Is the Meaningful Use Venous Thromboembolism VTE-6 Measure Meaningful? A Retrospective Analysis of One Hospital's VTE-6 Cases.

Background: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a common, often deadly cause of preventable harm for hospitalized patients. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Meaningful Use VTE-6 measure automatically captures data documented in a Meaningful Use-certified electronic health record (EHR) to identify patients with potentially preventable VTE, defined as those who developed radiologically confirmed, in-hospital VTE and did not receive prophylaxis between admission and the day prior to the diagnostic test order date. The validity of the Meaningful Use VTE-6 measure was assessed by reviewing the quality of VTE prophylaxis provided to patients identified by the measure.

Dehydrated human amnion/chorion membrane treatment of venous leg ulcers: correlation between 4-week and 24-week outcomes.

Objective: To evaluate correct correlation between an intermediate rate of wound reduction (40% wound area reduction after 4-weeks treatment) and complete healing at 24 weeks in patients with a venous leg ulcer (VLU).

Method: A retrospective follow-up study of patients completing a multicenter randomised controlled trial (RCT) comparing the number of patients achieving at least 40% healing of their VLU within 4-weeks of treatment with either dehydrated human amnion/chorion membrane (dHACM) allograft or multilayer compression only was conducted. Outcomes assessed were rates of complete healing within 24 weeks of enrolment and days to healing.

Pneumatic compression device treatment of lower extremity lymphedema elicits improved limb volume and patient-reported outcomes.

Objectives: Examine the effectiveness of an advanced pneumatic compression device (APCD) in reducing limb volume (LV), and to evaluate clinician and patient-reported outcomes.

Design: Device registry study.

Materials And Methods: Data were collected prospectively for 196 lower extremity lymphedema patients prescribed an APCD.

Use of and satisfaction with a browser-based nurse teaching tool in a surgical intensive care unit.

Our goal was to determine if a computerized teaching tool is an effective teaching method for nurses in a high-stress fast-paced intensive care unit. We also measured the level of satisfaction with this method of instruction. Thirty-six surgical intensive care nurses used a Web-based Microsoft PowerPoint presentation located on the intranet at nursing stations located on the surgical intensive care unit (SICU).