Patient Safety & Quality
Meta-analysis: Identifying Older Adults at Risk of Harm Following Elective Surgery
21 Jan, 2018 | 14:24h | UTCCommentary : Age itself is not a risk factor for complications after surgery among older patients – OnMedica (free)
“Q: What predicts poor outcome after elective surgery in older people?
A: Frailty, cognitive impairment, depression, smoking but NOT age per se”. (via @trishgreenhalgh see Tweet)
Can Your Hip Replacement Kill You?
16 Jan, 2018 | 19:09h | UTCCan Your Hip Replacement Kill You? – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free)
“Lawsuits are pulling back the curtain on what some doctors call the Wild West of medicine: the untested and largely unregulated medical device industry” (via @NYTHealth see Tweet)
Most ICU Monitoring Alarms Are Not Clinically Relevant
16 Jan, 2018 | 17:06h | UTCCommentary: Most ICU Monitoring Alarms Are Not Clinically Relevant, Even as Technology Becomes More Accurate – American Association of Critical Care Nurses, via NewsWise (free)
What Physicians Can do About Ransomware
16 Jan, 2018 | 17:04h | UTCWhat physicians can do about ransomware – ACP Hospitalist (free)
“Protecting a practice doesn’t always require a large investment of money, just time and employee training”.
14 Improving Patient Flow in the ED: 7 Strategies for Nurses
16 Jan, 2018 | 13:48h | UTCWTBS 14 Improving Patient Flow in the ED: 7 Strategies for Nurses – Emergency Medicine Cases (free)
Related White Paper: Achieving Hospital-wide Patient Flow: The Right Care, in the Right Place, at the Right Time – Institute for Healthcare Improvement (free registration required – PDF)
Opinion: For Doctors, Age May Be More Than a Number
16 Jan, 2018 | 13:22h | UTCFor Doctors, Age May Be More Than a Number – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free)
Meta-analysis of Interventions to Reduce Adverse Drug Reactions in Older Adults
16 Jan, 2018 | 13:17h | UTCMeta-analysis of Interventions to Reduce Adverse Drug Reactions in Older Adults – Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
“Interventions designed to optimize medication use reduced the risk of any and serious ADRs in older adults. Implementation of these successful interventions in healthcare systems may improve medication safety in older adults”.
Checklists are no Substitute for Experience in Spotting Patients who are Deteriorating
12 Jan, 2018 | 16:51h | UTCChecklists are no substitute for experience in spotting patients who are deteriorating – NIHR Signal (free)
Original article: Early warning systems and rapid response to the deteriorating patient in hospital: A systematic realist review – Journal of Advanced Nursing (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Transfusing blood Close to its use-by date does not increase deaths in critically ill adults
3 Jan, 2018 | 14:23h | UTCTransfusing blood close to its use-by date does not increase deaths in critically ill adults – NIHR Signal (free)
Original article: Age of Red Cells for Transfusion and Outcomes in Critically Ill Adults – New England Journal of Medicine (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Meta-Analysis: Effectiveness of Pharmacist-Led Medication Reconciliation After Hospital Discharge
3 Jan, 2018 | 13:14h | UTCSource: Hospital Medicine Virtual Journal Club
Opinion: Too Many Older Patients Get Cancer Screenings
1 Jan, 2018 | 12:27h | UTCToo Many Older Patients Get Cancer Screenings – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free)
Systematic Review: Whole-System Approaches to Improving the Health and Wellbeing of Healthcare Workers
1 Jan, 2018 | 12:24h | UTC
Guideline: Appropriate Use of Antimicrobial Agents across the Surgical Pathway
1 Jan, 2018 | 12:21h | UTC
Guideline – Achieving Hospital-wide Patient Flow: The Right Care, in the Right Place, at the Right Time
1 Jan, 2018 | 12:15h | UTCWhite Paper: Achieving Hospital-wide Patient Flow: The Right Care, in the Right Place, at the Right Time – Institute for Healthcare Improvement (free registration required – PDF) (via @brhospitalist and @TheIHI see Tweet)
Research: Association of Hospitalist Years of Experience With Mortality
1 Jan, 2018 | 12:10h | UTCAssociation of Hospitalist Years of Experience With Mortality in the Hospitalized Medicare Population – JAMA Internal Medicine (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentary: Mortality Higher for Inpatients Seen by First-Year Hospitalists – Medscape (free registration required)
