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Background: Although numerous reports have described interventions designed to influence antibiotic utilization, to our knowledge none have been evaluated in a randomized study. Methods: Adult inpatients receiving 1 or more of 10 designated parenteral antibiotics for 3 or more days during a 3-month period were randomized to an intervention (n=141) and a control (n=111) group using an unblocked, computer-generated random number table. Obstetric patients and those seen in infectious disease consultation were excluded. The intervention group received antibiotic-related suggestions from a team consisting of an infectious disease fellow and a clinical pharmacist. Both groups were evaluated for clinical and microbiological outcomes as well as antibiotic utilization via prospective chart reviews and analysis of the hospital's administrative database. Results: Sixty-two (49%) of the intervention group patients received a total of 74 suggestions. Sixty-three (84%) of these suggestions were implemented; the majority involved changes in antibiotic choice, dosing regimen, or route of administration. Per patient antibiotic charges were nearly $400 less in the intervention group vs controls ( P =.05). Almost all the savings were related to lower intravenous antibiotic charges. Clinical and microbiological response, antibiotic-associated toxic effects, in-hospital mortality, and readmission rates were similar for both groups. Multiple linear regression analysis identified randomization to the intervention group and female sex as the sole predictors of lower antibiotic charges. There was a trend toward a shorter length of stay for the intervention group (20 vs 24.7 days, P =.11). Conclusions: This is the first randomized study to evaluate whether antibiotic choices can be influenced in a cost-effective fashion without sacrificing patient safety. We demonstrate that 50% of patients initially treated with expensive parenteral antibiotics can have their regimens refined after 3 days of therapy and that these modifications result in good clinical outcomes with a substantial reduction in antibiotic expense. Arch Intern Med. 1997;157:1689-1694

Objectives: We sought to define the prevalence of tuberculin skin test (TST) positivity in a group of newly hospitalized patients, to identify risk factors for positive tests, and to examine the impact of testing on infection control practices. Design: Unblinded cohort study over 5 days in July 1992. Setting: A 1,000-bed university-affiliated hospital. Patients: All patients admitted (excluding obstetric patients and newborns) were interviewed. Patients without a history of tuberculosis (TB) or a positive TST were offered a TST with Candida and tetanus controls. Results: Of 346 patients offered the test, 21 (6%) had a prior history of TB or a positive TST, and 36 (10%) declined to participate; 279 of the remaining 289 completed the study. Anergy was demonstrated in 94 (33.7%) of 279 patients. New positive TSTs were identified in 19 (10.3%) of 185 nonanergic patients. Of the 19 TST-positive patients, 6 (32%) had infiltrates on chest radiographs and were evaluated for active TB. One patient was treated empirically for active TB, and five received isoniazid prophylaxis. Risk factors for a new positive TST included age (odds ratio [OR], 1.56 per decade of life; P =.021), African American race (OR, 4.81; P =.008), alcohol abuse (OR, 5.53; P =.005), and peptic ulcer disease (OR, 4.53; P =.017). Risk factors for anergy included admission to a surgical service (OR, 2.1; P =.006), current use of steroids (OR, 2.65; P =.005), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection (OR, undefined; P =.034). Conclusions: Despite a high rate of anergy, routine tuberculin skin testing identified a substantial number of patients with TB infection who might otherwise have gone unrecognized.

Many factors need to be considered when selecting empiric antimicrobial treatment for infections; foremost are the principal pathogens causing the diagnosed infection and their antimicrobial susceptibility patterns. These susceptibilities are location specific. This study analyses blood cultures of a 5-year period (1990-94) at a 550 bed community hospital and stratifies antimicrobial susceptibilities by source of patients. Data included: date of culture, patient location, number of positive bottles with the same organism over a period of 2 weeks and results of susceptibility testing. Positive cultures from patients in the Emergency Department were deemed to reflect community-acquired strains: positive cultures from patients in the Intensive Care Unit were considered nosocomial organisms. During the study period 52055 blood cultures were drawn; 5652 (11%) from 2742 patients grew at least one organism, excluding skin contaminants. Organisms cultured most frequently were: Enterobacteriaceae: 1162 patients (42%); Staphylococcus aureus: 442 (16%); Enterococcus; 429 (16%); and Pseudomonas: 196 (7%). Antimicrobial susceptibility percentages of Enterobacteriaceae from Emergency Room patients (n = 370) were significantly greater to all tested antimicrobials than from ICC patients (n = 161) (P0.001). Overall, 143 isolates of S. aureus from 442 patients (32%) were methicillin resistant (MR); stratification by department revealed a range of 20/142 (14%) MR in community acquired strains to 49/67 (73%) from ICU patients (P0.001). Detailed tables with antimicrobial susceptibilities according to strains, and stratified by source of patients are presented. When selecting empiric antimicrobial therapy for patients with bacterial infections, it is crucially important to physicians to have access to antimicrobial susceptibility percentages, stratified by source of patients.

Aims to examine medical involvement in hospital management processes, and to consider the implications of current experience for the next generation of clinical directors. Doctors who move into a formal management role often find themselves unprepared for their new responsibilities. Research has thus concentrated on identifying the management competences which doctors lack, and with designing ways to remedy the deficit. Seeks to move beyond this deficit model by adopting a perspective which focuses on the engagement of doctors in the management process. Draws data from in‐depth interviews with six clinical directors and 19 other members of the hospital management team at Leicester General Hospital NHS Trust (LGH). Content analysis of interviews suggests that the engagement of clinical directors in the hospital management process at this site can be described as reluctant, transient, service‐driven, power‐pulled and pressured. This negative portrayal of the role, however, must be set in the context of the “management expectation” held of clinical directors by other hospital managers and staff ‐ an expectation that is not currently fulfilled.

