We Want to Know: Eliciting Hospitalized Patients' Perspectives on Breakdowns in Care

BACKGROUND: There is increasing recognition that patients have critical insights into care experiences, including breakdowns in care. Harnessing patient perspectives for hospital improvement requires an in-depth understanding of the types of breakdowns patients identify and the impact of these events. METHODS: We interviewed a broad sample of patients during hospitalization and post discharge to elicit patient perspectives on breakdowns in care. Through an iterative process, we developed a categorization of patient-perceived breakdowns called the Patient Experience Coding Tool. RESULTS: Of 979 interviewees, 386 (39.4%) believed they had experienced at least one breakdown in care. The most common reported breakdowns involved information exchange (n = 158, 16.1%), medications (n = 120, 12.3%), delays in admission (n = 90, 9.2%), team communication (n = 65, 6.6%), providers’ manner (n = 62, 6.3%), and discharge (n = 56, 5.7%). Of the 386 interviewees who reported a breakdown, 140 (36.3%) perceived associated harm. Patient-perceived harms included physical (eg, pain), emotional (eg, distress, worry), damage to relationship with providers, need for additional care or prolonged hospital stay, and life disruption. We found higher rates of reporting breakdowns among younger (<60 years old) patients (45.4% vs 34.5%, P < 0.001), those with at least some college education (46.8% vs 32.7%, P < 0.001), and those with another person (family or friend) present during the interview or interviewed in lieu of the patient (53.4% vs 37.8%, P = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: When asked directly, almost 4 out of 10 hospitalized patients reported a breakdown in their care. Patient-perceived breakdowns in care are frequently associated with perceived harm, illustrating the importance of detecting and addressing these events. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2017;12:603-609. © 2017 Society of Hospital Medicin

Bottom trawl fishing footprints on the world’s continental shelves

Bottom trawlers land around 19 million tons of fish and invertebrates annually, almost one-quarter of wild marine landings. The extent of bottom trawling footprint (seabed area trawled at least once in a specified region and time period) is often contested but poorly described. We quantify footprints using high-resolution satellite vessel monitoring system (VMS) and logbook data on 24 continental shelves and slopes to 1,000-m depth over at least 2 years. Trawling footprint varied markedly among regions: from 50% in some European seas. Overall, 14% of the 7.8 million-km2 study area was trawled, and 86% was not trawled. Trawling activity was aggregated; the most intensively trawled areas accounting for 90% of activity comprised 77% of footprint on average. Regional swept area ratio (SAR; ratio of total swept area trawled annually to total area of region, a metric of trawling intensity) and footprint area were related, providing an approach to estimate regional trawling footprints when high-resolution spatial data are unavailable. If SAR was ≤0.1, as in 8 of 24 regions, there was >95% probability that >90% of seabed was not trawled. If SAR was 7.9, equal to the highest SAR recorded, there was >95% probability that >70% of seabed was trawled. Footprints were smaller and SAR was ≤0.25 in regions where fishing rates consistently met international sustainability benchmarks for fish stocks, implying collateral environmental benefits from sustainable fishing

Keeping the patient in the center: Common challenges in the practice of shared decision making

Analysis and support of clinical decision makin

Development and evaluation of a risk communication curriculum for medical students

Item does not contain fulltextOBJECTIVE: To develop, pilot, and evaluate a curriculum for teaching clinical risk communication skills to medical students. METHODS: A new experience-based curriculum, "Risk Talk," was developed and piloted over a 1-year period among students at Tufts University School of Medicine. An experimental study of 2nd-year students exposed vs. unexposed to the curriculum was conducted to evaluate the curriculum's efficacy. Primary outcome measures were students' objective (observed) and subjective (self-reported) risk communication competence; the latter was assessed using an Observed Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) employing new measures. RESULTS: Twenty-eight 2nd-year students completed the curriculum, and exhibited significantly greater (p<.001) objective and subjective risk communication competence than a convenience sample of 24 unexposed students. New observational measures of objective competence in risk communication showed promising evidence of reliability and validity. The curriculum was resource-intensive. CONCLUSION: The new experience-based clinical risk communication curriculum was efficacious, although resource-intensive. More work is needed to develop the feasibility of curriculum delivery, and to improve the measurement of competence in clinical risk communication. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Risk communication is an important advanced communication skill, and the Risk Talk curriculum provides a model educational intervention and new assessment tools to guide future efforts to teach and evaluate this skill

