Risk Adjustment Tools for Learning Health Systems: A Comparison of DxCG and CMS-HCC V21.

Objective: To compare risk scores computed by DxCG (Verisk) and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) V21.

Research Design: Analysis of administrative data from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for fiscal years 2010 and 2011.

Study Design: We regressed total annual VA costs on predicted risk scores.

Intended and unintended effects of large-scale adverse event disclosure: a controlled before-after analysis of five large-scale notifications.

Background And Objective: How patients respond to being notified of a large-scale adverse event (LSAE), such as improper sterilisation of medical equipment that exposes them to bloodborne pathogens, is not well known. The objective of this study was to determine, using administrative data, the intended and unintended consequences of patient notification following a LSAE.

Methods: We examined five LSAEs where patients may have been inadvertently exposed to hepatitis C virus (HCV), HIV, and hepatitis B virus (HBV).

Clinical application of reticulocyte counts in dogs and cats.

Reticulocytes are anucleate immature red blood cells that contain a network of RNA, organelles, and mitochondria, which stain with supravital dyes. Both aggregate and punctate reticulocytes are present in domestic cats, and aggregate reticulocytes are used to assess the degree of regeneration in anemic dogs and cats. Multiple factors influence the degree of regenerative response to anemia.

Pleural fluid from a dog with marked eosinophilia.

A 12-year-old neutered male Shar-Pei was presented to the North Carolina State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital cardiology service with a 2-week history of coughing and a 2-day history of lethargy and anorexia. Pleural effusion and a mediastinal mass were detected with thoracic radiographs. Ten mL of fluid were removed via thoracocentesis, and cytologic examination of the fluid revealed marked eosinophilic inflammation and few atypical mast cells.