Infographic: Date Night with the Electronic Health Record
29 Dec, 2017 | 19:38h | UTCInfographic: Date Night with the EHR – NEJM Catalyst (free)
Related Guideline: Putting Patients First by Reducing Administrative Tasks in Health Care: A Position Paper of the American College of Physicians (free)
Related Commentary: Why Physician Burnout Is Endemic, and How Health Care Must Respond – NEJM Catalyst (free)
Meta-Analysis: Implementation Strategies for Blood Pressure Control in Hypertensive Patients
29 Dec, 2017 | 17:46h | UTCComparative Effectiveness of Implementation Strategies for Blood Pressure Control in Hypertensive Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis – Annals of Internal Medicine (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: Meta-Analysis: It Takes a Team to Optimize Hypertension Tx – MedPage Today (free registration required) AND Blood pressure control best achieved with a multilevel, multicomponent approach – American College of Physicians, via EurekAlert (free)
Performance Improvement: Insulin Dosing Error in a Patient With Severe Hyperkalemia
29 Dec, 2017 | 17:48h | UTCInsulin Dosing Error in a Patient With Severe Hyperkalemia – JAMA (free)
Research: Regional Variation of CT Imaging and the Risk of Nephrectomy
29 Dec, 2017 | 17:45h | UTCEditorial: Use of Advanced Imaging Tests and the Not-So-Incidental Harms of Incidental Findings (free)
Commentary: Trunk Imaging Tied to Higher Nephrectomy Risk – MedPage Today (free registration required)
“The remarkable number of unnecessary CT scans and their downstream risk from incidental findings” (via @EricTopol see Tweet)
Why Doctors Keep Doing Expensive Procedures That Don’t Work
29 Dec, 2017 | 17:41h | UTCWhy American doctors keep doing expensive procedures that don’t work – VOX (free)
“The proportion of medical procedures unsupported by evidence may be nearly half”.
Research: Safety of Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Patients with Cardiac Devices
29 Dec, 2017 | 17:43h | UTCSafety of Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Patients with Cardiac Devices – The New England Journal of Medicine (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: MRI scan safe for most people with older pacemakers, defibrillators – Reuters (free) AND Even Thoracic MRI Safe for ‘Legacy’ ICDs, Pacemaker Systems: Large Cohort Study – Medscape (free registration required) AND MRIs safe with older pacemakers, study finds – MedicalXpress (free)
The Struggle to Do No Harm in Clinical Trials
29 Dec, 2017 | 16:54h | UTCThe struggle to do no harm in clinical trials – Nature (free)
“The struggle to do no harm: the unexplained deaths in #cancer immunotherapy trials” (via @EricTopol see Tweet)
Opinion: Are Hospital Readmission Penalties a Good Idea?
28 Dec, 2017 | 17:23h | UTCThe data are in, but debate rages: Are hospital readmission penalties a good idea? – STAT (free)
Research: Association of the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program With Outcomes in Heart Failure
28 Dec, 2017 | 17:22h | UTCAssociation of the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program Implementation With Readmission and Mortality Outcomes in Heart Failure – JAMA (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: To Fix the Hospital Readmissions Program, Prioritize What Matters – JAMA Forum (free) AND Readmissions reduction program linked to increased mortality for heart failure patients – Cardiovascular Business (free) AND Going the Wrong Way: ACA’s Readmission Reduction Program Linked To Increased Heart Failure Deaths – MedicalResearch (free) AND Hospital quality-control program tied to rise in heart failure deaths – Reuters (free)
Research: Association Between Treatment by Substitute Doctors and 30-Day Mortality
27 Dec, 2017 | 20:53h | UTCAssociation Between Treatment by Locum Tenens Internal Medicine Physicians and 30-Day Mortality Among Hospitalized Medicare Beneficiaries – JAMA (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: Substitute Doctors Are Becoming More Common. What Do We Know About Their Quality of Care? – Harvard Business Review (free) AND Doctor out sick? A substitute physician is no worse for patients’ health – STAT (free) AND When the Doctor’s Away – Harvard Medical School, via NewWise (free) AND Mortality rates similar, readmissions lower in hospital patients cared for by locum tenens – ACP Internist (free)