Internal medicine journal
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Internal medicine journal · Nov 2023
Improving the Accuracy of Discharge Medication Documentation in People with Kidney Disease through Pharmacist-led Partnered Prescribing.
Inaccurate medication documentation in prescriptions and discharge summaries produce poorer patient outcomes, are costly to healthcare systems and result in more readmissions to hospital. Errors in medication documentation are common in Australian hospitals. ⋯ PPP improves the accuracy of the documentation of medications in both the discharge prescription and the discharge summary of patients with kidney disease.
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Internal medicine journal · Nov 2023
ReviewTransvenous versus subcutaneous implantable cardioverter defibrillators in young cardiac arrest survivors.
Secondary prevention implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) are indicated in young patients presenting with aborted sudden cardiac death (SCD) because of ventricular arrhythmias. Transvenous-ICDs (TV-ICDs) are effective, established therapies supported by evidence. The significant morbidity associated with transvenous leads led to the development of the newer subcutaneous-ICD (S-ICD). ⋯ S-ICDs are an important development hindered largely by an inability to pace. Young patients stand to gain the most from a S-ICD as the cumulative risk of lead-related complications is high. A clinical framework to aid decision-making is presented.
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Internal medicine journal · Nov 2023
Secular trends in the utility of SGLT-2 inhibitors in heart failure patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus across Metro South Health hospitals in South-East Queensland.
The 2018 Australian Heart Failure (HF) guidelines strongly recommended commencing sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT-2is) in HF patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The uptake of SGLT-2is for HF patients with T2DM in our health service is unknown. ⋯ During the study period, 54% of our HF patients with T2DM were not on SGLT-2is due to prescribing guidelines/limitations in the Australian context. We observed a five-fold significant increase in the uptake of SGLT-2is before and after implementation of HF guidelines among patients without contraindications to SGLT-2is. There were significantly fewer HF hospitalisations among patients on SGLT-2is compared to those without.
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Internal medicine journal · Nov 2023
Patient and carer experiences of lung cancer referral pathway in a regional health service, a qualitative study.
Lung cancer referral pathways aim to reduce delays and improve referral patterns of people with suspected lung cancer. ⋯ Understanding the experiences of rural and regional patients and carers with the lung cancer referral pathway is important to improve quality of care. Implementing changes to the referral pathway to improve patient and carer experiences needs to be an ongoing quality improvement exercise.