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Biomedical subjects

B E Beyt

Publications and source records attributed to B E Beyt.

14 recordsLinked to original sources

Managing and redesigning the continuum of care: the value chain model.

Systems of care have to be managed, measured, and continuously improved. In the current health care environment, the integration of clinical medicine, systems thinking, and quality management disciplines provides needed tools and skills and identifies key leverage points and learning opportunities to improve the quality of services delivered. This article presents the value chain model and plan, designed to assist managers, physicians, and organizations in managing and redesigning the continuum of care.

Case Management↗

Description of case-mix adjusters by the Severity of Illness Working Group of the Society of Hospital Epidemiologists of America (SHEA).

Hospitals, insurance companies, and federal and state governments are increasingly concerned about reducing patient cost expenditures while maintaining high quality patient care. One method of reducing expenditures has been to tie hospital reimbursement with a prospective payment system based on diagnosis-related groups (DRGs). However, reimbursement under the DRG system is not acceptable for all patients in all hospitals because it is neither an accurate predictor of costs nor of clinical outcome. This deficiency poses significant problems for hospitals because DRGs are used nationwide as the prospective payment system for inpatients covered by Medicare. Several case-mix adjusters have been proposed to modify DRGs to improve their accuracy in predicting costs and outcome. We reviewed five of the most widely available indices: Acute Physiologic and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE II), Coded Disease Staging, Computerized Severity Index (CSI), Medical Illness Severity Group System (MEDISGROUPS), and Patient Management Categories (PMC). Recommendations for the use of a single case-mix adjuster cannot be made at this time because all indices have not been compared in sufficiently diverse settings and because some are better predictors of costs while others are better predictors of clinical outcome. Hospital epidemiologists and other infection control practitioners should be informed about these indices and their potential applications as they expand their role beyond infection control problems to issues concerning cost containment, quality assurance, and reimbursement.

Cost Control↗

Loiasis and renal failure.

A patient with a filarial infection due to Loa loa and renal failure was treated with a modified regimen of diethylcarbamazine while receiving hemodialysis. Infection with Loa loa may be associated with glomerulonephritis due to immunologically mediated injury. Serum immune complexes were elevated in our patient, and a kidney biopsy specimen revealed globally sclerosed glomeruli. As gauged by the clearance of the microfilaremia, the treatment regimen proved safe and effective.

Adult↗

Cutaneous mycobacteriosis: analysis of 34 cases with a new classification of the disease.

Several points can be made from analysis of the published cases of cutaneous mycobacteriosis and those in our series: 1) mycobacterial cutaneous infections are probably more common than is reported-we collected 34 cases over a 10-year period; 2) most patients with cutaneous infections caused by nontuberculous mycobacteria have significant underlying disease; 3) there is a relative lack of classic histologic features in patients with cutaneous mycobacteriosis, and there appear to be diverse forms of clinical presentation; 4) a high index of suspicion is needed in evaluating patients with possible cutaneous mycobacteriosis, and appropriate cultures must be done to establish the diagnosis. In attempting to provide a practical classification of cutaneous mycobacteriosis which includes infection by nontuberculous mycobacteria, we propose the following grouping, which uses simple terms, avoids confusing nomenclature, and incorporates pathophysiologic descriptions and prognostic information: 1) Mycobacteriosis caused by inoculation from an exogenous source. 2) Cutaneous mycobacteriosis caused by spread from an endogenous source. Contiguous spread originates most often with osteomyelitis, but also occurs through autoinoculation of the perirectal, oral, or vaginal skin as organisms are passed or expectorated from pulmonary or genitourinary tuberculosis. 3) Cutaneous mycobacteriosis caused by hematogenous spread. This group includes lupus vulgaris, nodules and abscesses, and acute disease with hemorrhagic pustules. Some mycobacterioses will be difficult to classify when inoculation or hematogenous spread cannot be ruled out. However, the system of classification we have proposed should help clinicians understand and diagnose the diverse forms of cutaneous mycobacterial infections.

Adult↗

The accuracy of diagnosing pulmonary tuberculosis at a teaching hospital.

Accuracy of the clinical diagnosis of tuberculosis and of the mycobacteriology laboratory test results was assessed in a teaching hospital by reviewing clinical and microbiologic data on patients from whom Mycobacterium tuberculosis had been recovered. Mycobacteria were isolated in 230 of 6,550 specimens (3.5%). Clinical data were available for 42 patients with tuberculosis, 20 of whom had significant underlying nonmycobacterial disease. Positive tuberculin skin tests wee recorded for 90% of the patients with no underlying disease and for 29% of the patients with underlying disease. Tuberculosis was not suspected initially in 16 of 32 patients with pulmonary disease, and had not been diagnosed by the time of discharge in 10 patients. Of all respiratory specimens from patients with cavitary disease, 57% of the acid-fast stains and 96% of the cultures were positive. In contrast, 32% of stains and 70% of cultures were positive from patients with noncavitary pulmonary tuberculosis. One false-positive acid-fast stain was observed during this study.

Bronchi↗

Human pulmonary pasteurellosis.

Pasteurella multocida causes hemorrhagic septicemia in many domestic and wild animals. The most common human infection with P multocida is a local cellulitis following animal-inflicted wounds, preponderantly cat bites and scractches. The typical clinical manifestations and complications have been well described previously. We present three cases of pulmonary pasteurellosis that were recently evaluated by the infectious diseases service at Barnes Hospital. In three additional cases, the technologists in the microbiology laboratory isolated P multocida from respiratory tract secretions.

Aged↗

Successful treatment of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis in the immunocompromised host.

We have reported the successful treatment of a patient with acute leukemia complicated by pulmonary aspergillosis, a commonly fatal situation. Specific diagnosis was obtained easily by transbronchial lung biopsy. Our therapeutic approach included aggressive treatment of both the underlying malignant process and the aspergillosis with a combination of amphotericin B and rifampin.

Amphotericin B↗

Fatal pneumonitis and septicemia after fiberoptic bronchoscopy.

This report describes the development of fatal pneumococcal pneumonia and septicemia following fiberoptic bronchoscopic examination and endobronchial biopsy of a patient with severe chronic congestive heart failure. Although a causal relationship has not been proven, the temporal sequence seems to favor this over a coincidental nosocomial infection. This case emphasizes that significant and occasionally fatal infectious complications may occur following fiberoptic bronchoscopic examination.

Aged↗