Articles Tagged With:
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Optimal Treatment of Vivax Malaria
In glucose-6-phosphate-dehydrogenase-sufficient individuals in Southeast Asia, combined treatment with chloroquine and primaquine provides much more lasting relief from vivax malaria than either chloroquine alone or artesunate.
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Finding a Consensus on ARDS Diagnostics and Determining a Relationship to Hospital Mortality
Critical care physicians reviewed more than 700 mechanically ventilated patients with acute hypoxemia and reached a consensus on the presence of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in 15% of patients and nonconsensus on the presence of ARDS in an additional 14% of cases. Hospital mortality was not different between these cohorts (37% and 35%, respectively).
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Preventive Tactics and Management of Acute Kidney Injury in the ICU
Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a sudden decline in renal function due to nephron dysfunction and/or damage that results in nitrogenous waste product accumulation and acid-base, electrolyte, and fluid disturbances. It is estimated to occur in 16-67% of critically ill patients admitted to the ICU. Common inciting causes include major surgery, iatrogenic interventions, and sepsis. Advanced age and comorbidities increase kidney susceptibility to various exposures and insults. Severe AKI requiring renal replacement therapy (RRT) is associated with a 10-fold increase in mortality and increases length of stay an average of 5.7 days. Preventive tactics and RRT remain the cornerstones of AKI management in critically ill patients.
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Merging Systems Create Culture Shift for Physicians and Patients
Reduce risk by looping in clinicians and risk managers early. -
New Quality Performance Ratings Posted on CMS Nursing Home Compare Website
A CMS fact sheet announcing the data release says it “can showcase a SNF’s ongoing commitment to quality, improving engagement and confidence among staff, residents, caregivers, families, and stakeholders.”
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Orthopedic Bundles Help Hospital Focus on Quality and Bottom Line
Hoag Orthopedic Institute (HOI) in Irvine, CA, the highest-volume orthopedic hospital in the state, is showing that orthopedic bundles might be the best evidence that risk-based contracts can work to improve quality and outcomes for patients while also benefitting the hospital’s bottom line. -
Johns Hopkins’ Intrahospital Patient Transfer Program Reduces Risk
Adult and pediatric patients moving from one area of Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore to another face less risk than might be found in other institutions because of a program ensuring that they will receive the same quality of care during transfer as they do on a unit. -
Diagnostic Discordance Tied to Errors, Longer Stays, and Death
The problem of diagnostic discordance, which occurs when a patient is diagnosed with a different problem after being transferred, is gaining more attention as a quality and patient safety issue, and it occurs more often than one might think. -
Multiple Strategies Needed for Good Hand Hygiene Compliance
It is important to design a hand hygiene program with tailored education for different groups. The education should address the different concerns and abilities of staff, physicians, patients, and even visitors. -
Hand Hygiene QI Requires Knowing True Rates, Constant Education
Improving hand hygiene is a perennial problem for hospitals, but some are finding the strategies that work best depend on knowing your true rate of handwashing before trying to improve it.