Certain combined medications following heart attack may increase risk of death
Following an acute coronary syndrome such as a heart attack or unstable angina, patients who receive a medication to reduce the risk of gastrointestinal bleeding that may be associated with the use of...
View ArticleHigher hospital safety rating not associated with lower risk of in-hospital...
Hospitals that reported higher scores on measures of safe practices did not have a significantly lower rate of in-hospital deaths compared to hospitals that reported lower scores on these measures,...
View ArticleSafely transporting a preterm or low birth weight infant
New guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics should eliminate one of the many stresses of bringing a preterm or low birth weight infant home from the hospital.
View ArticleProper placement of defibrillators key to effective use
The appropriate placement of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) is critical to optimize their use in public places, according to two studies published in Circulation: Journal of the American...
View ArticleTwin study examines associations between depression and coronary artery disease
Major depression and coronary artery disease are only modestly related throughout an individual's lifetime, but studying how the two interact over time and in twin pairs paints a more complex picture...
View ArticleFumbled handoffs can lead to medical errors
Poor communication of the outcomes of medical tests whose results are pending at the time of a patient's hospital discharge is common and can lead to serious medical errors in post-hospitalization...
View ArticleMore Women Choosing to Remove Healthy Breast after Cancer Diagnosis
(PhysOrg.com) -- An increasing number of women diagnosed with cancer in one breast are opting to have their healthy breast surgically removed, according to a recent study of New York State data. The...
View ArticleUninterrupted chest-compressions key to survival in cardiac arrest outside...
Maximizing the proportion of time spent performing chest compressions during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) substantially improves survival in patients who suffer cardiac arrest outside a hospital...
View ArticleEarly cooling in cardiac arrest may improve survival
Rapidly cooling a person in cardiac arrest may improve their chance of survival without brain damage, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2009.
View ArticleResuscitation and survival rates from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest nearly...
Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center and the Richmond Ambulance Authority have improved resuscitation and survival rates dramatically for cardiac arrest patients by training and equipping...
View ArticleNew criteria to project preemies' time in hospital, says researcher
(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers have developed a new way to estimate when the tiniest preemies -- babies born months early -- will go home from the hospital.
View ArticleKidney injury in hospital increases long-term risk of death
Patients with sudden loss of kidney function, called acute kidney injury (AKI), are more likely to die prematurely after leaving the hospital—even if their kidney function has apparently recovered,...
View ArticleCaregivers of ICU patients are collateral damage of critical illness
Intensive care unit patients are not the only ones likely to be severely depressed in the aftermath of hospitalization. Family and friends who care for them often suffer emotional and social hardship,...
View ArticleCluster of 'critical' follow-up evaluations may improve outlook for...
Heart failure is by far the most prevalent chronic cardiac condition. Around 30 million people in Europe have heart failure and its incidence is still increasing: more cases are being identified, more...
View ArticleElderly patients who survive ICU stay have high rate of death in following years
An analysis of Medicare data indicates that elderly patients who are hospitalized in an intensive care unit (ICU) and survive to be discharged from the hospital have a high rate of death in the...
View ArticleStudy finds public reporting of heart-bypass surgery outcomes in California...
New UC Davis research has found that patients scheduled to undergo coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery in California were just as ill in 2003 — when public reporting of performance data for...
View ArticleExcess oxygen in blood after cardiac resuscitation may increase risk of...
Patients who have excessive oxygen levels in arterial blood (hyperoxia) following resuscitation from cardiac arrest have a higher rate of death in the hospital than similar patients without arterial...
View ArticleFor cardiac arrest CPR performed by laypersons, chest compression-only may...
In a comparison of outcomes in Arizona for out-of-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for cardiac arrest performed by bystanders, patients who received compression-only CPR were more likely to...
View ArticleStudy takes first steps to improve the quality of health care for chronically...
Children with chronic health conditions such as cystic fibrosis, type 1 diabetes, sickle cell diseases and cerebral palsy represent less than two percent of the population but can consume more than 50...
View ArticleSpeedier recovery from joint-related problems following resort training
Patients with joint problems such as rheumatism or arthritis who are discharged from hospital often require a significant recovery time before they return to a reasonable degree of mobility. Yvette...
View ArticleMost Medicare stroke patients die or are rehospitalized within year after...
A UCLA-led has study found that after leaving the hospital, nearly two-thirds of Medicare beneficiaries hospitalized for acute ischemic stroke either died or were rehospitalized within a year.
View ArticleTrauma patients have higher rate of death for several years following injury
In a study that included more than 120,000 adults who were treated for trauma, 16 percent of these patients died within 3 years of their injury, compared to an expected population mortality rate of...
View ArticleGaps in health care limit options for older adults, expert says
There are 50 million family members providing care to older adults in the United States, according to the MetLife Foundation and national caregiving associations. When older adults are hospitalized and...
View ArticleElderly heart failure patients who need skilled nursing care often sicker,...
Elderly patients with heart failure who need skilled nursing care after hospital discharge are often sicker, at higher risk for poor outcomes and are more likely than other patients to die or be...
View ArticleNew study: Infections after cardiac device implantation produce excess costs...
Surgical infections associated with pacemakers and defibrillators led to 3-fold increases in hospital stay, 55-118% higher hospitalization costs, 8 to 11 fold increase in mortality rates, and double...
View ArticleResearchers design re-engineered hospital discharge program to reduce...
Researchers from Boston Medical Center (BMC) and Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have designed a process to minimize discharge failures. The Re-Engineered Discharge (RED) program reduces...
View ArticlePatients being discharged against medical advice
When patients choose to leave the hospital before the treating physician recommends discharge, the consequences may involve risk of inadequately treated medical conditions and the need for readmission,...
View ArticleHospital software improves patient satisfaction at discharge from hospital
When hospitalists use discharge communication software, patients and the outpatient doctors who carry out the care have better perceptions of the quality of the discharge process, according to new...
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