there additional costs associated with achieving goals of sustainable health care? Will going green enhance or impede financial performance? These are questions that all health care managers should confront, yet there is little evidence to show that health care sustainability is affordable or profitable. This article considers what is presently known and suggests that health care managers use an assessment framework to determine whether they are ready to achieve health care sustainability. Copyright © 2011 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins