Journal of the American College of Surgeons
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Addressing equity in healthcare is necessary to improve population health outcomes. In doing so, a requisite level of foundational resources, organization, and processes are needed. Although increasing attention is being devoted to addressing health inequities, the current landscape supporting these efforts remains unknown. We sought to evaluate the presence of frontline resources, organization, and processes for support of health equity efforts in hospitals participating in American College of Surgeons' (ACS) quality programs. ⋯ Efforts aimed at achieving health equity exist but lack the necessary infrastructure, organization, and processes to support effective frontline practices. The findings from this study support consideration of standards development targeting problems and opportunities at both the institutional and program level for advancing equity in quality improvement efforts.
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There remains clinical equipoise regarding the preference for upfront appendectomy or nonoperative management for patients with complicated appendicitis. However, the natural history of the appendix following nonoperative management and pending interval appendectomy in children is not well characterized, and the risk of recurrent appendicitis as a function of time from index admission not known. ⋯ The highest likelihood of recurrent appendicitis or complications following nonoperative management of complicated appendicitis occurs in the first 50 days following index admission. This information will help surgeons during shared decision-making conversations regarding timing of interval appendectomy.
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Cardioplegic ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury poses substantial challenges during postoperative recovery, with diabetic patients particularly susceptible to adverse events. Using a model entailing the subjection of human coronary artery endothelial cells (HCAECs) to simulated cardioplegic I/R, we investigated the potential of protein kinase c β (PKC-β) inhibition to augment cellular survival in this context. ⋯ PKC-β inhibitor treatment increased pro-survival signaling and decreased pro-apoptotic signaling in nondiabetic and diabetic HCAECs subjected to simulated I/R, with mechanistic differences observed between these cohorts.
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In the last 30 years, consolidation of healthcare systems in the United States has accelerated through mergers and acquisitions. We completed a systematic literature review on integration to determine if its reputation for enhancing the value of healthcare by reducing price and cost/spending and improving overall quality of care is justified. ⋯ Our review suggests that evidence is lacking to support the theory that integration is an effective strategy for improving the value of healthcare delivery. This finding represents an opportunity for healthcare leaders, including surgeons, to better define value in their efforts to improve quality while balancing the financial stability of the healthcare industry with a focus on benefiting the patient.