Internal medicine journal
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Internal medicine journal · Jan 2012
Managing acute medical admissions: a survey of acute medical services and medical assessment and planning units in New Zealand.
To determine the current provision of acute medical services, including the development of medical assessment and planning units (MAPUs), by district health boards (DHBs) throughout New Zealand (NZ). ⋯ Medical assessment and planning units have become an important component of acute medical service provision in NZ. The established units largely comply with Australasian recommendations, although important deficiencies exist. Training of physicians must combine the needs of acute medical patients and clinical roles of physicians within MAPUs with local DHB requirements for services to be most effective.
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Internal medicine journal · Jan 2012
Takotsubo cardiomyopathy: an Australian single centre experience with medium term follow up.
Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TC) is increasingly recognised in patients presenting with features of acute coronary syndrome. We present a single centre experience of TC with medium term follow up. ⋯ While TC is a reversible condition with low rates of complications and recurrence at follow up it is, as demonstrated in our cohort, associated with significant in-hospital morbidity in a proportion of patients.
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Internal medicine journal · Jan 2012
Multicenter StudyTransfer from residential aged care to emergency departments: an analysis of patient outcomes.
In order to design optimal systems to meet the acute healthcare needs of the frail elderly living in residential care, good clinical information is essential. The aims of this study were to analyse the casemix and outcomes of patients transferred from residential aged care facilities to public hospital emergency departments in New South Wales. ⋯ Patients transferred from aged care facilities to emergency departments are predominantly high-acuity patients with a substantial likelihood of hospitalisation, intervention and death. Nevertheless, scope exists for some episodes of acute care, in both discharged and admitted patients, to be provided outside a hospital setting.
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Internal medicine journal · Jan 2012
Time to bring down the twin towers in poor Aboriginal hospital care: addressing institutional racism and misunderstandings in communication.
Improvements in Aboriginal health have been slow. Research demonstrates ongoing discrimination towards Aboriginal Australians based on race, including in health services, leads to poor health outcomes. ⋯ It also explores the concept of institutional racism and challenges doctors to reflect on their role in perpetuating power imbalances. We argue that physicians and healthcare providers need to do more than just deliver evidence-based interventions, by critically reflecting on their own attitudes to and practices with Aboriginal Australians and work collectively to effect systemic change which creates a more inclusive and safe environment for all people accessing healthcare.