Dedicated Hospital Observation Units to the Rescue
Along with growing demand, rising costs and lower payments have threatened the financial viability...
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Articles
The ABI: Standardizing Measurements & Interpretations
When the ankle-brachial index (ABI) emerged in 1950, it was initially proposed for use as a...
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Improving Skills With Surgical Simulation
Requirements for surgical proficiency are generally based on an absolute number of procedures...
Read MoreShould Resident Work Hours Be Capped?
Blogging at his site “Adventures in Emergency Medicine,” Dr. Sam Ko says resident work hours should be limited to 40 per week. Via Twitter, I warned him that I would rebut his assertion. Without any data or...
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Forgetting the Fast Food
The figure below shows the percentage of daily calories consumed from fast food among adults aged...
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Avoidable Healthcare Costs
The IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics estimates that $213 billion was spent on avoidable...
Read MoreDumbing it Down: Where to Draw the Line?
Dumbing down medical information for patients can come in different forms. Some docs only provide the basics as to not overwhelm patients. Others may use a patronizing “you’ll be okay” tone that may be misleading. And recently a...
Read MoreUncertain Diagnosis or CT Scan Radiation?
It is so nice to be right. To summarize what I wrote 2 and 3 years ago, here and here—based on my experience, patients and families will accept the theoretical risk of a future cancer if it means they’ll get an accurate...
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ED Care of AF & Hospital Charges
The initial management of newly recognized atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter (AF) lasting...
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FDA Approves Gilotrif for Late-Stage NSCLC
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Gilotrif (afatinib) for patients with late...
Read MoreChoosing a Medical Specialty & Balancing Life
The following was posted anonymously as a comment on a blog I wrote about the difficulty one has in choosing a medical specialty. I was so taken with it that I wanted to give it more exposure. [Note: The comment contained a few...
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IAS 2013: Positive Outcomes With HIV Prevention Program
The Particulars: Previous studies have not compared the effects of mobile HIV testing, community...
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IAS 2013: Repeat Use of Post-Exposure HIV Prophylaxis
The Particulars: Anecdotal evidence suggests that post-exposure prophylaxis for HIV—meant to be a...
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IAS 2013: HCV Reinfection High Among Gay Men With HIV
The Particulars: Liver disease—often due to co-infection with hepatitis c virus (HCV)...
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IAS 2013: CD4 Count Linked With HIV Reservoir Level
The Particulars: Research suggests that patients who start HIV treatment with a CD4 count above...
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ISA 2013: HIV Patients Have High ESRD Rate
The Particulars: Previous studies indicate that some of the same risk factors are associated with...
Read MoreOvercoming Barriers to Clinical Research in the ED
Clinical research in the ED is important to providing supporting evidence for the development of practice guidelines and is vital to enhancing patient outcomes. A recent study was conducted to describe barriers and lessons...
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Protecting EDs & Providers When Patients Leave Against Medical Advice
Recent studies suggest that as many as 2% of discharges from acute care hospitals and EDs in the...
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ASE 2013: Fetal Echocardiography in Early Pregnancy
The Particulars: Screening mothers during their first trimester enables clinicians to detect if...
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