SISTER (system implementation of select transfers in emergency room) model to reduce ED boarding.

Objective: This study describes a novel transfer model implemented between an academic, level 1 trauma center (Hospital A) and a nearby affiliate community hospital (Hospital B). Primary outcome is change in boarding hours and percentage of boarders in the Hospital A emergency department. Secondary objectives of this study include how improved flow in the emergency department to reduce boarding improves length of stay, prevents patients from escalating to more acute acuity levels of care, reduces patient morbidity and mortality and therefore improves health care costs as well.

Recommendations from the First National Academic Consortium of Telehealth.

In January 2015, the US Secretary of Health and Human Services announced targets for the transformation of Medicare reimbursement from a fee-for-service model to payments based on alternative payment models. People now use technology for virtually everything - from paying bills to purchasing almost anything; it is therefore natural to think that they will use technology to take ownership of their own health care. The remote provision of health care, where providers and patients are not in the same location, will allow patients to receive the right care, at the right time, at the right place, and in the manner they consider right for them.

Introduction of an electronic medical record system into physician practice offices: why is it so #%!&-ing hard for everybody?--Part III.

U.S. physician offices are experiencing a revolutionary change in the microprocesses that have been the norm for documenting and communicating in regard to patient care for decades.

Introduction of an electronic medical record system into physician practice offices: why is it so #%!&-ing hard for everybody?-Part II.

Medical practice offices are experiencing a revolutionary change in the microprocesses that have been the norm for documenting and communicating patient care for decades. While this revolution is welcome for dozens of good reasons, migration of data storage from the paper-based record to electronic form often causes considerable stress for all involved. This three-part series looks at electronic medical record implementations from organizational and sociological perspectives, and draws attention to the often unappreciated aspects of medical work that give rise to the stress.

Introduction of an electronic medical record system into physician practice offices: why is it so #%!&-ing hard for everybody?-Part I.

U.S. physician offices are experiencing a revolutionay change in the micro-processes that have been the norm for documenting and communicating patient care over past decades.

Mankind's first natural stem cell transplant.

The timing of the umbilical cord clamping at birth is still controversial. In the modern era of medicine, the cord has been clamped early to facilitate resuscitation and stabilization of infants. However, recently delayed cord clamping has been supported by physicians because it allows for the physiological transfer of blood from the placenta to the infant.

Intravenous administration of human umbilical cord blood cells in an animal model of MPS III B.

Sanfilippo syndrome type B (MPS III B) is caused by a deficiency of alpha-N-acetylglucosaminidase enzyme (Naglu), leading to accumulation of heparan sulfate (HS), a glycosaminoglycan (GAG), within lysosomes and to eventual progressive cerebral and systemic multiple organ abnormalities. Treatment of MPS patients is mainly supportive and enzyme replacement cell therapy shows promise for treating this disease. One new approach for potential treatment of MPS III B is human umbilical cord blood (hUCB) cell transplantation.

Inflammation and stem cell migration to the injured brain in higher organisms.

Current treatments of neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease and stroke are only partially effective. Consequently new therapies such as cell transplantation are of great interest. Cell therapy has shown promising results in animal models and in limited clinical trials.

From the basics to application of cell therapy, a steppingstone to the conquest of neurodegeneration: a meeting report.

The annual meeting of the American Society for Neural Therapy and Repair (ASNTR) showcases the latest research trends in neurodegenerative disease and the related medical regenerative science. The 2008 ASNTR meeting covered a variety of different topics ranging from basic research to exploration of currently unknown pathogenesis and mechanisms for specific neurodegenerative disease such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, or stroke. This included studies to characterize stem cells, such as neural stem cells, embryonic stem cells, bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells, and human umbilical cord blood cells, for transplantation and the conditions necessary to maximize the efficacy of endogenous and exogenous stem cells, such as isolation, purification, differentiation, and migration.

Stem Cell Research and Health Education.

Stem cells are being touted as the greatest discovery for the potential treatment of a myriad of diseases in the new millennium, but there is still much research to be done before it will be known whether they can live up to this description. There is also an ethical debate over the production of one of the most valuable types of stem cell: the embryonic form. Consequently, there is public confusion over the benefits currently being derived from the use of stem cells and what can potentially be expected from their use in the future.

Umbilical cord blood research: current and future perspectives.

Umbilical cord blood (UCB) banking has become a new obstetrical trend. It offers expectant parents a biological insurance policy that can be used in the event of a child or family member's life-threatening illness and puts patients in a position of control over their own treatment options. However, its graduation to conventional therapy in the clinical realm relies on breakthrough research that will prove its efficacy for a range of ailments.

Collision course: the privatization of graduate medical education at one university.

On December 18, 2003, Tenet Healthcare Corporation, an investor-owned hospital corporation, announced the closure of Medical College of Pennsylvania Hospital, a historic institution that was home to many of Drexel University College of Medicine's (DUCOM's) faculty, residents, and medical students. The authors summarize the steps that were taken and lessons learned to avoid a disruption in the education of over 200 residents. The authors highlight the response by the medical school; the concerns of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME); the interaction between the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the ACGME; the importance of the designated institutional official (DIO) in a crisis situation; and the role of residents as students versus employees when their employer wishes to move or "trade" them to another institution.

Novel cell therapy approaches for brain repair.

Numerous reports elucidate that tissue-specific stem cells are phenotypically plastic and their differentiation pathways are not strictly delineated. Although the identity of all the epigenetic factors which may trigger stem cells to make a lineage selection are still unknown, the plasticity of adult stem cells opens new approaches for their application in the treatment of various disorders. There is increasing researcher interest in hematopoietic stem cells for treatment of not only blood-related diseases but also various unrelated disorders including neurodegenerative diseases.

Maternal transplantation of human umbilical cord blood cells provides prenatal therapy in Sanfilippo type B mouse model.

Numerous data support passage of maternal cells into the fetus during pregnancy in both human and animal models. However, functional benefits of maternal microchimerism in utero are unknown. The current study attempted to take advantage of this route for prenatal delivery of alpha-N-acetylglucosaminidase (Naglu) enzyme into the enzyme-deficient mouse model of Sanfilippo syndrome type B (MPS III B).

Umbilical cord blood-derived stem cells and brain repair.

Human umbilical cord blood (HUCB) is now considered a valuable source for stem cell-based therapies. HUCB cells are enriched for stem cells that have the potential to initiate and maintain tissue repair. This potential is especially attractive in neural diseases for which no current cure is available.