Journal of general internal medicine
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In 2011, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) released the Acute Ischemic Stroke (AIS) Directive, which mandated reorganization of acute stroke care, including self-designation of stroke centers as Primary (P), Limited Hours (LH), or Supporting (S). ⋯ The AIS Directive brought focused attention to reorganizing stroke care across a wide range of facility types. Larger VA facilities tended to follow established practices for organizing stroke care, but the unique addition of the LH designation presented some challenges. S facilities tended to report a lack of a coordinated stroke team and champion to drive process changes.
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Interpersonal care (IPC) is increasingly emphasized as health care systems focus on implementing patient-centered care. Language barriers may be a particularly important influence on IPC ratings among rural Spanish-speaking Latinos. ⋯ This study provides evidence that language concordance is independently associated with high IPC scores in rural Latino adults with diabetes. Moreover, this study suggests that language concordance may contribute to improved participation diabetes self-care activities.
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Pain is the most common presenting problem in primary care. Opioid therapy (OT) for chronic pain has increased dramatically over the past decade, as have related negative outcomes. Despite the development and dissemination of policy and clinical practice guidelines for pain management and OT, adoption has been variable. The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has established a Stepped Care Model of Pain Management (SCM-PM) as an evidence-based framework and single standard of pain care to promote guideline-concordant care, but to date its adoption and related outcomes have not been systematically examined. ⋯ We demonstrate improvements in the management of veterans receiving OT that are consistent with the SCM-PM and published practice guidelines. We highlight how partnerships among funders, researchers, clinicians, and administrators contributed to the project's design and implementation, and to the dissemination strategy and future directions for improving opioid management and pain care.
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Comparative Study Observational Study
Comparing patient outcomes of academician-preceptors, hospitalist-preceptors, and hospitalists on internal medicine services in an academic medical center.
Patient outcomes with hospitalist care have been studied in many settings, yet little is known about how hospitalist care interacts with trainee care to affect patient outcomes in teaching hospitals. ⋯ Preceptor-led medicine services were associated with more readmissions within 30 days, shorter lengths of stay, and lower index admission-associated costs. However, when considering cumulative hospitalization costs, patients discharged by academician-preceptors incurred the highest cost and hospitalist-preceptors incurred the lowest cost.