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Patient Participation in Medication Reconciliation at Discharge Helps Detect Prescribing Discrepancies
October 27, 2014
Clinical question: Does the inclusion of a medication adherence counseling session during a hospital discharge reconciliation process reduce discrepancies in the final medication regimen? Background: Inadvertent medication prescribing errors are an important cause of preventable adverse drug even
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Negative D-Dimer Test Can Safely Exclude Pulmonary Embolism in Patients at Low To Intermediate Clinical Risk
October 27, 2014
Clinical question: In patients with symptoms consistent with pulmonary embolism (PE), can evaluation with a clinical risk assessment tool and D-dimer assay identify patients who do not require CT angiography to exclude PE? Background: D-dimer is a highly sensitive but nonspecific marker of VTE, a
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Patient Signout Is Not Uniformly Comprehensive and Often Lacks Critical Information
October 27, 2014
Clinical question: Do signouts vary in the quality and quantity of information, and what are the various factors affecting signout quality? Background: Miscommunication during transfers of responsibility for hospitalized patients is common and can result in harm.
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Emergency Department Signout via Voicemail Yields Mixed Reviews
October 27, 2014
Clinical question: How does traditional, oral signout from emergency providers to inpatient medicine physicians compare to dictated, voicemail signout? Background: Communication failures contribute to errors in care transition from ED to inpatient medicine units.
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Emergency Department “Boarding” Results in Undesirable Events
October 27, 2014
Clinical question: What is the frequency and nature of undesirable events experienced by patients who “board” in the ED? Background: Hospital crowding results in patients spending extended amounts of time—also known as “boarding”—in the ED as they wait for an inpatient bed.
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Decreased ICU Duty Hours Does Not Affect Patient Mortality
October 27, 2014
Clinical question: Does the reduction in work hours for residents affect mortality in medical and surgical ICUs? Background: A reduction in work hours for residents was enforced in July 2003.
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Clinical Advice for Peri-Operative Patient Care
October 15, 2014
New book in Hospital Medicine: Current Concepts series offers pearls, pitfalls around systems of care, risk management, post-operative care for hospitalized patients
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Patient Engagement Growing Focus for Hospitals
October 15, 2014
Involving inpatients in their treatment, recovery may help hospitals customize their care
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Once-Weekly Antibiotic Might Be Effective for Treatment of Acute Bacterial Skin Infections
October 15, 2014
Research suggests intravenous dalbavancin similarly efficacious to intravenous vancomycin
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Continuous Positive Airway Pressure Outperforms Noctural Oxygen for Blood Pressure Reduction
October 15, 2014
CPAP better at decreasing 24-hour mean arterial pressure in patients with obstructive sleep apnea, coronary artery disease, cardiac risk factors