Implementation of telehealth antimicrobial stewardship through partnership of an academic medical center and a community hospital.

Purpose: Small community hospitals often lack the human, financial, and technological resources necessary to implement and maintain successful antimicrobial stewardship programs now required by national regulatory and accrediting bodies. Creative solutions are needed to address this problem.

Summary: A 3-stage, quasi-experimental study including patients receiving antibiotics for pneumonia, skin and soft tissue infections, and urinary tract infections at a community hospital in Wisconsin from June 2013 to December 2015 was conducted.

Insulin resistance and incident heart failure the ARIC study (Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities).

Objectives: This study was designed to assess the relationship between insulin resistance and incident heart failure (HF) in a community-based cohort.

Background: Diabetes mellitus increases the risk for HF, but the association between insulin resistance and HF in individuals without diabetes is unclear.

Methods: We prospectively analyzed 12,606 participants without diabetes mellitus, prevalent HF, or history of myocardial infarction at baseline (1987 to 1989) from the ARIC (Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities) study.

New pharmacological treatments for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections.

Introduction: Despite available treatment options for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), the morbidity and mortality attributed to the diverse infection manifestations of this pathogen remain high. More anti-MRSA agents are needed as options for treatment of these infections. Ideally, these new agents would be rapidly bactericidal for bloodstream clearance in septic patients, have few toxicities, be active against MRSA in biofilms, be easy to administer, and have oral bioavailability.

Nonprescription medication use in patients with heart failure: assessment methods, utilization patterns, and discrepancies with medical records.

Background: The use of over-the-counter products, herbals, and vitamins or supplements (collectively termed "nonprescription medications") is common among individuals with cardiovascular disease. We sought to determine patterns and predictors of nonprescription medication use and assessed whether different survey methodology may result in variable patient reporting of these products.

Methods And Results: We surveyed 161 patients with heart failure.