Arch Intern Med
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Prolonged beneficial effects of a home-based intervention on unplanned readmissions and mortality among patients with congestive heart failure.
A single home-based intervention (HBI) applied immediately after hospital discharge in a cohort of "high-risk" patients with congestive heart failure has been shown to decrease numbers of unplanned readmissions plus out-of-hospital deaths during a period of 6 months. The duration of this beneficial effect remains uncertain. ⋯ In this controlled study, among a cohort of high-risk patients with congestive heart failure, beneficial effects of a postdischarge HBI were sustained for at least 18 months, with a significant reduction in unplanned readmissions, total hospital stay, hospital-based costs, and mortality.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Doxycycline is a cost-effective therapy for hospitalized patients with community-acquired pneumonia.
Doxycycline has a high degree of activity against many common respiratory pathogens and has been used in the outpatient management of lower respiratory tract infections, including pneumonia. ⋯ Doxycycline is an effective and inexpensive therapy for the empirical treatment of hospitalized patients with mild to moderately severe community-acquired pneumonia.