Journal of hospital medicine : an official publication of the Society of Hospital Medicine
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Handoffs are ubiquitous to Hospital Medicine and are considered a vulnerable time for patient safety. ⋯ The systematic review and resulting recommendations provide hospitalists a starting point from which to improve in-hospital handoffs.
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The American College of Physicians, Society of Hospital Medicine, and Society of General Internal Medicine convened a multi-stakeholder consensus conference in July 2007 to address the quality gaps in the transitions between inpatient and outpatient settings and to develop consensus standards for these transitions. Over 30 organizations sent representatives to the Transitions of Care Consensus Conference. ⋯ The Transitions of Care Consensus Conference made recommendations for standards concerning the transitions between inpatient and outpatient settings for future implementation. The American College of Physicians, Society of Hospital Medicine, Society of General Internal Medicine, American Geriatric Society, American College of Emergency Physicians, and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine all endorsed this document.
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Review Case Reports
Antibiotic considerations in the treatment of multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogens: a case-based review.
The recent rise in antimicrobial resistance among health-care associated pathogens is a growing public health concern. According to the National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance System, rates of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in intensive care units have nearly doubled over the last decade. ⋯ As a consequence, hospitalists may find themselves utilizing new antibiotics in the treatment of bacterial infections. This case-based review will highlight 8 antibiotics that have emerging clinical indications in treating these multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogens.
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Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is widely recognized as a serious and common complication associated with high morbidity and high costs. Given the complexity of caring for heterogeneous populations in the intensive care unit (ICU), however, there is still uncertainty regarding how to diagnose and manage VAP. ⋯ We present practical algorithms for diagnosing and managing VAP in mechanically ventilated patients. These algorithms may provide evidence-based real-time guidance to clinicians seeking a standardized approach to diagnosing and managing this challenging problem.