Factors associated with unprotected exposure to 2009 H1N1 influenza A among healthcare workers during the first wave of the pandemic.

Protecting healthcare workers (HCWs) from occupational exposure to 2009 H1N1 influenza was a challenge. During the first wave of the pandemic, many HCWs reported that they had been exposed to 2009 H1N1 when they were not using respiratory personal protective equipment. Unprotected exposures tended to be more frequent among HCWs caring for patients with atypical clinical presentations.

Frequency of failure to inform patients of clinically significant outpatient test results.

Background: Failing to inform a patient of an abnormal outpatient test result can be a serious error, but little is known about the frequency of such errors or the processes for managing results that may reduce errors.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective medical record review of 5434 randomly selected patients aged 50 to 69 years in 19 community-based and 4 academic medical center primary care practices. Primary care practice physicians were surveyed about their processes for managing test results, and individual physicians were notified of apparent failures to inform and asked whether they had informed the patient.