Tuberculosis in the United States has become primarily an inner-city disease. We examined the epidemiology of culture-confirmed tuberculous meningitis among patients cared for at an urban public hospital in Atlanta. During an 11.5-year period (January 1984-June 1995) cerebrospinal fluid cultures for Mycobacterium tuberculosis were positive in 34 patients, accounting for 1.5% of all culture-confirmed tuberculosis cases. All patients were born in the United States, 31 (91%) were black, 16 (47%) of 34 were human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) seropositive, 9 (26.5%) were HIV seronegative, and 9 (26.5%) had an unknown HIV serostatus. No significant differences were seen in clinical presentation, cerebrospinal fluid, or other laboratory data between HIV seropositive and HIV seronegative/ unknown groups, except for a lower serum white blood cell count among HIV seropositive patients. Mortality was striking; 14 (41.2%) died because of tuberculous meningitis despite appropriate therapy initiated a mean of 3 days after admission. Six survivors had permanent neurologic sequelae. Univariate analysis of outcome was not statistically associated with any measured demographic, laboratory value, stage at presentation, treatment regimen, or HIV serostatus. Multivariate analysis of outcome using 13 independent variables also demonstrated no significant association between these variables and outcome, although a trend was seen for increased mortality for white people (P = 0.09) and increasing age (P = 0.09). Tuberculous meningitis among inner-city residents remains a devastating disease associated with high morbidity and mortality that has changed little during the past 4 decades. HIV infection does not change markedly the clinical presentation or the response to therapy.

OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to develop a profile of preoperative and perioperative characteristics that would enable gynecologic oncologists to identify those patients with ovarian cancer who would benefit most from postoperative surgical intensive care unit care and thereby optimize resource utilization and cost effectiveness. STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective analysis was performed of 85 patients admitted to the surgical intensive care unit after cytoreductive surgery between Jan. 1, 1989, and Dec. 31, 1993. Fifty-three patients admitted to the surgical intensive care unit for 24 hours. Five preoperative characteristics (age, American Society of Anaesthesiology classification, body mass index, albumin, primary versus recurrent disease) and six perioperative characteristics (estimated blood loss, ascites, surgical time, bowel resection, Swan-Ganz catheter, ventilator dependence) were compared across the two groups by univariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression analyses. RESULTS: All preoperative variables were similar across the two groups. Ascites volume and length of surgery were not significant, whereas estimated blood loss was significant in the univariate analysis but not in the logistic regression analysis. Three perioperative variables were found to be predictive of extended surgical intensive care unit care by logistic regression analysis: placement of a Swan-Ganz catheter (odds ratio 4.31, 95% confidence interval 1.13 to 16.4), bowel resection (odds ratio 13.0, 95% confidence interval 1.96 to 86.5), and ventilator dependence (excluded from logistic regression analysis for mathematic reasons). CONCLUSIONS: The patient's preoperative medical condition proved to be less important than how she fares during surgery. The patient most likely to benefit from surgical intensive care unit care had undergone bowel resection, required invasive hemodynamic monitoring, or was ventilator dependent postoperatively. This patient profile may prove to be a useful screening tool to optimize resource utilization and cost effectiveness, but it cannot replace clinical judgment. (Am J Obstet Gynecol 1997;176:1389-93.)

New Jersey health care providers face the need to change dramatically the way health care is delivered as it enters a new era of managed care. This year, more than 24% of New Jersey's total population is enrolled in commercial managed care plans (New Jersey Department of Insurance, 1996). In addition, the state's Medicaid agency took steps to improve the delivery of health services to recipients by initiating implementation activities to transition from the traditional Medicaid program to a managed care model. Eighty-two percent of New Jersey's Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and related populations have already been enrolled in managed care. The state plans to expand enrollment in managed care to the remaining 400,000 Medicaid beneficiaries. Communities with high Medicaid populations are challenged with the need to move through the managed care evolution at an accelerated rate.

A recent increase in the frequency and severity of group A beta-haemolytic streptococcal (GABHS) infections has been reported from several parts of the world. A retrospective analysis of bacteraemic GABHS infections encountered at a major teaching hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia between 1982 and 1993 was performed. The epidemiologic, clinical and laboratory aspects of 29 episodes of GABHS bacteraemia were reviewed, and the differences between frequency and severity of these episodes were compared between the initial (1982-1989) and the late (1990-1993) periods of the study. The overall frequency of GABHS bacteraemia was 0.14 episodes per 1000 admissions with no difference between the initial and the late periods. Seventeen patients were adults and 12 were paediatrics. Adults were mostly females (82%) and paediatrics were predominantly males (75%). Seven episodes (24%) were nosocomial. Most patients (72%) had a predisposing factor for GABHS infections. Primary bacteraemia occurred in 13 patients (45%); and the skin and throat were the major sources of the bacteraemia in the rest of the patients. Shock complicated five episodes (17%) and acute renal failure developed in six (21%) patients. The overall case fatality rate was 21%. All five episodes complicated by shock were in the late period, and the rate of acute renal failure as well as the case fatality rate have doubled in the late vs. the early periods. Although no recent increase in frequency of GABHS bacteraemia was found, invasive GABH infections may have become more severe.

