The Utilization of 15-Minute Multidisciplinary Rounds to Reduce Length of Stay in Patients under Observation Status.

With the recent change to value-based care, institutions have struggled with the appropriate management of patients under observation. Observation status can have a huge impact on hospital and patient expenses. Institutions have implemented specialized observation units to provide better care for these patients.

Improving Hospital Length of Stay: Results of a Retrospective Cohort Study.

(1) Background: Jersey Shore University Medical Center (JSUMC) is a 646-bed tertiary medical center located in central New Jersey. Over the past several years, development and maturation of tertiary services at JSUMC has resulted in tremendous growth, with the inpatient volume increasing by 17% between 2016 and 2018. As hospital floors functioned at maximum capacity, the medical center was frequently forced into crisis mode with substantial increases in emergency department (ED) waiting times and a paradoxical increase in-hospital length of stay (hLOS).

African-American and Caucasian mortalities are the same after traumatic injury: pair matched analysis from a national data.

Background: African-Americans have worse outcomes than Caucasians in many clinical conditions studied, including trauma. We sought to analyze if mortality is different in these groups through analysis of a national data set.

Methods: Recent data from the national Trauma Quality Improvement Program were assessed with analysis, including all African-American or Caucasian patients who were brought to level I or level II trauma centers for care.

Learning Collaboratives in Medical Education: Exploring the Impact of Collaboratives' Structure and Resources and Teams' Experience.

The Alliance of Independent Academic Medical Centers (AIAMC) organized and coordinated a multicenter learning collaborative, National Initiative V (NI V), focused on community health and health inequity. A pre-post descriptive study was designed to examine the outcomes of the AIAMC NI V. Data were collected from pre- and post-assessment surveys as well as a project milestone self-assessment survey.

The use of sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors in patients with type 2 diabetes and hypertension: a focus on African-American populations.

Diabetes, hypertension, and severe kidney disease are all disproportionately prevalent in African-Americans. Clinical trials data from type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients have demonstrated that sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors have a positive effect on cardiovascular risk factors - such as improved blood glucose control, reduced body weight, and reduced blood pressure - and also support a possible renal-protective role for SGLT2 inhibitors. The EMPA-REG OUTCOME trial revealed that empagliflozin was associated with reduced adverse cardiovascular and renal outcomes.

A Call for Appropriate Evidence and Outcomes-Based Use and Measurement of Anticoagulation for Atrial Fibrillation: Moving the Population Towards Improved Health Via Multiple Stakeholders.

A multidimensional approach involving consideration of available resources, individual patient characteristics, patient preferences, and cost of treatment is often required to optimize clinical decision making in the management of atrial fibrillation (AF). In order to bring together varying perspectives on effective tactics and to formulate innovative strategies to improve the management of AF, a think tank consortium of advisors was assembled from across the spectrum of health care stakeholders. Focus groups were conducted and facilitated by a moderator and a notetaker.

Efficacy and safety of the dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor linagliptin in black/African American patients with type 2 diabetes: Pooled analysis from eight Phase III trials.

Background: The prevalence of type 2 diabetes in black/African Americans from North and South America is high; yet data evaluating antidiabetic agents in this population is scarce. To address this gap, we pooled data from the clinical development program for linagliptin.

Methods: A retrospective pooled analysis of eight completed randomized, placebo-controlled Phase III trials of linagliptin identified 336 patients with type 2 diabetes who self-identified their ethnicity as black or African American.

Hypertension in african americans aged 60 to 79 years: statement from the international society of hypertension in blacks.

A 2014 hypertension guideline raised goal systolic blood pressure (SBP) from <140 mm Hg to <150 mm Hg for adults 60 years and older without diabetes mellitus (DM) or chronic kidney disease (CKD). The authors aimed to define the status of hypertension in black adults 60 to 79 years from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2005-2012 and provide practical guidance. Black patients were more often aware and treated (P≤.

