The American journal of medicine
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Comparative Study Controlled Clinical Trial
Continuous monitoring in an inpatient medical-surgical unit: a controlled clinical trial.
For hospitalized patients with unexpected clinical deterioration, delayed or suboptimal intervention is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Lack of continuous monitoring for average-risk patients has been suggested as a contributing factor for unexpected in-hospital mortality. Our objective was to assess the effects of continuous heart rate and respiration rate monitoring in a medical-surgical unit on unplanned transfers and length of stay in the intensive care unit and length of stay in the medical-surgical unit. ⋯ Continuous monitoring on a medical-surgical unit was associated with a significant decrease in total length of stay in the hospital and in intensive care unit days for transferred patients, as well as lower code blue rates.
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Observational Study
Electronic health record use, intensity of hospital care, and patient outcomes.
Previous studies have suggested that weekend hospital care is inferior to weekday care and that this difference may be related to diminished care intensity. The purpose of this study was to determine whether a metric for measuring intensity of hospital care based on use of the electronic health record was associated with patient-level outcomes. ⋯ Intensity of inpatient care, measured by electronic health record interactions, significantly diminished from Friday to Saturday, and this decrease was associated with length of stay. Hospitals should consider monitoring and correcting temporal fluctuations in care intensity.
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Inferior vena cava filters are associated with a reduced in-hospital all-cause case fatality rate of unstable patients with acute pulmonary embolism. Whether vena cava filters are associated with a reduced case fatality rate in adults of all ages with unstable pulmonary embolism, particularly the elderly, has not been determined. ⋯ Vena cava filters are associated with a reduced in-hospital all-cause case fatality rate in unstable adults with pulmonary embolism, irrespective of age.
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Letter Case Reports
Primary pulmonary lymphoma: a case of 'unresolving pneumonia'.