To monitor the epidemiology of invasive aspergillosis at a university hospital during a period of hospital construction. To compare the efficacy of active epidemiologic surveillance for invasive aspergillosis using Aspergillus cultures with the efficacy of surveillance using Aspergillus antigen detection.A prospective surveillance study.An 850-bed, tertiary-care, university-based hospital.A convenience sample of 153 patients with Aspergillus antigen testing and culture.24 cases were identified over a 12-month period; 7 were nosocomial, and 17 were community-acquired. Cases occurred primarily in patients with hematologic malignancy, but also occurred in patients with solid tumor, steroid treatment, cardiac transplant, and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Culture techniques identified only 14 (58%) of 24 cases, whereas Aspergillus antigen was positive in 19 (79%) of 24 cases tested. Epidemiological surveillance using either antigen or culture positivity detected 22 (92%) of 24 cases. In addition, antigen detection was 98% specific for the detection of aspergillosis, as compared to 91% for culture and 88% for antigen and culture combined.Hospital surveillance for aspergillosis should include determination of whether cases are nosocomial or community-acquired, because many may be the latter. Patients at risk for aspergillosis include patients without hematologic malignancies. Enhanced case detection occurred with active surveillance of patients considered to be at risk using both fungal serology and traditional microbiological techniques. Antigen detection was more sensitive and specific for the detection of invasive aspergillosis and may improve epidemiological surveillance for aspergillosis.

To evaluate the efficacy of two regimens of selective decontamination of the digestive tract in mechanically ventilated patients.Prospective, randomized, concurrent trial.Multidisciplinary intensive care unit (ICU) in a 1,800-bed university hospital.Consecutive patients (n = 660) who were likely to require mechanical ventilation for at least 48 hrs were randomized to one of three groups: conventional antibiotic regimen (control group A); oral and enteral ofloxacin-amphotericin B (group B); and oral and enteral polymyxin E-tobramycin-amphotericin B (group C). Both treatment groups received systemic antibiotics for 4 days (ofloxacin in group B and cefotaxime in group C).Patients were randomized to receive standard treatment (control group A, n = 220), selective decontamination regimen B (group B, n = 220), and selective decontamination regimen C (group C, n = 220). After early deaths and exclusions from the study, 185 controls (group A) and 193 (group B)/200 (group C) selective decontamination regimen patients were available for analysis.Measurements included colonization and primary/secondary infection rate, ICU mortality rate, emergence of antibiotic resistance, length of ICU stay, and antimicrobial agent costs. The study duration was 19 months. The patient groups were fully comparable for age, diagnostic category, and severity of illness. One third of patients in each group suffered a nosocomial infection at the time of admission. There was a significant difference between treatment group B and control group A in the number of infected patients (odds ratio of 0.42, 95% confidence interval of 0.27 to 0.64), secondary lower respiratory tract infection (odds ratio of 0.47, 95% confidence interval of 0.26 to 0.82), and urinary tract infection (odds ratio of 0.47, 95% confidence interval of 0.27 to 0.81). Significantly more Gram-positive bacteremias occurred in treatment group C vs. group A (odds ratio of 1.22, 95% confidence interval 0.72 to 2.08). Infection at the time of admission proved to be the most significant risk factor for subsequent infection in control and both treatment groups. ICU mortality rate was almost identical (group A 16.8%, group B 17.6%, and group C 15.5%) and was not significantly related to primary or secondary infection. Increased antimicrobial resistance was recorded in both treatment groups: tobramycin-resistant enterobacteriaceae (group C 48% vs. group A 14%, p.01), ofloxacin-resistant enterobacteriaceae (group B 50% vs. group A 11%, p.02), ofloxacin-resistant nonfermenters (group B 81% vs. group A 52%, p.02), and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (group C 83% vs. group A 55%, p.05). Antimicrobial agent costs were comparable in control and group C patients; one third less was spent for group B patients.In cases of high colonization and infection rates at the time of ICU admission, the preventive benefit of selective decontamination is highly debatable. Emergence of multiple antibiotic-resistant microorganisms creates a clinical problem and a definite change in the ecology of environmental, colonizing, and infecting bacteria. The selection of multiple antibiotic-resistant Gram-positive cocci is particularly hazardous. No beneficial effect on survival is observed. Moreover, selective decontamination adds substantially to the cost of ICU care.

To estimate the incidence of fatal invasive aspergillosis in a 1500-bed tertiary-care hospital and to investigate the utility of laboratory diagnostic approaches, necropsy protocols and microbiological data from 1994 and 1995 were reviewed. Among 694 necropsies from 1693 patients who died in these two years, 27 (4%) cases of invasive aspergillosis were identified. Twelve cases of invasive aspergillosis were found after transplantation of solid organs, three after bone marrow transplantation, four in patients with haematological malignancies, and five in patients with solid tumours. In 15 cases (56%) invasive aspergillosis was not suspected before death. In patients in whom serum sampling was performed seven days antemortem, the Aspergillus latex agglutination test had a sensitivity of 53% (9/17). Culture of tracheal secretions or bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from patients with pulmonary aspergillosis yielded Aspergillus fumigatus in 88% (14/16).