The dipeptidyl peptidase (DPP)-4 inhibitors for type 2 diabetes mellitus in challenging patient groups.

Treating hyperglycemia is a critical aspect of managing type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), but can be especially challenging in patients from vulnerable groups such as those with chronic kidney disease, African Americans, and older people. The dipeptidyl peptidase (DPP)-4 inhibitors are relatively new oral antidiabetes drugs that have been incorporated into treatment algorithms over the past few years and have also been studied in these vulnerable patients. Clinical trials with DPP-4 inhibitors have now been reported for all these patient groups and have demonstrated significant improvements in measures of hyperglycemia, with a good safety profile.

Hypertension in black patients: an update.

Black individuals are at high risk for hypertension and increased morbidity from cardiovascular and renal disease, in particular. Increased understanding of racial disparities in hypertension, in terms of risk factors, patient/physician behaviors, and treatment outcomes, is key to improving racially oriented care in black patients. Recent data suggest that black patients progress more rapidly from prehypertension to hypertension, highlighting the need for early and prompt intervention.

Special considerations of care and risk management for African American patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

It is well documented that African American populations are disproportionately affected by type 2 diabetes mellitus compared with their white counterparts. They have a higher prevalence of diabetes, a higher rate of diabetes-related complications, greater disability from these complications, and poorer control and quality of care. In order to improve diabetes care and outcomes in African Americans (and indeed all patients with diabetes), a multifactorial approach is needed to target all risk factors-not solely hyperglycemia-simultaneously.

Chlorthalidone: the forgotten diuretic.

Chlorthalidone's safety and efficacy in the management of hypertension has been demonstrated in landmark trials. Despite understanding the effects of thiazides on urinary sodium excretion and intravascular volume, the exact mechanism of their antihypertensive effects is not clearly understood. Common compensatory mechanisms for decreases in circulating plasma volume include increased adrenergic tone and systemic vascular resistance, as well as increases in the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system.

Management of high blood pressure in Blacks: an update of the International Society on Hypertension in Blacks consensus statement.

Since the first International Society on Hypertension in Blacks consensus statement on the "Management of High Blood Pressure in African American" in 2003, data from additional clinical trials have become available. We reviewed hypertension and cardiovascular disease prevention and treatment guidelines, pharmacological hypertension clinical end point trials, and blood pressure-lowering trials in blacks. Selected trials without significant black representation were considered.

Cost of hospital-acquired infection.

The authors assessed the costs of hospital-acquired infections using rigorous econometric methods on publicly available data, controlling for the interdependency of length of stay and the incidence of hospital acquired infection, and estimated the cost shares of different payers. They developed a system of equations involving length of stay, incidence of infection, and the total hospital care cost to be estimated using simultaneous equations system. The main data came from the State of New Jersey UB 92 for 2004, complimented with data from the Annual Survey of Hospitals by the American Hospital Association and the Medicare Cost Report of 2004.

Strategies for improving low health literacy.

More than 1 in 3 adults in the United States have low health literacy, which can adversely affect the quality and cost of health care. These individuals are less likely than those who are health literate to be knowledgeable about their chronic diseases and possess adequate self-management skills, and are more likely to make medication errors. Demographic risk factors alone cannot identify such patients.

Are tolerability concerns a class effect of beta-blockers in treating patients with hypertension?

Beta-blockers (beta-blockers) have demonstrated their value across the cardiovascular disease spectrum. Beta-blockers effectively lower blood pressure in patients with hypertension and provide symptomatic or mortality benefits in patients with heart failure and in post-myocardial infarction patients. However, despite their utility, beta-blockers remain underused.

Predictors of sustained walking among diabetes patients in managed care: the Translating Research into Action for Diabetes (TRIAD) study.

Background: Although patients with diabetes may benefit from physical activity, few studies have examined sustained walking in this population.

Objective: To examine the factors associated with sustained walking among managed care patients with diabetes.

Design: Longitudinal, observational cohort study with questionnaires administered 2.