Critical Care News

Compared with non-Veterans Affairs hospitals, Veterans Affairs hospitals had better outcomes for most patient safety indicators, but worse outcomes on certain patient experience and behavioral health measures, according to a research letter published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

SAN DIEGO — Though hospitals are seeing an increase in geriatric patients with acute and chronic illness, and many of these patients are in frail condition by the time they arrive at the hospital, the end results are more promising than ever in these situations, according to a presenter at the ACP Internal Medicine Annual Meeting.

Survival is not influenced by the age and sex of blood donors among patients receiving blood transfusion, and blood allocation does not need to consider these factors, according to research published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Using the History, ECG, Age, Risk factors and initial Troponin, or HEART, score during initial assessment of patients with chest pain is safe; however, physicians did not always follow recommendations based on a patient’s score, according to recent findings.

Older adults who live nearby a major marathon and experience an acute MI had longer transport times to the hospital and higher rates of 30-day mortality due to associated road closures and EMS divergence, according to a study in The New England Journal of Medicine.

In urban EDs, a short, clinical screening tool may help identify youths at high risk for future firearm violence and help determine where to focus firearm violence prevention and intervention efforts, according to findings published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Cardiorespiratory fitness largely explains the increased risk for HF with higher BMI, according to findings published in JACC: Heart Failure.

SAN DIEGO — Volume resuscitation, early empiric antibiotics and treating the source of infection are critical in sepsis treatment, according to a presenter at the ACP Internal Medicine Meeting.

More than 200 data breaches have been reported at hospitals across the United States during the last 7 years, highlighting the need for better research on how to effectively guard patients’ information, according to findings published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

SAN DIEGO - The limited number of new medications that would impact primary care that were approved in 2016 included agents intended for the treatment of asthma and gout, and drugs to be taken in combination with previously approved medications for hyperkalemia and bleeding risk, according to a speaker at the ACP Internal Medicine Meeting.