Predictors of Post-traumatic stress symptomology in parents of infants with Congenital Heart Disease post-surgery and after four months.

Purpose: To identify predictors of post-traumatic stress symptomology among parents of infants with complex congenital heart defects at hospital discharge and after 4 months.

Design & Methods: A secondary analysis utilizing data from a larger RCT performed in three pediatric cardiac centers in North America. Analysis included 158 parent-infant dyads.

Electronic health records improve clinical note quality.

Background And Objective: The clinical note documents the clinician's information collection, problem assessment, clinical management, and its used for administrative purposes. Electronic health records (EHRs) are being implemented in clinical practices throughout the USA yet it is not known whether they improve the quality of clinical notes. The goal in this study was to determine if EHRs improve the quality of outpatient clinical notes.

QNOTE: an instrument for measuring the quality of EHR clinical notes.

Background And Objective: The outpatient clinical note documents the clinician's information collection, problem assessment, and patient management, yet there is currently no validated instrument to measure the quality of the electronic clinical note. This study evaluated the validity of the QNOTE instrument, which assesses 12 elements in the clinical note, for measuring the quality of clinical notes. It also compared its performance with a global instrument that assesses the clinical note as a whole.

A primer on the unique challenges of female soldiers' reproductive issues in a war-ready culture.

In 1951, a U.S. Presidential Executive Order outlined regulations governing the involuntary separation of women from military service in the event of pregnancy, parenting, or giving live birth while on commissioned service.

Variability in the rate of prescription and cost of domiciliary oxygen therapy in Australia.

Objectives: To determine the rate of prescription of and government expenditure for domiciliary oxygen therapy (DOT) in Australia, and to identify interstate differences in rates, costs and service provision.

Design: Retrospective observational study.

Participants And Setting: Government departments and health services (state and federal) that funded DOT in Australia in the 2004-05 financial year (including the Department of Veterans' Affairs [DVA] and the Department of Health and Ageing [DoHA]).

The Pan-Thames EPS study: treatment and outcomes of encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis.

Background: Encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis (EPS) is a disease process that can occur as a complication of peritoneal dialysis (PD). The aim of this study was to make a general assessment of the clinical features, diagnosis, management and outcome of PD-related EPS cases from London and South-East England.

Methods: Questionnaires were sent to 11 PD units in March 2007; cases were identified retrospectively.

The cost of privatization: extra payments to Medicare Advantage plans--updated and revised.

The Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 sharply increased payments to private Medicare Advantage plans. As a result, every plan in every county in the nation was paid more in 2005 than its enrollees would have been expected to cost if they had been enrolled in traditional fee-for-service Medicare. The authors calculate that payments to Medicare Advantage plans averaged 12.

Combining bioengineered human dermal replacement and multilayered compression dressings to manage ulcers in a person with diabetes mellitus: a case study.

Multiple modalities exist for the care of lower extremity ulcers associated with venous insufficiency and complications of diabetes mellitus, (eg, neuropathy). Although reports about the use of topical adjunctive treatment modalities in the treatment of foot ulcers in persons with diabetes mellitus exist, little is known about the safety of topical treatment when used in combination with compression therapy to manage venous insufficiency. A patient with diabetes mellitus, neuropathy, a 3.

Impact of electronic aids to daily living on the lives of persons with cervical spinal cord injuries.

Structured interviews were used to evaluate the impact of electronic aids to daily living (EADL) on functional abilities and psychosocial well-being. The participants included 32 adults (26 men, 6 women; mean age of 39 years) with cervical spinal cord injuries. The experiences of 16 EADL users were compared with a control group of 16 nonusers, using the Functional Autonomy Measuring Scale, the Lincoln Outcome Measures for Environmental Controls, and the Psychosocial Impact of Assistive Devices Scale.

Medicare extra: a comprehensive benefit option for Medicare beneficiaries.

The proposed Part E, Medicare Extra, outlined in this paper adds a comprehensive benefit option to Medicare, eliminating the need for beneficiaries to purchase a private drug plan and Medigap supplemental coverage. Financed by a budget-neutral beneficiary premium, it has the advantages of greater simplicity, efficiency, and value without adding to federal costs. Beneficiaries now enrolled in Medigap plans would save money, as could employers by choosing a lower-cost alternative to current retiree health plans.

Riding the rollercoaster: the ups and downs in out-of-pocket spending under the standard Medicare drug benefit.

This study projects how much Medicare beneficiaries who sign up for the standard Part D drug benefit in 2006 will pay in quarterly out-of-pocket payments through 2008. In the first year we estimate that about 38 percent of enrollees will hit the benefit's no-coverage zone, known as the "doughnut hole," and that 14 percent will exceed the catastrophic threshold. Because drug spending is highly persistent over time, beneficiaries who experience the biggest gaps in coverage are likely to do so year after year, with potentially serious financial consequences.

Prescription drug coverage and seniors: findings from a 2003 national survey.

Beginning in 2006 the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act (MMA) will offer pharmacy benefits to forty-two million Medicare beneficiaries nationwide. In a 2003 national survey of Medicare beneficiaries age sixty-five and older, more than one-quarter reported no prescription coverage, and nearly half of low-income seniors in some states lacked coverage. Wide coverage differences among states highlight implementation challenges and the need for tailored enrollment strategies.

The cost of privatization: extra payments to Medicare Advantage plans.

The recently enacted Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) includes a broad set of provisions intended to enlarge the role of private health plans (called Medicare Advantage plans) in Medicare. This issue brief examines the payments that private plans are receiving in 2004 relative to costs in traditional fee-for-service Medicare, using data from the 2004 Medicare Advantage Rate Calculation Data spreadsheet. The authors find that, for 2004, Medicare Advantage payments will average 8.

Leishmaniasis in Sicily (Italy): an investigation of the distribution and prevalence of phlebotomine sandflies in Catania Province.

Catania province, Sicily, is an important foci for human visceral leishmaniasis. Current data indicate an annual average incidence of 10 registered cases per year during the past 3 years. Of registered cases, more than 20% were among individuals who were also human immunodeficiency virus positive.