Hospital Medicine News

Azithromycin administered to women in labor during planned vaginal delivery reduced their risks for sepsis and death, but not their newborns’ risks for sepsis and death, according to findings presented at The Pregnancy Meeting.

Mortality rates among ICU patients aged 70 years and older were considerably higher in those with COVID-19 compared with those who had bacterial or other viral pneumonia, according to researchers.

A new virtual reality program is providing first responders, law enforcement and physicians with training and experience in mass casualty disasters, occurrences that have grown significantly over the last several years.

Opioid tapering was associated with “unintended negative consequences,” including fewer primary care visits, more hospitalization and ED visits and reduced chronic condition medicine adherence, researchers reported in JAMA Network Open.

Black and Hispanic patients were less likely to be treated for stroke complications than their white counterparts, particularly treatment of arousal, spasticity and mood, per data presented at the International Stroke Conference.

A pharmacist- or nurse practitioner-led deprescribing intervention successfully reduced medication use among hospitalized older adults who were discharged or transitioning to a post-acute care facility, data show.

A recent systematic review commissioned by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality revealed that roughly one in 18 patients are misdiagnosed in the ED each year.

Primary care physicians who used a community health information exchange significantly improved their patients’ transition from hospitalization to outpatient care, according to findings published in Annals of Family Medicine.

Another study has demonstrated that a shorter course of antibiotics may be better, this time for the treatment of complicated UTIs when antibiotics with comparable IV and oral bioavailability are administered.

A recent study in CMAJ found no association between a shift to virtual care during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic and an increase in ED visits.