The Journal of family practice
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Comparative Study
Care of cancer patients in a home-based hospice program: a comparison of oncologists and primary care physicians.
The purpose of this study was to describe a group of patients cared for in a home-based hospice program and to determine if there was a difference in patients' experiences dependent on whether the attending physician was a primary care physician or an oncologist. ⋯ Primary care physicians as well as oncologists provide effective cancer care and pain control in this home-based hospice program. The hospice interdisciplinary team can be a valuable resource for physicians in supplying information on appropriate narcotics dosages and routes of administration for their dying patients.
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Latex agglutination (LA) tests are ordered frequently on cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) specimens obtained from pediatric patients to identify pathogenic bacteria as early as possible in an acute infection. ⋯ By limiting the use of LA tests to those patients having CSF with abnormal WBC counts or with positive Gram stains, the number of tests ordered would have been reduced. This practice would greatly reduce laboratory expense.