Health Care Use Among Patients Retroactively Insured via a Hospital-Based Insurance Linkage Program.

Objective: Over 25% of the 27 million uninsured individuals in the United States are eligible for Medicaid. Many hospitals have insurance linkage programs that assist eligible patients with enrollment, but little is known about the impact of these programs on care utilization. This research assessed health care utilization and health outcomes among patients enrolled in Medicaid via a hospital-based insurance linkage program.

Association between surgical quality and long-term survival in lung cancer.

Objectives: There are significant variations in both perioperative and long-term outcomes after lung cancer resection. While perioperative outcomes are often used as comparative measures of quality, they are unreliable, and their association with long-term outcomes remain unclear. In this context, we evaluated whether historical perioperative mortality after lung cancer resection is associated with 5-year survival.

Effective Manuscript Preparation and Submission.

Authors have a wide range of journals to which they can submit their report for consideration for publication. One key to getting the journal editors to accept a report is that the manuscript is properly organized and in compliance with the journal's Guide for Authors. For this reason, the single most important undertaking that an author can do before submission is read the journal's Guide for Authors and make sure that the report meets the journal's requirements for publication.

Radiofrequency guidewire-facilitated recanalization of chronic thoracic central venous occlusions in hemodialysis patients.

Purpose: To assess the outcome and safety of radiofrequency (RF) wire recanalization in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and chronic central venous occlusions (CVO).

Materials And Methods: A retrospective review of ESRD patients who underwent RF-wire recanalization of symptomatic chronic thoracic CVO from January 2017 to August 2022 yielded 20 patients who underwent 21 procedures. All patients had undergone at least one prior unsuccessful attempt at central venous recanalization using conventional catheter-based techniques.

Percutaneous Management of Dialysis Access Steal Syndrome: Interventions and Outcomes from a Single Institution's 20-Year Experience.

Purpose: To determine safety and effectiveness of percutaneous interventions performed by interventional radiologists at a single institution over 2 decades in patients with dialysis access steal syndrome (DASS).

Materials And Methods: A retrospective review of fistulograms from 2001 to 2021 (N = 11,658) was performed. In total, 286 fistulograms in 212 patients with surgically created dialysis accesses met inclusion criterion of fistulography for suspected DASS.

Comprehensive Clinical Literature Review of Managing Bone Metastases in Breast Cancer: Focus on Pain and Skeletal-Related Events.

Background: Bone metastases are the most common site of metastatic disease in breast cancer and can result in significant pain and an increased risk of skeletal-related events (SREs). Uncontrolled pain can further lead to negative outcomes.

Objectives: The aim is to provide oncology nurses with the latest evidence on the management of bone metastases in metastatic breast cancer (MBC) with a focus on pain and SREs.

Antimicrobial resistance patterns and empiric antibiotic selections for patients admitted from post-acute care facilities.

Purpose: To characterize the susceptibilities of positive bacterial cultures and the appropriateness of empiric antimicrobial regimens for patients admitted from post-acute care facilities (PACFs).

Methods: This was a retrospective quality improvement study. The study included patients admitted from a PACF to one of 2 tertiary care teaching hospitals within the University of Pennsylvania Health System, located in Philadelphia, PA, from August 2020 to December 2021.

Age specific reference intervals for plasma biomarkers of neurodegeneration and neurotrauma in a Canadian population.

Introduction: In this study, we aimed to create reference intervals (RI) using a large Canadian population-based cohort, for plasma protein biomarkers with potential utility to screen, diagnosis, prognosticate and manage a variety of neurological diseases and disorders. RIs were generated for: the ratio of amyloid beta 42 over 40 (Aβ42/40), phosphorylated tau-181 (p-tau-181), neurofilament light (NfL), and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP).

Methods: 900 plasma specimens from male and female participants aged 3-79 years old were obtained from the Statistics Canada Biobank, which holds specimens from the Canadian Health Measures Survey.

Emergency department visits by older adults receiving postacute care in skilled nursing facilities.

Skilled nursing facilities (SNF) represent a common postdischarge destination for hospitalized older adults. The goals of SNF care include the completion of extended skilled nursing care and physical rehabilitation to enable patients to safely return home. However, nearly one in four older adults discharged to SNF are rehospitalized and one in five seek care in the emergency department (ED) but are discharged back to SNF.

Role of Climate Change in Urologic Health: Kidney Stone Disease.

Kidney stones are rising in incidence and prevalence worldwide. Given the temperature dependence of kidney stone presentations, climate change is projected to further increase the burden of disease for individuals and society. PATIENT SUMMARY: This mini-review reports current knowledge on climate change in relation to kidney stone disease.

Addressing Inequalities in Breast Cancer Care Delivery.

Breast cancer treatment, timeliness of care, and clinical outcomes are inferior for patients of Black race and Hispanic ethnicity, and the origin of these inequities is multifactorial. Owing to aggregate reporting of data in the United States for patients of Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander ancestry, disparities within and across these groups are difficult to appreciate. In large part due to low prevalence, male breast cancer remains understudied, and treatment algorithms are primarily extrapolated from research conducted in female patients.

Impact of measurement and feedback on chlorhexidine gluconate bathing among intensive care unit patients: A multicenter study.

Objective: To assess whether measurement and feedback of chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) skin concentrations can improve CHG bathing practice across multiple intensive care units (ICUs).

Design: A before-and-after quality improvement study measuring patient CHG skin concentrations during 6 point-prevalence surveys (3 surveys each during baseline and intervention periods).

Setting: The study was conducted across 7 geographically diverse ICUs with routine CHG bathing.

The Reliability of Common Radiographic Measurements Used to Describe Foot Deformities.

Radiographic measurements are frequently used to classify deformity and determine treatment options. Correlation coefficients can be used to determine inter- and intrarater reliability. Reliability is a required feature of any measurement if the measurement is to provide valid information.

Association between End-Stage Renal Disease and Major Adverse Limb Events after Peripheral Vascular Intervention.

Purpose: To examine the effect of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) on the likelihood of major adverse limb events (MALEs) in patients with Rutherford Category 4-6 critical limb ischemia (CLI) who underwent percutaneous vascular intervention (PVI).

Materials And Methods: Two contemporaneous cohorts of patients who underwent PVI for symptomatic CLI from 2012 to 2022, differing in ESRD status, were matched using propensity score methods. This database identified 628 patients who underwent 1,297 lower extremity revascularization procedures; propensity score matching yielded 147 patients (180 limbs, 90 limbs in each group).

Defining the Structures at Risk and an Anatomical Safe Zone for Percutaneous Antegrade Subtalar Joint Fixation With a Single Screw: A Cadaveric Study.

Percutaneous antegrade (anterior to posterior) fixation for subtalar joint (STJ) arthrodesis offers various intraoperative and biomechanical advantages. Currently, the entry point for percutaneous antegrade STJ screw fixation is not clearly described and variable. To our knowledge, there are no publications that evaluate anatomic structures at risk or define an anatomically safe entry point for this fixation.

The Penn Medicine COVID-19 Therapeutics Committee-Reflections on a Model for Rapid Evidence Review and Dynamic Practice Recommendations During a Public Health Emergency.

The Penn Medicine COVID-19 Therapeutics Committee-an interspecialty, clinician-pharmacist, and specialist-front line primary care collaboration-has served as a forum for rapid evidence review and the production of dynamic practice recommendations during the 3-year coronavirus disease 2019 public health emergency. We describe the process by which the committee went about its work and how it navigated specific challenging scenarios. Our target audiences are clinicians, hospital leaders, public health officials, and researchers invested in preparedness for inevitable future threats.