March 2011
Pulling it together
Comprehensive COPD care should include standardized diagnosis and treatment, patient education, careful discharge planning and follow-up.
Computers teaching patients
Patients at Boston Medical Center prefer “Louise's” instructions on medication regimens and other aspects of post-discharge care.
Dabigatran or warfarin?
With dabigatran now a viable alternative to warfarin, hospitalists and hospitals should develop a plan for its use.
Integrating palliative care into the ICU
Palliative care, rapid response teams, and sepsis were a few of the topics covered at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's 22nd annual National Forum.
Smart software and simple posters keep patients on their feet
Standardizing interventions at Partners HealthCare facilities in and around Boston helped reduce patient falls.
D2B: Saving time, but not lives?
Reducing delays for percutaneous coronary intervention didn't lower mortality, a study found.
Letter from the Editor
This issue contains articles on quality COPD management, virtual patient advocates, and dabigatran versus warfarin, among others.
A Day in the Life: The Hospital Playlist
A typical hospitalist's day if set to music would go a little something like this.
Expectations exceed understanding in unraveling the genome
Recently the National Human Genome Research Institute hosted a planning conference to mull over future opportunities and challenges in genomics research.
Chronic respiratory failure
Chronic respiratory failure is usually recognized by a combination of chronic hypoxemia, hypercapnia and compensatory metabolic alkalosis.
Test yourself: COPD
These cases and commentary, which address COPD, are excerpted from ACP's Medical Knowledge Self-Assessment Program (MKSAP15).
Warnings on morphine overdoses, injections containing particulates
Details on a warning and label changes related to accidental overdoses of morphine sulfate, and more.
Journal watch: Recent studies of note
Survival benefit in infection after combination antibiotics, ceftaroline monotherapy for complicated skin and skin structure infections, and more.
In the News
New CPR guidelines, score to predict outcomes in CAP patients with kidney injury, sleep apnea questionnaire, and more.