COVID-19 (Omicron strain) hospital admissions from a virtual ward - who required further care?

Background: The COVID-19 virtual ward was created to provide care for people at home with COVID-19. Given this was a new model of care, little was known about the clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients requiring admission to hospital from the virtual ward platform. The aims were to characterise hospital admission volume, patient epidemiology, clinical characteristics, and outcome from a virtual ward in the setting of an Omicron (BA.

Infection control behaviours, intra-household transmission and quarantine duration: a retrospective cohort analysis of COVID-19 cases.

Objectives: To study COVID-19 (Delta Variant) cases and close contacts co-located within households. Focusing on epidemiology of transmission of COVID-19, quarantine duration and utilisation of infection control behaviours under a telehealth model of care in an elimination setting.

Methods: A retrospective cohort analysis examined household spread of infection, duration of quarantine and change in PCR CT value during illness.

A Virtual Ward Model of Care for Patients With COVID-19: Retrospective Single-Center Clinical Study.

Background: COVID-19 has necessitated the implementation of innovative health care models in preparation for an influx of patients. A virtual ward model delivers clinical care remotely to patients in isolation. We report on an Australian cohort of patients with COVID-19 treated in a virtual ward.

Dextrose Prolotherapy Versus Control Injections in Painful Rotator Cuff Tendinopathy.

Objective: To compare the effect of dextrose prolotherapy on pain levels and degenerative changes in painful rotator cuff tendinopathy against 2 potentially active control injection procedures.

Design: Randomized controlled trial, blinded to participants and evaluators.

Setting: Outpatient pain medicine practice.

A case of Mycoplasma pneumoniae-associated encephalomyelitis in a 16-year-old female presenting to an adult teaching hospital.

We report a rare cause of encephalitis that is not often described in the adult clinical setting. Our case was a 16-year-old female who presented with a clinical picture of viral encephalitis; however, magnetic resonance imaging showed a demyelinating lesion of the left frontal lobe. In this age group, differential diagnoses of acute demyelination encephalomyelitis and multiple sclerosis were entertained.

Community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus endocarditis 'down under': case series and literature review.

Infective endocarditis is a common complication of Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia, but literature reports of community-associated methicillin-resistant S. aureus (CA-MRSA) endocarditis are relatively uncommon and mostly comprise intravenous drug users (IVDUs) with the USA300 strain. We report 5 cases of CA-MRSA endocarditis in previously healthy young Australian adults, 4 in IVDUs.

The paradox of readmission: effect of a quality improvement program in hospitalized patients with heart failure.

Background: Congestive heart failure (CHF) is an increasingly common condition associated with significant hospital resource utilization. Initiating better disease management at the time of initial hospital admission has the potential to reduce readmissions.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of a multifaceted quality improvement program on 12-month hospital utilization in patients admitted to hospital with CHF.

The use of cusum analysis in the early detection and management of hospital bed occupancy crises.

Objective: To assess the value of cusum analysis in hospital bed management.

Design: Comparative analysis of medical patient flows, bed occupancy, and emergency department admission rates and access block over 2 years.

Setting: Internal Medicine Services and Emergency Department in a teaching hospital.

Optimising care of acute coronary syndromes in three Australian hospitals.

Objective: To improve quality of in-hospital care of patients with acute coronary syndromes using a multifaceted quality improvement program.

Design: Prospective, before and after study of the effects of quality improvement interventions between October 2000 and August 2002. Quality of care of patients admitted between 1 October 2000 and 16 April 2001 (baseline) was compared with that of those admitted between 15 February 2002 and 31 August 2002 (post-intervention).

Achieving better in-hospital and after-hospital care of patients with acute cardiac disease.

In patients hospitalised with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) and congestive heart failure (CHF), evidence suggests opportunities for improving in-hospital and after-hospital care, patient self-care, and hospital-community integration. A multidisciplinary quality improvement program was designed and instigated in Brisbane in October 2000 involving 250 clinicians at three teaching hospitals, 1080 general practitioners (GPs) from five Divisions of General Practice, 1594 patients with ACS and 904 patients with CHF. Quality improvement interventions were implemented over 17 months after a 6-month baseline period and included: clinical decision support (clinical practice guidelines, reminders, checklists, clinical pathways); educational interventions (seminars, academic detailing); regular performance feedback; patient self-management strategies; and hospital-community integration (discharge referral summaries; community pharmacist liaison; patient prompts to attend GPs).

Using clinical indicators in a quality improvement programme targeting cardiac care.

Rationale: The Brisbane Cardiac Consortium, a quality improvement collaboration of clinicians from three hospitals and five divisions of general practice, developed and reported clinical indicators as measures of the quality of care received by patients with acute coronary syndromes or congestive heart failure.

Development Of Indicators: An expert panel derived indicators that measured gaps between evidence and practice. Data collected from hospital records and general practice heart-check forms were used to calculate process and outcome indicators for each condition.