We examined patterns of care for 1246 adults treated for bipolar disorder in a large health maintenance organization. Computerized pharmacy and visit data were used to identify patients treated for bipolar disorder. A...
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We examined patterns of care for 1246 adults treated for bipolar disorder in a large health maintenance organization. Computerized pharmacy and visit data were used to identify patients treated for bipolar disorder. Automated medical records for the following year were used to assess continuity and nosing of treatment with mood stabilizers, laboratory monitoring for adverse effects and therapeutic serum levels, and frequency of follow-up visits. Of our 1246 subjects 83% filled a mood stabilizer prescription during the 1-year study period, and doses were within recommended ranges 80% of the rime. Over 75% of the patients on mood stabilizers had at least one apparent interruption in medication use. Approximately half of the long-term users of mood stabilizers had at least one 7-month period without a recorded blood level and approximately half had a similar period without monitoring for adverse medication effects. Of the 116 subjects discharged from a psychiatric hospitalization 58% had a visit with a psychiatrist or a psychiatric nurse practitioner within 30 days. Of those discontinuing mood stabilizer treatment 68% made a mental health visit within 90 days. Our findings demonstrate the feasibility of using administrative data systems for population-based qualify of care assessment and suggest opportunities for improving the care of bipolar patients. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Inc.
Objectives Identification of patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction is the first step in identifying which patients may benefit from clinical practice guidelines. The purpose of this study was to develop ...
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Objectives Identification of patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction is the first step in identifying which patients may benefit from clinical practice guidelines. The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a computerized tool using clinical information that is commonly available to identify patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD). Methods We performed a cross-sectional study of patients seen in a Department of Veterans Affairs General Internal Medicine Clinic who had echocardiography or radionuclide ventriculography performed as part of their clinical care. Results We identified 2246 subjects who had at least one cardiac imaging study. A total of 778 (34.6%) subjects met study criteria for LVSD. Subjects with LVSD were slightly older than subjects without LVSD (70 years vs 68 years, P = .00002) but were similar with regard to sex and race. Subjects with LVSD were more likely to have prescriptions for angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, carvedilol, digoxin, loop diuretics, hydralazine, nitrates, and angiotensin II receptor antagonists. Of the variables included in the final predictive model, ACE inhibitors, loop diuretics, and digoxin exerted the greatest predictive power. Discriminant analysis demonstrated that models containing pharmacy information were consistently more accurate (75% accurate [65% sensitivity, 81% specificity]) than those models that contained only International Classification of Diseases, 9th revision (ICD-9), codes, including ICD-9 codes for congestive heart failure (72% accurate [80% sensitivity, 68% specificity]). Conclusions We demonstrated that an automated, computer-driven algorithm identifying LVSD permits simple, rapid, and timely identification of patients with congestive heart failure by use of only routinely collected data. Future research is needed to develop accurate electronic identification of heart failure and other common chronic conditions.
Study objective: Emergency department computerized triage logs might be useful for automated ED surveillance and potentially for early identification of bioterrorism events. We describe a Web-based surveillance progra...
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Study objective: Emergency department computerized triage logs might be useful for automated ED surveillance and potentially for early identification of bioterrorism events. We describe a Web-based surveillance program and its feasibility for surveillance. Methods: A Web-based surveillance program that receives computerized chief complaint data daily from a large academic urban teaching hospital and performs syndromic analysis on these data was developed. On the basis of preset limits, the Web-based surveillance program sends an alert e-mail message when the syndromic analysis reveals an increase in the number of patients in predefined symptom groups. The feasibility of this system was tested by using historical data during an influenza outbreak (December 1999 to January 2000) and applying the anthrax symptom group. Results: The Web-based surveillance program identified the influenza outbreak in the first week. Conclusion: Computerized triage logs might be a feasible method for bioterrorism and influenza surveillance. The Web-based nature of the surveillance program creates the opportunity for other hospitals to contribute data, potentially resulting in an automated network of ED computerized triage log surveillance.
This analysis summarizes the first report of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons National Congenital Heart Surgery Database Committee in association with Summit Medical Systems. Twenty-four centers joined the program at ...
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This analysis summarizes the first report of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons National Congenital Heart Surgery Database Committee in association with Summit Medical Systems. Twenty-four centers joined the program at various dates of entry resulting in 18,894 enrolled patient records. This report compiled the relevant clinical features of 18 congenital heart categories over a 4-year period (1994-1997), which included 8,149 patient records. The data analyses are largely descriptive in character. Missing data points were described and not omitted in the analysis. Statistical analysis was not performed due to missing data points in some categories. Certain trends, however, could be identified and are discussed. The first Society of Thoracic Surgeons National Congenital Heart Surgery Database Report has succeeded in establishing a finite record that can be improved to establish universal national and international utility, risk stratification, and scholarly outcome analyses. (C) 1999 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons.
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