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California Physicians Dropping Out of Managed Care

Only 58 percent of patient care physicians in California are accepting new patients with HMO coverage, and the “California Model” of loose networks of private practice physicians organized into large managed care practice organizations is unraveling, according to University of California research. “California led the nation’s charge into managed care. Our study of the state’s physicians tells us that California has now sounded the retreat,” said Kevin Grumbach, MD, director of the Center for California Health Workforce Studies. “Private physicians are starting to abandon HMOs, IPAs and managed care networks.”

Fat cells converted to bone

Pre-cells destined to become fat can be converted instead into true bone cells in
response to outside signals, say researchers at the University of California, San Francisco. The finding could pave the way for scientists to replenish lost bone cells in patients with conditions like osteoporosis, and to help repair bone defects. The new bone cells have all the hallmarks associated with mature bone formation, including production of bone proteins and calcification, the UCSF team says.