Previous studies have found that health-status measures may be unable to detect clinically important changes for patients whose baseline health is poor (the "floor phenomenon"). It is not known whether this inability to detect change is confined to patients in very poor baseline health or whether the sensitivity of health-status instruments varies across the entire range of health states. The goals of this study were to see how changes in physical health, mental health, and overall health (1) depend on baseline (usual) health and (2) compare with patients' global assessment of changes in their health.Stable, ambulatory patients presenting to the emergency department of a public hospital retrospectively rated their usual physical health (eight items), mental health (three items), and overall health (one item); their health on the day of study entry using these same items; and their global assessment of the change in their health compared with baseline. Complete information on these items was available for 1,005 patients. Baseline scores on the physical and mental health subscales and the overall health item were divided into five categories: 81 to 100 (best), 61 to 80, 41 to 60, 21 to 40, and 0 to 20 (worst).The mean difference in health from baseline to emergency department presentation decreased as the baseline health category worsened, as follows: physical health, -26.0, -35.9, -15.1, -9.5, +1.0; mental health, -23.0, -16.1, -9.6, 0.0, 6.6; overall health -64.0, -45.3, -28.4, -8.4, 10.4, respectively. However, patients' global assessment of health change showed the opposite trend; the proportion of patients rating their health as "much worse" than baseline increased as baseline health worsened. When only patients whose physical health score declined less than 10 points were analyzed, 14% of those in the best baseline health said their health was "much worse," whereas 74% of those with the worst baseline physical health said their health was "much worse" than baseline.These findings suggest that the sensitivity of health-status measures to change and the meaning of an incremental change in physical health or mental health vary depending on baseline health. This may result from noninterval properties of response options or from patients being at the lowest health state (the "floor") of individual questions. If health-status measures similar to this are to be used to compare the outcomes of treatment across diseases and for patients in a wide variety of baseline health states, weighting schemes may be needed to account for these effects.

Objective: To examine the impact of reducing ED “boarders” (through the use of a short-stay inpatient medicine unit) on the amount of time that treat-and-release patients spend in the ED. Methods: A retrospective analysis of hours spent in the ED was made at a university hospital teaching ED for treat-and-release patients in 4 clinical categories: chest pain, asthma exacerbation, sickle-cell crisis, and seizure. The average hours per patient spent in the ED during the 4-month intervals before (August-November 1993) and after (August-November 1994) the establishment of the short-stay medicine unit were compared. Data were analyzed using the 2-tailed, unpaired t-test. Results: This short-stay inpatient medicine unit received on average 135 patients per month from the ED, with an average length of stay of 2.4 days. The mean (±SD) number of admitted patients per day waiting in the ED >8 hours for an inpatient bed dropped from 9.6 ± 4.2, before the institution of this unit, to 2.3 ± 2.6. There was a significant reduction in the average number of hours spent in the ED by treat-and-release patients with chest pain (from 7.3 ± 6.0 to 5.5 ± 4.8 hr/patient, p c 0.001) and asthma exacerbation (from 5.0 ± 3.6 to 4.2 ± 2.9 hdpatient, p < 0.05), but not with sickle-cell crisis or seizure, after the implementation of the short-stay unit. Conclusion: Reducing the number of admitted patients waiting in the ED for inpatient beds, in this case by establishment of a short-stay medicine unit, is associated with a decrease in the interval that treat-and-release patients spend in the ED.

Objectives:To determine the effect of different methods of training on the ability of hospital workers to wear respirators and pass a qualitative fit test, and to compare the direct cost of the training.Design:179 hospital employees were recruited for study and were stratified into three groups based on the type of training they received in the use of respirators. Employees in Group A received one-on-one training by the hospital's industrial hygienist and were fit tested as part of this training. Employees in Group B received classroom instruction and demonstration by infection control nurses in the proper use of respirators, but were not fit tested as part of training. Employees in Group C received no formal training. Each participant in our study underwent a subsequent qualitative fit test using irritant smoke to check for the employee's ability to adjust correctly the fit and seal of the respirator. The direct cost of each method of training was determined by accounting for the cost of trainers and the cost of employee-hours lost during training.Setting:775-bed Veterans' Affairs hospital.Results:94% of Group A participants (49 of 52) passed the qualitative fit test, compared to 91% of Group B participants (58 of 64) and 79% of Group C participants (50 of 63; P=.036, 2 × 3 chi-square). Group A had a significantly higher pass rate than Group C (P=.043), but Group B did not differ significantly from Group A or Group C. Location or professional status did not affect pass rate, but prior experience wearing respirators did. When the study groups were compared after stratifying for prior experience, we found no difference in pass rates, except when Groups A and B (those with any training) were combined and compared with Group C (107 of 116 versus 50 of 63, P=.05, Mantel-Haenszel chi-square).We estimate that the method of training involving individual instruction followed by fit testing took 20 minutes per employee to complete, compared to 10 minutes per six employee class for the method of classroom demonstration. The difference in direct cost between the two methods, applied to the training of 1,200 employees at our hospital, would be approximately $19,000 per year.Conclusion:Our study indicates that training in the proper use of respirators is important, but the method of training may not be, as the two methods we evaluated were nearly equivalent in their pass rates on fit testing (94% versus 91%). Fit testing as part of training may have enhanced the performance of our participants marginally, but was more time consuming and accounted for most of the excess cost.

Clinical data for all current outpatients at a large tertiary hospital has been collected for analysis. Patient diagnoses for selected “key” clinics have been coded to ICD-9-CM standards. Methods to reduce the volume of coding required for such data collection are discussed, and include short-lists of codes, default assignment of diagnoses codes according to the nature of visit, and producing a “discharge” summary for outpatients, similar to that routinely produced for inpatients.

To validate the TRISS method as an audit system on a group of patients with severe trauma admitted to an Italian general intensive care unit (ICU).Prospective, cohort study of consecutive admissions to the ICU.A 6-bed general ICU in a 500-bed general hospital.190 patients with severe trauma admitted from January 1992 to December 1993 were considered eligible. Patients lacking the data necessary to calculate the TRISS probability of survival, or for whom the ultimate outcome was unknown, were excluded. 162 patients were included in the study.None.Vital status at discharge from the last hospital that admitted the patient for the trauma being considered.The Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit tests were: H = 16.9, df = 10, p = 0.076; C = 5.8, df = 10, p = 0.831; H 3.5, df = 3, p = 0.31. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.963 (SE +/- 0.019). Classification measures at a decision criterion of 0.5 were: sensitivity 0.857, specificity 0.964, positive predictive value 0.782, negative predictive value 0.978, total correct classification 0.950, and the Youden index 0.821. The positive likelihood ratio (LHR) was 24.17, whereas the negative LHR was 0.14.The results of the validation of the TRISS method showed adequate calibration and high discriminatory power in Italian ICU trauma patients also, allowing confidence in the use of this method as an audit tool in our ICU. Some caution is advisable in extending these results to patients with operable intracranial injuries, due to the relatively low number of such cases included in the study.

