Effects of Erythropoietin Payment Policy on Cardiovascular Outcomes of Peritoneal Dialysis Patients: Observational Study.

Background: The change in the reimbursement policy of erythropoietin administration to patients receiving peritoneal dialysis by the Taiwan National Health Insurance (NHI) system provided a natural experimental venue to examine whether cardiovascular risk differs when maintaining the hematocrit (Hct) level below or above 30%.

Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the impact of loosening the erythropoietin payment criteria for peritoneal dialysis patients on their cardiovascular outcomes.

Methods: Two cohorts of incident peritoneal dialysis patients were identified according to the time before and after relaxation of the NHI's erythropoietin payment criteria, designated cohort 1 (n=1759) and cohort 2 (n=2981), respectively.

Identifying the readiness of patients in implementing telemedicine in northern Louisiana for an oncology practice.

This study identified the readiness factors that may create challenges in the use of telemedicine among patients in northern Louisiana with cancer. To identify these readiness factors, the team of investigators developed 19 survey questions that were provided to the patients or to their caregivers. The team collected responses from 147 respondents from rural and urban residential backgrounds.

A study of longitudinal data examining concomitance of pain and cognition in an elderly long-term care population.

Purpose: To examine if a concomitant relationship exists between cognition and pain in an elderly population residing in long-term care.

Background/significance: Prior research has found that cognitive load mediates interpretation of a stimulus. In the presence of decreased cognitive capacity as with dementia, the relationship between cognition and increasing pain is unknown in the elderly.

Factors influencing teamwork and collaboration within a tertiary medical center.

Aim: To understand how work climate and related factors influence teamwork and collaboration in a large medical center.

Methods: A survey of 3462 employees was conducted to generate responses to Sexton's Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ) to assess perceptions of work environment via a series of five-point, Likert-scaled questions. Path analysis was performed, using teamwork (TW) and collaboration (CO) as endogenous variables.