November 30, 2009 |  0
In this multi-institutional survey of 855 physicians, when presented with hypothetical patients with either community acquired (CAP) or health care associated (HCAP) pneumonia, 78% chose correct antibiotics for CAP, but only 9% chose correct antibiotics for HCAP. Continued education is needed to improve guideline concordance for patients with HCAP (abstract).
November 30, 2009 |  2
Troy Ahlstrom writes… Assume one will question leadership’s motivation.  State your good intentions clearly and avoid allowing others to infer ill will. Last month, we ruminated on the foundation of credible leadership, integrity.  This month, we survey how we get from that foundation to actually carrying out a program as an organization.  The all important […]
November 30, 2009 |  0
In this single institution cross-sectional analysis of 589 chest CTA’s ordered for suspected PE, only 9% had a PE, 33% had other findings to explain the symptoms, and 24% had an incidental finding that required follow up (primarily a new nodule or new adenopathy). Given that almost a quarter of patients that receive a CTA […]
November 30, 2009 |  0
In this observational cohort of 247 trauma patients who underwent both CTA (pulmonary arteries) and CTV (pelvic/leg veins), of the 46 with PE, only 7 (15%) also had a DVT. Possible explanations include complete embolism, insensitivity of CTV, upper extremity source, or de novo pulmonary artery thrombus. Regardless, a high percentage of trauma patients with […]
November 26, 2009 |  27
Two years ago, I wrote about the case of Julie Thao, the Wisconsin nurse sent to prison for a medication error. I argued then that – although Julie bypassed some safety rules – she most certainly did not deserve jail time. Along comes another case involving jail time for a medical mistake, this one featuring […]
November 25, 2009 |  3
Jack Percelay writes… Do you get paid holiday time off as a hospitalist? Or are you told that everyday you are not working is time off, just like the kids who ask, “If there’s a Mothers’ Day and a Fathers’ Day, why isn’t there a Children’s Day?” and are told,  “Everyday is Children’s Day.” As […]