Division of General Internal Medicine and Public Health

February 16, 2023

Tindle authors NCI guidance on treatment of cancer patients who smoke

Vanderbilt’s Hilary Tindle, MD, MPH, was one of the key contributors to the new Tobacco Control Monograph from the National Cancer Institute.

By Tom Wilemon
August 25, 2022

Scott named to direct Primary Care Patient Care Center

John Scott, MD, has been named as the new executive medical director of Vanderbilt’s Primary Care Patient Care Center.

By Jill Clendening
August 5, 2022

Study that investigated whether three smoking cessation drugs could reduce alcohol intake yields unexpected finding

A Vanderbilt study of three proven smoking cessation treatments suggests these medications could play an important role to reduce alcohol use and smoking at the same time.

By Tom Wilemon
July 28, 2022

Video vital for telehealth visits

Vanderbilt study of 18,130 telehealth visits at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic defines risk factors associated with telehealth access and suggests how health systems can improve access.

By Bill Snyder
June 28, 2022

Smokers have better quit rates with hospital-based interventions than quitline help, but study indicates need for longer follow-up

A health care system model that offered tobacco cessation treatment to smokers being discharged from a hospital produced a higher rate of tobacco abstinence during the three-month program than referral to a state-based telephone quitline, but the advantage disappeared at six months when both treatments produced comparable quit rates, researchers have found.

By Tom Wilemon
April 15, 2022

Music therapy comes to Palliative Care Unit

“Music opens many new perspectives and pathways that patients otherwise would not have.”

By Emily Stembridge
March 30, 2022

Team helps patients battle post-COVID cognitive issues

Jane Stories is one of many COVID-19 patients still plagued by debilitating symptoms that include achy muscles, anxiety, depression, panic attacks and cognitive impairment.
By Bill Snyder and Nancy Humphrey
January 31, 2022

Impact of digital health interventions

Vanderbilt researchers test and recommend statistical approaches to study the association between engagement with digital health interventions and clinical outcomes.
By Leigh MacMillan
January 18, 2022

Ensuring the “best possible” medication history

About 80% of hospital admission electronic records were missing a drug prescribed to an older adult, Vanderbilt researchers found, highlighting the need for a multipronged approach to address medication discrepancies and support safe prescribing practices.
By Bill Snyder
November 11, 2021

VUMC team puts tool to reduce heart failure admissions to test

Vanderbilt researchers have developed a risk stratification tool to predict outcomes and avoid unnecessary hospital admissions after emergency department visits for acute heart failure.
By Bill Snyder
October 14, 2021

STAR Clinical Research Network to receive major grant renewal

Vanderbilt's STAR Clinical Research Network has been approved for an additional $8.9 million in funding from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to support its efforts to improve health care throughout the Southeast and across the United States.
By Bill Snyder
August 18, 2021

Collaborative helping Midstate nursing homes control COVID-19

Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) has received a two-year, $1.2 million award from the Tennessee Department of Health and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to provide tailored education and coaching to 75 Middle Tennessee nursing homes focused on infection control, quality improvement and other pandemic-related challenges.
By Bill Snyder
June 9, 2021

COVID-19 pandemic brought changes in cigarette smoking: study

Smokers who believed they were at increased risk of getting COVID-19 during the pandemic, or having a more severe case, were more likely to quit while those whoperceived more stress increased smoking, according to new research published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
By Craig Boerner