Bottom Line: Variability exists in emergency department (ED) timeliness based on four variables (hospital size, rural vs. urban, ownership and teaching status) reported to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for patients discharged from the ED or admitted for inpatient services.
Author: Sidney T. Le, B.A., and Renee Y. Hsia, M.D., M.Sc., of the University of California, San Francisco.
INDIANAPOLIS -- Adding a common epilepsy drug to a morphine regimen can result in better pain control with fewer side effects. Moreover, the combination can reduce the dosage of the opioid needed to be effective, according to a team of pain researchers at Indiana University.
The result could bring significant relief to many patients with neuropathic pain, a difficult-to-treat condition often felt in the arms and legs and associated with nerve tissue damage.
Johns Hopkins University political scientists wanted to know if America's unelected officials have enough in common with the people they govern to understand them.
The answer: Not really.
Better coordination of patient care between health care providers, encouraging patients to self-manage their health and other strategies can reduce use of the health care system by seniors and people with chronic conditions, according to research published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).
TORONTO, Sept. 15, 2014 – Co-ordinating patient care better can reduce use of the health care system by its most frequently seen patients, according to new research published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
A small group of people are often admitted into hospital or frequently visit hospital emergency departments and clinics. These individuals are often seniors and people with chronic conditions -- including mental health disorders -- and they use a disproportionate amount of health care resources, despite their relatively small numbers.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 6 percent of children younger than five have been diagnosed with asthma, the fastest-growing and most common chronic illness affecting children in the United States. Studies have shown that asthma is associated with attention and behavioral issues in children, yet little existing research examines how socioeconomic status may influence the ultimate effects of these difficulties.
Researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Nursing, who studied the emotional distress of caring for a family member diagnosed with a mental illness, found anxiety is high for the primary caregiver at the initial diagnosis or early in the course of the illness and decreases over time.
"This finding is significant," said Jaclene A. Zauszniewski, PhD, RN-BC, FAAN, the Kate Hanna Harvey Professor of Community Health at the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing and study's corresponding author.
Research suggests that genes that affect hearing and cognitive function may play roles in one's musical aptitude, or the ability to understand and perceive rhythm, pitch, timbre, tone durations, and formal structure in music.
The authors of a BioEssays article explain that extremes in musical aptitude (extreme capacity/no capacity) are rare within a population, with the majority of individuals having moderate aptitude.
AUSTIN, Texas — Adolescent girls living in economically disadvantaged families are more likely than their male counterparts to become overweight or obese, according to new research from The University of Texas at Austin.
Accidental awareness is one of the most feared complications of general anaesthesia for both patients and anaesthetists. Patients report this failure of general anaesthesia in approximately 1 in every 19,000 cases, according to a report published in Anaesthesia. Known as accidental awareness during general anaesthesia (AAGA), it occurs when general anaesthesia is intended but the patient remains conscious. This incidence of patient reports of awareness is much lower than previous estimates of awareness, which were as high as 1 in 600.
In a report published in today's Journal of Law and Medicine, the authors say an exemption to mandatory reporting in Western Australian legislation provides a model for amending equivalent laws in others jurisdictions, which could pave the way for nationally consistent legislation.
The call to amend and harmonise mandatory reporting laws also has the backing of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and a 2011 Senate Committee inquiry.
Researchers have determined that African Americans and Caribbean blacks who experience discrimination of multiple types are at substantially greater risk for a variety of mental disorders including anxiety, depression and substance abuse.
WASHINGTON, DC – September 13, 2014 – New data from a landmark clinical trial found that after five years, transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) demonstrated a persistent mortality benefit, improved functional status, and resulted in a lower rate of repeat hospitalizations when compared with standard therapy for patients with severe aortic stenosis who are not candidates for surgery.
WASHINGTON, DC – September 13, 2014 – According to a new study, transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) provided meaningful clinical benefits relative to surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) in high risk patients with incremental costs considered acceptable from a US perspective. Findings from the cost-effectiveness analysis of the US CoreValve High Risk Trial were reported today at the 26th annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) scientific symposium.
WASHINGTON, DC – September 13, 2014 – In extended follow-up from a clinical trial, a self-expanding transcatheter aortic valve was shown to have low rates of all-cause mortality and major stroke. Findings were reported today at the 26th annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) scientific symposium. Sponsored by the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF), TCT is the world's premier educational meeting specializing in interventional cardiovascular medicine.