Herbal Product Use Among Anticoagulation Patients

Warfarin interacts with many conventional drug products and herbal products,1-3 Given the incompleteness of information on drug-herbal product interactions and the potential for health care practitioners to be unaware of their patients\u27 utilization of herbal products, we surveyed the use of such products among patients receiving warfarin through an anticoagulation clinic. Patients at the University of Maryland Medical System Anticoagulation Clinic were asked to complete an anonymous written questionnaire during their regularly scheduled appointments over one month

Quality Assessment of Colonoscopy Reporting: Results from a Statewide Cancer Screening Program

This paper aimed to assess quality of colonoscopy reports and determine if physicians in practice were already documenting recommended quality indicators, prior to the publication of a standardized Colonoscopy Reporting and Data System (CO-RADS) in 2007. We examined 110 colonoscopy reports from 2005-2006 through Maryland Colorectal Cancer Screening Program. We evaluated 25 key data elements recommended by CO-RADS, including procedure indications, risk/comorbidity assessments, procedure technical descriptions, colonoscopy findings, specimen retrieval/pathology. Among 110 reports, 73% documented the bowel preparation quality and 82% documented specific cecal landmarks. For the 177 individual polyps identified, information on size and morphology was documented for 87% and 53%, respectively. Colonoscopy reporting varied considerately in the pre-CO-RADS period. The absence of key data elements may impact the ability to make recommendations for recall intervals. This paper provides baseline data to assess if CO-RADS has an impact on reporting and how best to improve the quality of reporting