This week, Amol and Kieran discuss two studies:
How can we prevent readmission? An observational study of 1000 general internal medicine patients from 12 United States academic medical centres found that 26.9% of readmissions were potentially preventable. Key factors associated with potential preventability included decision making in the emergency department, lack of information to outpatient providers, early discharge of patients with inadequate symptom control and lack of care goals discussion among patients with serious illnesses. Kieran and Amol discuss the methodology of the study.
Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (UTIs) are common in hospital and often avoidable. A large nation-wide quality improvement initiative in the United States demonstrated an ability to reduce catheter-associated UTIs in hospital, especially in the non-intensive care unit setting. Amol and Kieran discuss the study’s effect size and implications for intervention.
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The Papers
1. Readmission: http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2498846
2. Catheter associated UTI: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1504906
Good Stuff
1. Beer drinking and the brain: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27218874
2. Guinea worm: http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/06/06/480669616/the-last-days-of-guinea-worm
Music Credits (Creative Commons)
In your Robotic Heart – Nicolai Heidlas https://soundcloud.com/nicolai-heidlas/in-your-robotic-heart
Drive – Nicolai Heidlas https://soundcloud.com/nicolai-heidlas/drive-fresh-upbeat-pop-background-music
Vintage Dream – Nicolai Heidlas https://soundcloud.com/nicolai-heidlas/vintage-dream-loungejazzy-background-music
All tracks have been modified for the purposes of this podcast.
