Evaluation of the efficacy of a nurse practitioner-led home-based congestive heart failure clinical pathway.

Frequent exacerbations of symptoms and financial penalties for 30-day hospital readmissions of patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) have led to new disease management approaches. A nurse practitioner (NP)-led interdisciplinary program for CHF management that included home telemonitoring and early NP assessments and interventions was piloted by a home health agency. A 4-month evaluation of the efficacy of a clinical pathway for CHF patients resulted in the enrollment of 22 CHF patients in the program.

Inpatient prescribing and monitoring of fentanyl transdermal systems: adherence to safety regulations.

Background: National safety guidelines were developed to minimize the occurrence of serious adverse drug events (ADEs) associated with the use of the fentanyl transdermal system (FTS), however, reports of use in opioid-naïve patients for treatment of acute pain and associated ADEs continue to occur.

Objective: To evaluate the prescribing patterns of the FTS for adherence to recent US regulatory recommendations and identify the impact of health information technology (HIT) on adherence rates.

Methods: A retrospective pre- and postintervention analysis was performed in hospitalized adult patients receiving FTS.