Archives of internal medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
A randomized trial of the effect of community pharmacist and nurse care on improving blood pressure management in patients with diabetes mellitus: study of cardiovascular risk intervention by pharmacists-hypertension (SCRIP-HTN).
Blood pressure (BP) control in patients with diabetes mellitus is difficult to achieve and current patterns are suboptimal. Given increasing problems with access to primary care physicians, community pharmacists and nurses are well positioned to identify and observe these patients. This study aimed to determine the efficacy of a community-based multidisciplinary intervention on BP control in patients with diabetes mellitus. ⋯ Even in patients who have diabetes and hypertension that are relatively well controlled, a pharmacist and nurse team-based intervention resulted in a clinically important improvement in BP. Trial Registration clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00374270.
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Electronic health records (EHRs) may improve patient safety and health care quality, but the relationship between EHR adoption and settled malpractice claims is unknown. ⋯ Although the results of this study are inconclusive, physicians with EHRs appear less likely to have paid malpractice claims. Confirmatory studies are needed before these results can have policy implications.
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Comparative Study
Prediction of infection due to antibiotic-resistant bacteria by select risk factors for health care-associated pneumonia.
Pathogens such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa now cause pneumonia in patients presenting to the hospital. The concept of health care-associated pneumonia (HCAP) attempts to capture this, but its predictive value is unclear. ⋯ Although resistance is common in HCAP, not all component criteria for HCAP convey similar risk. Simple scoring tools may facilitate more accurate identification of persons with pneumonia caused by resistant pathogens.