Influence of equal or unequal comparison group sample sizes on the detection of differential item functioning using the Mantel–Haenszel and logistic regression techniques

Differential item functioning, DIF, Mantel–Haenszel, Logistic regression, Sample size,

Ethical problems in radiology: medical error and disclosure

In radiological practice, as in any medical activity, errors are inevitable despite being foreseeable and preventable. The approach to managing medical error and relations with patients prompt the need for resolving the ethical dilemma arising from conflicting legitimate interests. The solution to this dilemma is particularly complex in an environment in which the tendency to sue physicians for civil liability or incriminate them for criminal liability appears to be particularly high. The disclosure of error is undeniably useful in raising patient awareness, reducing their suffering, improving the quality of care and limiting the consequences of the damage. There does not appear to be any evidence to suggest disclosure modifies the probability of litigation against the physician

Plasma rico em plaquetas combinado a hidroxiapatita na formação do calo ósseo em fraturas induzidas experimentalmente no rádio de cães Platelet-rich plasma combined with hydroxyapatite on bone callus formation in experimental radii fractures in dogs

Avaliou-se, no presente estudo, os efeitos do plasma rico em plaquetas (PRP) autógeno combinado a hidroxiapatita não-absorvível na formação do calo ósseo em fraturas diafisárias induzidas experimentalmente em rádio de cães e fixadas com placas e parafusos ósseos. Foram utilizados oito cães adultos sem raça definida, machos ou fêmeas, com pesos compreendidos entre 5 e 15kg. Induziu-se na diáfise de ambos os rádios defeito ósseo correspondente a 25% do diâmetro do mesmo. No rádio direito (grupo HA/PRP), implantou-se plasma rico em plaquetas combinado a hidroxiapatita. No rádio esquerdo (grupo HA), implantou-se somente a hidroxiapatita. Para a obtenção do PRP, empregou-se protocolo simplificado utilizando centrífuga laboratorial comum. Comparou-se entre os grupos a evolução clínica dos animais, o tempo de formação e a densidade do calo ósseo por exames radiográficos simples e pela técnica de densitometria óptica aos 15, 30, 45 e 60 dias de pós-operatório. Tanto na avaliação radiográfica como densitométrica não se observou diferença estatisticamente significante na evolução do calo ósseo entre os grupos (P>0,05). No presente estudo, o PRP autógeno combinado à hidroxiapatita não-absorvível não acelerou o processo de formação do calo ósseo, comparado à hidroxiapatita somente.<br>The present study was aimed at evaluating the effects of autologous platelet-rich plasma (PRP) in combination with unabsorbable hydroxyapatite on bone callus formation in an experimental canine diaphyseal radius fracture stabilized with bone plate. Eight mature, male and female mongrel dogs were selected weighed 5 to 15kg. Bone defects were created, bilateral, in both radii diaphysis, corresponding to 25% of bone diameter. On the right radius (group HA/PRP), the defect was filled with PRP and hydroxyapatite. On the left radius (group HA), was placed hydroxyapatite alone. PRP was obtain by a simplified technique using a laboratory centrifuge. Clinical evaluations, bone formation and bone density by use of radiographic and optical densitometry, were compared between group HA/PRP and group HA after 15, 30, 45 and 60 days post surgery. The radiographic and densitometric study did not indicate a significant difference in the bone callus formation between the groups (P>0.05). In the present study the autologous PRP in combination with unabsorbable hydroxyapatite could not accelerated the bone callus in comparison with hydroxyapatite alone