: While electronic health records (EHRs) became standard, research from 2018 indicated they contributed to lower job satisfaction and poorer work-life balance for family physicians compared to their colleagues not using such systems. Challenges Facing the Field
: Standard screening remained focused on average-risk adults starting at age 50, utilizing either annual fecal testing or colonoscopy every 10 years. family practice 2018
: Guidelines from 2018 placed a heavy emphasis on mental health, advocating for regular depression screening in both adults and adolescents using tools like the PHQ-9 . This year marked a push toward "behavioral health integration," where mental health services were embedded directly within primary care offices to reduce stigma and improve access. Cancer Screening Refinements : : While electronic health records (EHRs) became standard,
: There was a clear academic shift toward training family physicians alongside other healthcare professionals. This interprofessional model was designed to prepare doctors for the "confluent morbidity" (patients with multiple overlapping conditions) that became more common in 2018. This year marked a push toward "behavioral health
: Primary care providers often felt "powerless" when facing patients' socio-economic contexts, where clinical guidelines didn't always align with the reality of a patient's life.
Despite its central role in the healthcare system, family practice faced several systemic hurdles in 2018: