April 27, 2022
The reality of postacute care
Skilled nursing facilities and home health care can help patients continue recovering after discharge, but hospitalists, patients, and caregivers must understand their limitations.
Continuing aspirin for no reason?
A speaker made the case for anticoagulant monotherapy in selected patients with stable coronary artery disease and atrial fibrillation during a “Things We Do For No Reason” session at SHM Converge 2022.
Proning didn't help, may have harmed hospital patients on supplemental oxygen
A nonrandomized trial conducted at two academic medical centers in 2020 encouraged awake inpatients with COVID-19 to position themselves on their stomachs and did not find any associated improvement in risk of worsening hypoxemia.
Low-value preop screening frequently led to additional low-value care, study finds
Chest X-rays and EKGs of low-risk patients before low- or intermediate-risk surgery were followed by high rates of repeat tests, follow-up imaging, and follow-up visits, according to a retrospective analysis of Veterans Health Administration data.
OPAT has similar safety, lower costs versus inpatient antibiotic therapy
Patients receiving outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) after hospitalization for bacterial infection had 90-day adverse event rates of 35.6% compared to 39.0% in those who stayed in the hospital for parenteral antimicrobial therapy, a retrospective Canadian study found.
Heart failure hospitalizations, costs increasing among young adults
Heart failure hospitalizations among adults ages 18 to 45 years increased from 2013 to 2018. More than half of patients were Black, and 45.8% lived in ZIP codes in the lowest quartile of national household income, a study found.