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The emergency physician plays a key role in the management of HIV. Emergency physicians encounter all phases of the illness, from counseling patients on safe sex practices to treating the medical complications of chronic immunosuppression. Despite all of the recent advances, HIV infection and AIDS remain challenging and continually evolving diseases. In this issue of Emergency Medicine Specialty Reports, the authors provide a comprehensive update on the diagnosis and clinical management of HIV infection and its complications.
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Because disease management programs do not provide instantaneous savings, the decision to invest in them represents a belief that savings will occur down the line as a result of the programs effectiveness.
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New data indicate that the continuous deterioration that plagued state finances for the past several years appears to be easing. The reports come from the National Governors Association (NGA), National Association of State Budget Officers, and the National Conference of State Legislatures.
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A Medicaid reform proposal released by the National Conference of State
Legislatures (NCSL) is driven by two factors the increasing need for the Medicaid program and the programs increasingly unaffordable cost to states.
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The proposed update to the ambulatory surgery center (ASC) list of approved procedures has been published by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and the proposals are a mixed bag for ASCs, according to industry sources.
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Although the Government Accountability Office (GAO) was required to issue a report by Jan. 1, 2005, on the costs, charges, and payments for performing surgery in ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) and hospital outpatient departments, it appears the report will not be finished earlier than the fourth quarter of this year, according to the American Association of Ambulatory Surgery Centers (AAASC).
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While laparoscopic cholecystectomies have become common at many same-day surgery programs, laparoscopic exploration of the common bile duct may be less common due to available equipment and potential damage of flexible scopes.
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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has determined that some reprocessed single-use devices (SUDs) no longer can be distributed commercially.
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Walter LC, deGarmo P, Covinsky KE. Association of older age and female sex with inadequate reach of screening flexible sigmoidoscopy. Am J Med 2004; 116:174-178.
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A new 34-page booklet, Risk Management Pearls for Nurses: Focus on the OR Setting, is available from the American Society of Healthcare Risk Management of the American Hospital Association (AHA).
