Healthcare Costs and Medication Adherence Among Patients with Fibromyalgia: Combination Medication vs. Duloxetine, Milnacipran, Venlafaxine, and Pregabalin Initiators.

Objective: To examine medication adherence and healthcare costs for combination prescription initiators (duloxetine/milnacipran/venlafaxine with pregabalin) vs. monotherapy initiators (duloxetine, milnacipran, venlafaxine, and pregabalin) among patients with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS).

Methods: Our retrospective cohort study used claims data for the South Carolina Blue Cross Blue Shield State Health Plan (SHP).

Assessing the relationship between neighborhood factors and diabetes related health outcomes and self-care behaviors.

Background: Studies have shown that community and neighborhood characteristics can impact health outcomes of those with chronic illness, including T2DM. Factors, such as crime, violence, and lack of resources have been shown to be barriers to optimal health outcomes in diabetes. Thus, the objective of this study is to assess the effects of neighborhood factors on diabetes-related health outcomes and self-care behaviors.

Impact of Outpatient Rehabilitation Medicare Reimbursement Caps on Utilization and Cost of Rehabilitation Care After Ischemic Stroke: Do Caps Contain Costs?

Objective: To estimate the proportion of patients with ischemic stroke who fall within and above the total outpatient rehabilitation caps before and after the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 took effect; and to estimate the cost of poststroke outpatient rehabilitation cost and resource utilization in these patients before and after the implementation of the caps.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: Medicare reimbursement system.

The effects of a prelicensure extern program and nurse residency program on new graduate outcomes and retention.

Organizations are looking to new graduate nurses to fill expected staffing shortages over the next decade. Creative and effective onboarding programs will determine the success or failure of these graduates as they transition from student to professional nurse. This longitudinal quantitative study with repeated measures used the Casey-Fink Graduate Nurse Experience Survey to investigate the effects of offering a prelicensure extern program and postlicensure residency program on new graduate nurses and organizational outcomes versus a residency program alone.

Direct and indirect effects of neighborhood factors and self-care on glycemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes.

Aim: To determine whether neighborhood factors have direct or indirect effects, via self-care behaviors on glycemic control.

Methods: Adult patients with type 2 diabetes were recruited from an academic medical center and Veterans Affairs Medical Center in the southeastern United States. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to create latent variables for neighborhood factors and diabetes self-care behavior.

Effect of neighborhood factors on diabetes self-care behaviors in adults with type 2 diabetes.

Objective: The objective of this study was to identify latent variables for neighborhood factors and diabetes self-care and examine the effect of neighborhood factors on diabetes self-care in adults with type 2 diabetes.

Research Design And Methods: 615 subjects were recruited from an academic medical center and a Veterans affairs medical center in the southeastern United States. Validated scales were used to assess neighborhood factors and diabetes-related self-care.

Early treatment withdrawal from evidence-based psychotherapy for PTSD: telemedicine and in-person parameters.

Objective: To determine differences in reported barriers to treatment completion associated with telemedicine vs. in-person delivery of evidence-based treatment for PTSD in combat veterans.

Method: The present study was derived from two ongoing randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing in-person vs.

Marginal costing methods highlight the contributing cost of comorbid conditions in Medicare patients: a quasi-experimental case-control study of ischemic stroke costs.

Background: Cost of illness studies are needed to provide estimates for input into cost-effectiveness studies and as information drivers to resource allocation. However, these studies often do not differentiate costs associated with the disease of interest and costs of co-morbidities. The goal of this study was to identify the 1-year cost of ischemic stroke compared to the annual cost of care for a comparable non-stroke group of South Carolina (SC) Medicare beneficiaries resulting in a marginal cost estimate.

Nurse staffing and skill mix patterns: Are there differences in outcomes?

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact on patient outcomes of nurse staffing and registered nurse (RN) skill mix patterns used by medical-surgical units in California hospitals after enactment of nurse-to-patient staffing ratio laws, and determine if there are differences in patient outcomes for conditions that are considered sensitive to nursing care. Results from this study demonstrated an association between total nursing hours per patient day (NHPPD) and two outcomes: urinary tract infections (UTI) and length of stay (LOS). A stronger association was observed between the RN proportions of the total nursing hours of care and the same outcomes.

Post-traumatic stress disorder screening test performance in civilian primary care.

Purpose: we determined the test performance characteristics of four brief post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) screening tests in a civilian primary care setting.

Methods: this was a cross-sectional cohort study of adults attending a family medicine residency training clinic in the southeastern USA. Four hundred and eleven participants completed a structured telephone interview that followed an index clinic visit.

Traumatic events and mental health in civilian primary care: implications for training and practice.

Background And Objectives: Primary care research into post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is less developed than primary care depression research. This study documents lifetime traumatic events and past month depression and PTSD in adult patients of a large family medicine residency practice.

Methods: We used a telephone survey of 411 adult patients from a family medicine residency practice in the Southeastern United States.

The Presidential Scholars Program at the Medical University of South Carolina: an extracurricular approach to interprofessional education.

The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) developed a Presidential Scholars Program (PSP) in order to foster interprofessional collaboration among students from the different health professions on campus. Now in its seventh year, the program provides approximately 40 selected students each year from six different colleges with a two-semester interprofessional educational experience. Students work in small interprofessional teams on a project designed to address a broad-based health care issue; they also participate in other structured educational sessions throughout the year.

Barriers to hospice enrollment among lung cancer patients: a survey of family members and physicians.

Objective: Most patients diagnosed with lung cancer present with advanced stage disease and have a poor chance of long-term survival. Despite the advantages of hospice care for lung cancer patients, many are enrolled late in the course of their illness or not at all. We sought to identify reasons for this pattern.

The value of the Doctorate in Health Administration and Leadership at the Medical University of South Carolina.

This article describes the innovative Doctorate in Health Administration and Leadership Program at the Medical University of South Carolina. It is the first DHA program in the country and has now been in existence for eleven years. The article provides a description of the program's structure and a discussion of the program challenges and benefits to faculty as they deliver the executive doctorate program.

Non-pregnant patients' preference for delivery route.

The objective of the study was to survey non-pregnant women regarding their preference for obstetric delivery route and to assess their awareness of the maternal and fetal risks of obstetric delivery. We wished to determine the percentage of non-pregnant women who would choose elective cesarean section and to correlate demographic factors. We compared women who elected cesarean delivery versus vaginal delivery.

Importance of faith on medical decisions regarding cancer care.

Purpose: Decisions regarding cancer treatment choices can be difficult. Several factors may influence the decision to undergo treatment. One poorly understood factor is the influence of a patient's faith on how they make medical decisions.

The importance of interpersonal relationship factors in decisions regarding authorship.

Background And Objectives: Authorship on scientific articles is an important form of academic productivity. We examined the influence of personal and professional relationships on authorship decisions, particularly as they may conflict with stated criteria of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

Methods: We conducted an anonymous e-mail survey of corresponding authors of original research articles in the Archives of Family Medicine, British Medical Journal, New England Journal of Medicine, and the American Journal of Psychiatry in 1999.