A new form of aspirin--"Catalgix Forte". Its acceptability and effectiveness.
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Analgesia↗
Biomedical subjects
M A Chamberlain
Publications and source records attributed to M A Chamberlain.
A team approach to hospital formulary replacement.
A multidisciplinary antibiotic review team (MART) was implemented to improve patient care and reduce antimicrobial expenditures. MART consists of pharmacists and infectious disease (ID) physicians reviewing patients three times weekly. Antibiotic expenditures were reduced by recommending conversions to therapeutically equivalent antibiotics, conversion to an oral agent, and completion of treatment with home infusion therapy. In addition, MART proposed therapeutic interchanges from ceftriaxone to cefotaxime to the P and T committee. ID physician or pharmacist offered recommendations and initiated order changes if the attending physician agreed. Annualized savings was $74,371, with 40% of the recommendations resulting in an improved antimicrobial therapy.
Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
Health communication: making the most of new media technologies--an international overview.
Not since the hundred years following Gutenberg's invention of the printing press in c. 1450 has there been such a tidal wave of change in the way humans communicate. We are moving from the Age of Mass Communication into the Age of Interactive Communication, in which many of the old communication models will be insufficient or redundant. The rate of diffusion of these new media technologies almost defies comprehension. The convergence of computer, telecommunication, and televisual technologies is presenting the consumer with a myriad of choices. The challenge for the communicator is to find a way through this maze and to ensure that the message is received. For the health communication professional, the urgency of the message often adds further difficulty to the task. Differing rates of diffusion internationally and a confusion of technologies do not make the problem any easier.
Communication↗
Congratulations but no congratulations: should physicians do more to support their patients at work?
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Employment↗
Successful implementation of a guideline program for the rational use of lipid-lowering drugs.
Following the National Cholesterol Educational Program's (NCEP) 1988 screening and treatment recommendations, an educational and behavior-change program at Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound (GHC) was developed to guide the use of lipid-lowering drugs within the larger context of cardiac risk reduction. The program has been successful in advancing a rational program to enhance care and manage costs of the use of lipid-lowering agents at GHC. Cost savings have been significant over the past two years. The educational design of the program includes training and ongoing education of a core group of "lipid gurus," who educate colleagues in area medical centers in a rational approach to hyperlipidemia. Patient education and patient participation in decision-making was emphasized. Program evaluation has demonstrated that physicians and patients are satisfied with the program, and inappropriate drug expenditures have been prevented. Key elements of the program include a critical review of outcome studies in the medical literature, use of information systems, algorithms and written materials organized into a well-designed, ongoing educational program, and development of a core group of physicians and pharmacists to administer the program at the clinic level.
Algorithms↗
Comparison of anticoagulation clinic patient outcomes with outcomes from traditional care in a family medicine clinic.
BACKGROUND: Giving patients oral anticoagulation therapy in an ambulatory clinic setting is associated with substantial risk of adverse outcomes leading to emergency department visits and unplanned inpatient admissions. This article describes an effectiveness study conducted in a well-characterized family practice setting that compares anticoagulation outcomes in patients managed by a traditional care model with outcomes obtained with an anticoagulation clinic model. METHODS: All study patients received continuous anticoagulation care at the Family Medicine of Southwest Washington (FMSW) clinic during the 1-year study period. The method was retrospective and used linked record review, including outpatient, inpatient, and emergency department records. Patients were divided into two groups as naturally observed: those treated in the clinic by traditional care compared with those treated in an anticoagulation clinic model. Data analyses compared the two groups in terms of patient demographics, anticoagulation control, and inpatient admissions and emergency department visits that were related to clotting or bleeding events. RESULTS: There were no differences in demographic variables between the anticoagulation clinic and traditional care groups. There was a statistically significant difference in anticoagulation control as measured by international normalized ratio (INR) values. The anticoagulation clinic group had fewer INR values outside the target range, +/- 0.1, than the traditional care group (40.4% vs 47.3% P = .022). The anticoagulation clinic group also had significantly fewer INR tests drawn more than 6 weeks apart than the traditional care group (3.7% vs 8.1% P = .01). There was no statistically significant difference in emergency department visit rates caused by adverse events. Inpatient admission rates for the anticoagulation clinic and traditional care groups were not statistically different; however, they were clinically different (4.7 vs 19.7 admissions per 100 patient years of therapy P = .15). CONCLUSIONS: More anticoagulation patients treated by the anticoagulation clinic model at FMSW received an INR test at least every 6 weeks than those treated by the traditional care model, and more of their INR results were within target range +/- 0.1 when compared with the traditional care model.
Aged↗