February 7, 2024
High stakes: Considerations about cannabis
More Americans are taking cannabis, complicating inpatient care. Understanding patients' use patterns and history is key to mitigating risks during a hospital stay.
Genetic test for opioid disorder risk approved
The new test is to be used prior to patients' first exposure to oral opioids for the treatment of acute pain. Other recent FDA actions include a recall of overly potent IV drugs.
Hospitalists offer lessons from past diagnostic successes, errors
Interviews with 24 experienced hospitalists revealed five themes from their thoughts on improving diagnostics.
Implement 4 E's to reduce low-value inpatient care, article proposes
A new framework, modeled after the hierarchy of effectiveness, proposes four steps to reduce use of low-value care, such as unnecessary telemetry, repeat labs, and urinary catheters, on medical wards.
Oxygen saturation targets not related to long-term outcomes in critically ill adults
Cognition, quality of life, and related outcomes did not differ at 12 months among patients with lower, intermediate, or higher oxygen saturation targets while on mechanical ventilation, a retrospective study found.
Hospitalizations for opportunistic infections in HIV declined from 2011 to 2018
While the rate of hospitalization for an opportunistic infection per 100,000 U.S. patients with HIV went down, the associated inpatient mortality rate held stable, at 5.9%, and disparities by age, sex, race, and insurance status were found in a recent study.