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Move to Allow Patients to Request ‘Refund’ Appealing and Risky
December 30, 2015
We’ve all seen hundreds of commercials from companies advertising products and services with a money-back guarantee. The Men’s Warehouse, for example, has been promising men across the globe for over a decade, “You’re going to like the way you look.
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What Should Hospitalists Know about Surgical Tubes and Drains?
December 30, 2015
Case A 45-year-old woman was admitted with choledocholithiasis. Two days prior, following endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), she had gone to the OR for cholecystectomy. The procedure was completed laparoscopically, though the surgeon reported a difficult dissection.
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Criteria for Appropriate Use of Peripherally Inserted Central Catheters
December 28, 2015
Clinical question: What are criteria for appropriate and inappropriate use of PICCs? Background: PICCs are commonly used in medical care in a variety of clinical contexts; however, criteria defining the appropriate use of PICCs and practices related to PICC placement have not been previously esta
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Value of Ultra-Brief Cognitive Assessments in Predicting Negative Hospital Outcomes
December 28, 2015
Clinical question: What is the value of ultra-brief cognitive assessments in predicting hospital outcomes? Background: Cognitive assessment tools can be used to predict patient outcomes in the hospital setting.
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ACP Guidelines for Evaluation of Suspected Pulmonary Embolism
December 25, 2015
Clinical question: What are best practices for evaluating patients with suspected acute pulmonary embolism (PE)? Background: Use of CT in the evaluation of PE has increased across all clinical settings without improving mortality.
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Parental Perceptions of Nighttime Communication Are Strong Predictors of Patient Experience
December 23, 2015
Clinical question: How does parental perception of overnight pediatric inpatient care affect the overall patient experience? Background: Restrictions on resident duty hours have become progressively more stringent as attention to the effects of resident fatigue on patient safety has increased.
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Effectiveness of Antipsychotics in Treatment of Delirium
December 21, 2015
Clinical questions: Are antipsychotics for the treatment of delirium safe and effective? Does efficacy differ between ICU and non-ICU settings? Does efficacy differ between first- and second-generation antipsychotics (SGA)? Background: Delirium is common in hospitalized patients.
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Predictors for Surgical Management of Small Bowel Obstruction
December 18, 2015
Clinical question: Are there clinical or computerized tomography (CT) findings that identify which patients will need early surgical management in adhesive small bowel obstruction (ASBO)? Background: Previous studies determined adverse outcomes resulting from delayed surgery in patients with
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Adding Advanced Molecular Techniques to Standard Blood Cultures May Improve Patient Outcomes
December 18, 2015
Clinical question: Does the addition of rapid multiplex polymerase chain reaction molecular techniques to standard blood culture bottle (BCB) processing, with or without antimicrobial stewardship recommendations, affect antimicrobial utilization and patient outcomes? Background: Standard BCB
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Some Readmission Risk Factors Not Captured by Medicare
December 14, 2015
Clinical question: Are there patient characteristics not currently measured by the Medicare readmission program that account for differences in hospital readmission rates? Background: The Medicare Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP) financially penalizes hospitals with higher than
