Annals of internal medicine
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Despite some impressive recent gains, improving the glaring deficiencies in health care quality is proving to be very hard. Improvement is local, rather than system-wide, and is sustained with difficulty, rather than becoming an intrinsic feature of care. My right knee will probably need to be replaced soon. ⋯ Although at this point individual institutions can meet some of these requirements, no single institution can deliver on all of them. Generating the energy, insight, and courage we need to get to "total quality" may require those of us who work in health care to get much better at seeing images of ourselves in the people we help. As Gandhi said, "You must be the change you wish to see in the world."
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Cognitive psychology is the science that examines how people reason, formulate judgments, and make decisions. This case involves a patient given a diagnosis of pharyngitis, whose ultimate diagnosis of osteomyelitis was missed through a series of cognitive shortcuts. These errors include the availability heuristic (in which people judge likelihood by how easily examples spring to mind), the anchoring heuristic (in which people stick with initial impressions), framing effects (in which people make different decisions depending on how information is presented), blind obedience (in which people stop thinking when confronted with authority), and premature closure (in which several alternatives are not pursued). Rather than trying to completely eliminate cognitive shortcuts (which often serve clinicians well), becoming aware of common errors might lead to sustained improvement in patient care.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Comparing self-management of oral anticoagulant therapy with clinic management: a randomized trial.
Control of oral anticoagulant treatment has been reported to be suboptimal, but previous studies suggest that patient self-management improves control. ⋯ Compared with conventional management by an anticoagulation clinic, self-management of oral anticoagulant treatment achieved a similar level of control. Of note, major complications and minor hemorrhages were less common in the self-management group.
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The association of light to moderate alcohol consumption with risk for ischemic stroke remains controversial, as do the roles of beverage type and drinking pattern. ⋯ In this sample of male health professionals, light and moderate average alcohol use was generally not associated with an increased risk for ischemic stroke, although drinking pattern and beverage type modified this relation. Intake of more than 2 drinks per day may be associated with a higher risk for ischemic stroke.