Our objective was to design and evaluate an instrument to assess the performance of a clinic in the delivery of preventive health services to a general medical clinic population. The patients were identified prospectively; data were obtained retrospectively with review of the charts. The study was conducted in a primary care clinic staffed primarily by internal medicine residents in an urban academic medical center. Patients who were receiving continuity care in the clinic and who were scheduled for an appointment during the 4-week study period were eligible for inclusion. Patients were identified by the appointment schedule. Charts were reviewed for the delivery of preventive health services. Data were abstracted utilizing a standard instrument. We found that the rate at which services were provided varied considerably by service and over time. The techniques used provided some insight into methods for the evaluation of the delivery of preventive services. It should be possible to assess a clinic's performance over a range of services over its entire population over time. An understanding of this more global performance may provide a better tool for managers and researchers addressing these issues. There may be legitimate reasons for services not being provided. These issues are complex and require sensitive, detailed investigation.

A multidisciplinary group was formed to develop strategies to reduce ventilator-associated lower respiratory tract infections (LRI) in an intensive care unit (ICU) of a 540-bed acute care teaching medical center. The group process was facilitated by the Infection Director and the quality management specialist. The group was made of medical, nursing, and respiratory therapy staff. Quality improvement techniques were used to define the process of care for ventilated patients in the ICU. "State of the art" care was defined after a literature review and brainstorming sessions. Current practice and new concepts were then forged into a realistic protocol for the ICU. The resulting protocol was introduced into the ICU in May 1992. The information was communicated to Respiratory Therapy and ICU staff in writing and at department meetings. After a 4-month introductory period and learning curve process, a decrease in the endemic rate of ventilator-associated LRI was reduced in the fourth quarter of 1992. The mean 1993 LRI rate was 21 LRI/1000 ventilator days versus 26 LRI/1000 ventilator days in 1992 before protocol implementation. This equates to 18 LRI prevented in 1993. This represents a savings of $126,000. There was a significant decrease in the process variation of the monthly mean LRI/1000 ventilator days in 1993 from 1992. To date, there continues to be improvement with a mean of 16 LRI/1000 ventilator days reported in 1994. The ICU staff developed a multidisciplinary process evaluation and monitored staff implementation of the protocol over time. The results of the evaluation were used as feedback to measure protocol implementation. This was found to improve compliance with the protocol. Both the process (care of ventilated patients) and the outcome (number of LRI) have been improved through use of continuous quality improvement concepts and transdisciplinary interventions.

In 1989, Hermann Hospital and University of Texas-Houston Health Science Center School of Nursing applied for and received approval to implement a 5-year demonstration project funded by the Health Care Finance Administration using Medicaid pass-through funds to educate nurses at the graduate level. The project aimed to evaluate the impact of advanced practice nurses and researchers on the practice of professional nursing at a 655-bed acute-care hospital in a large metropolitan area. The authors describe the factors that served to galvanize the two institutions to apply for such a grant, discuss the barriers encountered along the course of the project, and list the outcomes achieved by 1994 or project end. Predictions regarding the second 5-year segment (phase 2) are summarized as well. The article includes suggestions to other institutions interested in replicating such a project.

OBJECTIVE Evaluating the practice environment is essential to determine if the practice environment is conducive to the delivery of quality patient care. The Practice Environment Project (PEP) was created to provide a framework for current and ongoing evaluation of the practice environment. BACKGROUND Major changes in the delivery of patient care services have focused attention on the evaluation of the effectiveness of these changes. The extent and type of change may vary throughout an institution. The identification of core variables to assess the effectiveness of these changes sets the framework for ongoing evaluation of new unit-based models for delivery of services. METHODS In part 1, quantitative data were collected from nursing staff members (job satisfaction, collaboration with physicians, autonomy), physicians (quality of nursing care, collaboration with nurses), and patients (satisfaction with nursing care). In part 2, focus groups were held with nursing personnel to discuss factors that affected the provision of services. Unit-based action plans were developed to manage barriers to the delivery of services. RESULTS Patients and physicians reported a high degree of satisfaction with patient care. Physicians reported a higher level of collaboration with nurses than that reported by nurses. Nurses reported a high degree of autonomy in practice, however, in other areas of job satisfaction (development and recognition), they suggested areas for improvement. CONCLUSIONS The PEP created a mechanism to evaluate the current state-of-the-practice environment by identifying core elements for evaluation of work redesign. It also provided a framework for managing barriers that disrupted the delivery of patient care services.

Background Because of high proportions of central line-related bloodstream infections (BSIs), an intravascular surveillance and education program (IVSP) was instituted in the study institution in 1987. Methods A 61/2-year historical prospective study was conducted to evaluate the effects of the IVSP on incidence of nosocomial BSIs. With use of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria, concurrent data on nosocomial BSIs were collected by two infection control professionals before, during, and for 3 years afte the IVSP. Results Hospital-wide BSIs during the 3-year IVSP and for 3 years after were 0.9% and 0.9% ( p =0.58) or 1.4 and 1.2/1000 patient-days ( p =0.24). Central line-related BSIs represented 29%, 24%, and 29% of the total BSIs 6 months before, 3 years during, and 6 months after the intervention, respectively ( p =0.62). Conclusions The IVSP resulted neither in a reduction in the total intravascular catheter-related BSIs nor in a change in the proportion of potentially preventable central line-related BSIs. To be successful, an intervention must include the authority to mandate practice changes; education and feedback without such authority were inadequate.

