The Case for the Role of Primary Care in Patient Blood Management.

Patient blood management (PBM) is a patient-centered evidence-based strategy designed to preserve a patient's own blood and improve health outcomes. The effectiveness of PBM programs is now well-established globally within tertiary and secondary sectors, with demonstrable outcome benefits and cost savings. However, the role of primary care and the general practitioner in PBM is poorly understood.

The Perceived Impact of Iron Deficiency and Iron Therapy Preference in Exercising Females of Reproductive Age: A Cross-Sectional Survey Study.

Background: Patient perceptions of iron deficiency and efficacy of iron therapy may differ from the interpretations of doctors. Qualitative investigation at an individual level related may help define patient expectations and therapeutic targets. Therefore, we aimed to explore this concept in exercising females of reproductive age.

Nurses' understanding and management of iron deficiency in Australia: a cross-sectional, exploratory study.

Objectives: To assess the experiences and knowledge of nurses in the area of iron deficiency.

Design: A cross-sectional, exploratory study using online survey.

Setting: Data were collected from nurses working at various primary, secondary and tertiary Australian health practices and organisations.

Quality of drug interaction alerts in prescribing and dispensing software.

Objective: To investigate the quality of drug interaction decision support in selected prescribing and dispensing software systems, and to compare this information with that found in a range of reference sources.

Design And Setting: A comparative study, conducted between June 2006 and February 2007, of the support provided for making decisions about 20 major and 20 minor drug interactions in six prescribing and three dispensing software systems used in primary care in Australia. Five electronic reference sources were evaluated for comparison.