News
Medicare Nonpayment for Hospital-Acquired Conditions May Have Reduced Infection Rates
June 8, 2015
Clinical question: What was the effect of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) nonpayment for hospital-acquired conditions? Background: In 2008, CMS implemented the Hospital-Acquired Conditions (HAC) initiative, denying incremental payment to hospitals for complications of hospit
News
Peri-Operative Phlebotomy Might Cause Significant Blood Loss in Cardiac Surgery Patients
June 8, 2015
Clinical question: What are the frequency of laboratory testing, the average total blood volume drawn per patient, and the resulting transfusion utilization in patients undergoing cardiac surgery? Background: Healthcare providers seldom recognize the amount of phlebotomy, and, therefore, its cons
News
Clostridium Difficile Infection Rates in the U.S. in 2011
June 8, 2015
Clinical question: What are the incidence, recurrence rate, and mortality rate of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) in the U.S.
News
CT Angiography Effect on Outcome for Patients with Symptomatic Chest Pain
June 8, 2015
Clinical question: Does CT angiography (CTA) improve clinical outcomes in patients with new-onset stable chest pain more than functional testing? Background: Chest pain is a common clinical problem, and multiple noninvasive tests are available to detect coronary artery disease (CAD).
News
Early Goal-Directed Therapy for Sepsis Offers No Benefit Over Usual Care
June 8, 2015
Background: Recent trials (ARISE, ProCESS) showed EGDT provided no mortality benefit over usual care. Questions remain about the effectiveness of intensive monitoring protocols, as well as the evolution of what constitutes usual care.
News
NSAID Use by Patients on Antithrombotic Therapy Has Bleeding, Cardiovascular Risks
June 8, 2015
Clinical question: Is there increased risk of bleeding or cardiovascular events when using NSAIDs while on antithrombotic therapy for secondary cardiovascular prevention? Background: NSAIDs are among the most commonly used medications, despite the fact that individual NSAIDs have been associated
News
Hospital Medicine Added Qualification for Physician Assistants
June 8, 2015
An examination for the new Certificate of Added Qualifications (CAQ) in hospital medicine for physician assistants (PAs) will be offered for the second time on August 24.
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News
Physician Learns Lessons About Patient Care from Failure
June 8, 2015
“Are you comfortable talking to him about all this stuff?” my attending asked me casually. “Yeah, of course—sure,” I replied, trying to mimic the same casual tone. STOP! Hold on.
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News
Medical Care Overuse Causes Waste, Harm in Healthcare
June 8, 2015
A trickle of anecdotes has become a flood of cautionary tales. There’s one about the patient in intensive care who didn’t have a cardiac condition yet still had a troponin blood test on 26 consecutive days.
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News
Hospitalists Key to Addressing Medical Device Alarm Fatigue
June 8, 2015
Beep! Bing! Buzz! Ding! Ring! Bleep! Everyday, throughout the day, hospitalists and other healthcare workers are inundated with alerts and warnings and notifications from medical and communication devices.