Although Americans pay much more for a day in the hospital than Canadians, we know little about whether inpatient physician practice patterns might explain some of this difference. The authors compared the utilization of all diagnostic imaging (plain radiographs, computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanning, ultrasound, nuclear medicine and vascular studies) and selected laboratory tests (hematology, basic biochemistry, and advanced biochemistry) for all patients discharged with selected medical and surgical diagnoses in 1990 and 1991 from four university hospitals and four community hospitals in Canada (n = 6,491) and the United States (n = 7,980). Overall, US medical patients received 22% more diagnostic tests than their Canadian counterparts (544.2 relative value units [RVUs] vs. 446.5 RVUs in Canada, P < 0.001), which was mainly the result of higher radiology use. Although mean radiology use was 40% higher in the United States (370.0 vs. 264.5 RVUs in Canada, P < 0.05), there was little difference in the use of laboratory tests between countries (174.2 vs. 182.4 RVUs in Canada, P = 0.3). Within radiology, only CT and MRI use differed significantly between countries (US patients received 119% more tests than Canadians). These findings were consistent after adjustments for age, gender, diagnosis-related group, and university status. Differences in test use between countries were mainly the result of more testing among the US elderly than counterparts in Canada. Among surgical patients, there was little difference between countries for radiology (76.3 vs. 67.3 RVUs in Canada, P < 0.05) and laboratory (83.6 vs. 91.4 RVUs in Canada, P < 0.05). Comparable inpatients admitted to US hospitals received more diagnostic tests than their Canadian counterparts even in hospitals with similar availability of technology. Differences between countries were larger for high-cost tests than for lower-cost tests. Much of the difference in test use is explained by more intensive use for the elderly in the United States.

Internal medicine training programs must adapt to health care systems faced with balancing the competitive priorities of patient-care responsibilities and educational needs.To evaluated the effects of a major organizational change on the inpatient service of an internal medicine residency program in a vertically integrated health system.We changed the structure of our program from a system in which the hospitalized patients' primary physicians were responsible for daily inpatient management, while teaching was assigned to a defined teaching rounder, to a method in which the rounding attending was responsible for both teaching and patient care. Measurements before and after the change in the rounding system included: the McGill University clinical tutor evaluations, time-motion observations of house staff, patient satisfaction surveys, average length of stay data, and physician focus groups to assess physician satisfaction.The rounding attendings consistently received excellent to superior ratings by the house staff both before and after the implemented change. Compared to time-motion observations performed before the change, observations recorded after the change suggested that a greater percent of house staff time was spent on educational activities. The responses of patient satisfaction surveys indicated that the perception of quality of care remained high after the system change. Lastly, the average length of stay for patients on the general internal medicine and subspecialty services was reduced from 7.6 days before the change to 6.6 days after the change, a difference of 0.92 day (95% confidence interval 1.3 to 0.6, P0.001).Through organizational restructuring, it is possible to improve the quality of patient care and improving the efficiency of patient-care management.

Objective To describe long-term trends in nosocomial infection rates and the threshold testing method for evaluating nosocomial surveillance data in a long-term-care facility (LTCF). Design Descriptive epidemiology of prospectively collected infection control surveillance data and application of threshold testing for detecting possible outbreaks. Threshold testing uses the binomial distribution to calculate probabilities of infection frequency at selected endemic levels (mean number of infections per month) and compares these probabilities to observed infection frequency. Setting One hundred twenty-bed LTCF located within a public, university-affiliated hospital. Patients and methods The study period was 1987 through 1994. Yearly endemic levels of specific types of infection were calculated and threshold levels were determined using a previously published method. In this study, a probability of P = .01 was chosen to determine the threshold at a specific endemic level; if the observed number of infections in a month reached or exceeded the threshold level, the likelihood that this occurred by chance alone was 1% or less. Interventions None. Results The overall mean nosocomial infection rate ranged from three to five episodes per 1,000 resident care days per year; mean yearly rates from 1990 onward were higher and more stable than those from 1987 to 1989. The most common infections identified were lower respiratory tract, skin and soft tissue, urinary tract, and conjunctivitis. For each of these infections, threshold levels were calculated periodically, using only the monthly frequency of infection. Despite variations in the yearly mean endemic level of various infections, threshold levels were stable except for skin and soft-tissue infection. Conclusions Threshold testing for analysis of infection control surveillance data in the LTCF setting is straightforward and does not require knowledge of statistics, special computer software, or calculation of rates; given the stable population in the typical LTCF, threshold testing can be based on variations in the monthly count of infections and provides an objective evaluation of surveillance data and a method to identify when outbreaks may be occurring.

This is the second of four articles describing the construction and use of an instrument to evaluate resident and family satisfaction with care provided in long-term care settings. It addresses operational issues that arose in the application of the instrument.

This paper reports an attempt to assess the factors associated with inappropriate acute hospital admission using the technique of logistic regression. Data were obtained from two separate studies of acute hospital utilization in south-west England, conducted between 1992 and 1994. The appropriateness of admission was assessed using explicit standardized criteria in the form of the intensity-severity-discharge review system with adult criteria (ISD-A). Up to 19 explanatory variables were available for the analyses. These variables were modelled for each centre separately, using logistic regression to produce final sets of factors independently related to the appropriateness of admission. For one centre, the final model contained age/ specialty and use of community services. For the other, the final model contained two measures of health status on admission-coping failure and admission with stroke. It is concluded that the complex interplay between the characteristics of patients, referrers, alternative forms of care and the acute hospital may result in quite different types of inappropriate admissions in different locations.

