Archives of internal medicine
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Heart failure is the leading noncancer diagnosis for patients in hospice care and the leading cause of hospitalization among Medicare beneficiaries. Racial and ethnic differences in hospice patients are well documented for patients with cancer but poorly described for those with heart failure. ⋯ In a national sample of Medicare beneficiaries with heart failure, blacks and Hispanics used hospice care for heart failure less than whites after adjustment for individual and market factors. To understand the mechanisms underlying these findings, further examination of patient preferences and physician referral behavior is needed.
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Editorial Comment
Food surcharges and subsidies: putting your money where your mouth is.
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Review Meta Analysis
Pneumothorax following thoracentesis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Little is known about the factors related to the development of pneumothorax following thoracentesis. We aimed to determine the mean pneumothorax rate following thoracentesis and to identify risk factors for pneumothorax through a systematic review and meta-analysis. ⋯ Iatrogenic pneumothorax is a common complication of thoracentesis and frequently requires chest tube insertion. Real-time ultrasonography use is a modifiable factor that reduces the pneumothorax rate. Performance of thoracentesis for therapeutic purposes and in patients undergoing mechanical ventilation confers a higher likelihood of pneumothorax. Experienced operators may have lower pneumothorax rates. Patient safety may be improved by changes in clinical practice in accord with these findings.
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Critically ill patients are medically complex and may benefit from a multidisciplinary approach to care. ⋯ Daily rounds by a multidisciplinary team are associated with lower mortality among medical ICU patients. The survival benefit of intensivist physician staffing is in part explained by the presence of multidisciplinary teams in high-intensity physician-staffed ICUs.