Inadequate control of antimicrobial drug use may lead to excessive expenditure for antimicrobial drugs and improper prescribing it may also result in the emergence of multiresistant bacteria. An antibiotic order form may improve the quality of prescriptions by increasing the awareness of the physician of the antimicrobial spectrum needed (i.e. which microorganism is expected in a given patient), the desired duration of treatment, the potential need to adjust dosage, and the potential allergy of the patient to the drug. Furthermore, such an antibiotic order form facilitates prospective evaluation of both the quantity and the quality of prescribing practice. However, the introduction of yet another form to fill in may be met with opposition from prescribers. We have developed an easy-to-use antibiotic order form that incorporated the conventional medication order that was already in use in our hospital. Compliance (percentage of antimicrobial drug prescriptions for which an order form was used) was on average 58% in the first two weeks after introduction, and remained thereafter between 60% and 90%, varying between the different wards. Data retrieved from the antibiotic order forms could be used for surveillance We conclude that this antibiotic order form was feasible in a large department of internal medicine of a university hospital. Future usefulness will depend on compliance and on personnel support for data processing and intervention.

A consortium of eight long-term care facilities in Ontario devised a new instrument to measure patient satisfaction in long-term care settings. A standardized protocol for administration was developed that included a program to train volunteers to conduct in-person interviews. Nine facilities have carried out the survey using the standardized protocol.

A midafternoon "quiet time" period was instituted to promote patients' recovery and healing.

Although electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is being performed in many hospitals in Japan, there is little information on its present practice. We surveyed ECT practice to improve the practice of ECT in Japan. A mail questionnaire survey of ECT practice was conducted between 1997 and 1999 in Japan. Of 84 university hospitals and 37 national hospitals, 86 respondents (71%) were obtained. ECT was performed in 56 hospitals (65%). Details of ECT practice were further surveyed in 46 hospitals. The number of patients per year receiving ECT varied according to hospitals from 0.5 to 120. Unmodified ECT was still used in two thirds of the hospitals. Modified ECT was mainly performed in an operating room. Unilateral ECT was seldom used. Japan is an under-developed country for ECT and the practice of ECT must be improved.

To determine the incidence of errors in preparing and administering intravenous (i.v.) drugs, identify the stages in the process at which errors occurred and evaluate their clinical importance.A prospective ethnographic study using disguised observation was carried out on two wards in one German non-university hospital.We observed 22 nurses administering 122 i.v. drug preparations and administrations. One or more errors occurred in the preparation and administration of 58 of 122 i.v. drug doses (error rate 48%, 95% confidence interval 39-57%). In total, 65 errors were identified. Of doses, 4 had potentially severe errors (3%), 38 (31%) potentially moderate errors and 16 (13%) potentially minor errors. Common errors included multiple step preparations and the co-administration of potentially incompatible drugs as intermittent infusions.A high incidence of i.v. drug errors was found in the study hospital. Effective strategies to reduce potentially harmful errors are urgently needed. Measures could include a reduction in the number of ward-based i.v. drug preparations, improvement of staff training and the introduction of ward-based clinical pharmacy services.

Study Objectives Variation in computed tomography (CT) use between emergency medicine (EM) physicians may delineate appropriate or inappropriate use. We hypothesize that variation in all types of CT use exists between providers and their use in patients with common chief concerns. We determine EM physicians' variability in CT use of all types and whether high use in one area predicts use of other CT types. Methods This was a retrospective study of EM physicians practicing at an 800-bed tertiary level 1 trauma center over a 3.5-year period. Computed tomography rates by type and by patient chief concern were modeled for providers as a function of patient acuity, disposition, age, and time of day using logistic regression. Results Of 195 801 eligible visits, 44 724 visits resulted in at least 1 CT scan. The adjusted rate of CT ordering by providers was 23.8% of patient visits, ranging from 11.5% to 32.7% The upper quartile of providers was responsible for 78% of the CT scans ordered above the mean. There was a large variation in use of all types of CT and by chief concern. There was an 8-fold variation in use of CT abdomen in discharged patients. High head CT use by providers predicts high use in all other CT types. Conclusion We demonstrate a dramatic variation in CT use among EM physicians in all types of CT and common chief concerns. Greater variation was present in patients who were discharged. Large deviation from the mean by a group of providers may suggest inappropriate use.

Since 1988, the Sunnybrook Health Science Centre has been proactive in re-designing its system toward decentralized management, the purpose being to further enhance patient care. This process has involved numerous changes, among which were the establishment of three large clinical units. These clinical units are not defined following the historic medical model, but group patients with similar service and care needs. Subsequently, each of the clinical units defined Patient Service Units (PSUs). The hospital has chosen a co-leadership model for the lead management at each of the unit levels. This paper describes the model for clinical units. Depuis 1988, le Sunnybrook Health Science Centre a agi de facon preventive en recreant son systeme pour l'orienter vers une gestion decentralisee afin d'ameliorer davantage les services aux patients. Ce processus a provoque de nombreux changements, comme la creation de trois importantes cliniques. Ces cliniques ne sont pas etablies selon le modele medical habituel, mais plutot selon les groupes de patients ayant des besoins semblables au niveau des services et des soins. Chacune des trois cliniques a par la suite determine des unites de services aux patients. L'hopital a adopte un modele de co-leadership pour la haute direction de chacune des cliniques. Cet article decrit le modele des cliniques.

Objective. —To examine the limits of the effectiveness of critical care through the study of patients for whom it was ineffective. Design. —We studied the relationship between resource use and long-term outcome (2-year follow-up) in 402 consecutively admitted critical care patients to develop a benchmark for ineffective applications of critical care. We defined an outcome called potentially ineffective care (PIC), developed and evaluated a model with an independent data set to predict PIC from a patient's response to treatment, and estimated the economic effects of limiting care after a prediction of PIC. Setting. —The combined medical and surgical intensive care unit at a 600-bed university teaching hospital. Patients. —Two groups of 402 consecutively admitted critical care patients, one from 1989, the other from 1991. Main Outcome Measures and Results. —Based on observations from a two-dimensional plot of resource use vs benefit for 402 critical care patients, PIC was defined as resource use in the upper 25th percentile and survival for less than 100 days after discharge. Thirteen percent of the patients fell into the PIC category and used 32% of the resources. A product of the APACHE risk estimates on days 1 and 5 of at least 0.35 predicted 37% of PIC outcomes with a specificity of 98%. In a second data set, PIC outcome prediction had a sensitivity of 43% and a specificity of 94%, and a positive predictive value of 80%. For the hospital studied, reduction of intensity of treatment after a prediction of a PIC outcome would result in a reduction of hospital charges in the range of $1.8 million to $5 million per year. Conclusion. —Patients in the PIC category consumed a large portion of the resources devoted to critical care at an academic teaching hospital. We suggest a change in focus from assessment of the quality of critical care and risk-adjusted mortality to an assessment of ineffective care based on outcome and resource use and a patient's response to treatment over time. (JAMA. 1995;274:1544-1551)

In this article, an analogy is drawn between a health care information system and a freeway transportation system. Unfinished access ramps and disconnected road sections are likened to unlinked computer information systems. It is not until there is “connectivity” between roadways that vehicles can take advantage of the efficiencies of a freeway system or until there are comrehensive, integrated information systems that quality health care can be provided. The Greater Victoria Hospital Society used quality improvement techniques to improve the medical information highway, and theories of change management to encourage physician leaders to “buy into” the information system to produce needed change in the organization and in patient care. Cet article compare un Systeme informatise de soins de sante a un reseau d'autoroutes. Des voies d'acces non terminees et des sections d'autoroute non reliees les unes aux autres sont comparees aux systemes informatises non relies entre eux. Ce n'est que lorsque les differentes autoroutes seront reliees entre elles que les vehicules pourront profiter des avantages du reseau et ce n'est que lorsqu'il y aura des systemes informatises complets et integres que l'on pourra fournir des soins de sante de qualite. Le Greater Victoria Hospital Society a utilise des techniques d'amelioration de la qualite pour perfectionner l'autoroute electronique medicale; il a egalement utilise les theories de gestion du changement pour encourager les medecins a «adopter» le systeme informatise afin de faire les changements necessaires a l'organisation et aux soins des patients.

Safety products to prevent percutaneous injuries are rapidly being developed for health care. Decisions to purchase such products are often made by an institution's infection control committee. We evaluated 30 safety products. These products are most readily accepted when potential users perceive a need, believe they are at risk for injury, and have input into the selection process. Task forces of intended users are invaluable in determining which products to evaluate in high-risk areas. Some new devices may be unsafe if excessive manipulation or in-service education is required. New products may not be well accepted if the devices are a different size or configuration than usual or require changes in established practices or techniques. An adequate supply of new products must be available immediately when the evaluation begins or users will tend to select the older, more familiar product. Removing all similar devices except for the new product can facilitate acceptance. Frequency of use can also influence employees when trying a new product. For instance, nurses who only occasionally draw blood have different perceptions of a new blood-drawing device from those of the phlebotomy team. Key employees were designated as resource persons to complement the manufacturer's in-service education and to support transition to the new product. We recommend that decision making by infection control committees involve the individuals who will eventually directly use the new products, starting with the early phases of safety product evaluation.

The successful implementation of quality improvement (QI) in an organization requires the organization's executives to visibly and consistently demonstrate an understanding of and commitment to QI principles. One means of developing this understanding is to give executives firsthand experience with QI tools and skills. This article details the lessons learned by personnel at a large medical center during the implementation of QI initiatives and highlights some aspects of the role hospital executives must play in achieving QI. Whatever approach an organization chooses for the implementation of QI, the exercise of discipline to do what is right inevitably will lead to the improvement of quality.

A retrospective case-control study related to falls was conducted at an 1, 120-bed acute care tertiary hospital. The case (fall) sample consisted of 102 falls and 236 control (nonfall) charts during a 1-month period. An instrument developed by Hendrich (1988) was modified for use in the study. Demographic data and risk factors were recorded. Descriptive statistics included risk factor percentages for each sample and the corresponding univariate relative risks. Logistic regression was used to develop a multi-variate risk factor model with seven risk factors. The significant risk factors were recent history of falls, depression, altered elimination patterns, dizziness or vertigo, primary cancer diagnosis, confusion, and altered mobility. The adjusted relative risks were converted to risk points to be used to assess a patient's level of fall risk. Within the data set, a sensitivity of 77% (79 of 102) and specificity of 72% (169 of 236) were calculated. The model was cross-validated in a 1987 data set with a sensitivity of 83% (59 of 71) and specificity of 66% (106 of 161).

The design and evaluation of a sterile compounding center for a large community teaching hospital are described. The new sterile products area was redesigned to improve efficiency by minimizing staff travel and to incorporate recommendations of the ASHP Technical Assistance Bulletin on Quality Assurance for Pharmacy-prepared Sterile Products. The design approach combined strategic planning with master facilities planning. The process began with a systems analysis, followed by the development of a functional program (a comprehensive list of design specifications). Travel studies were performed before and after renovation to determine gains in efficiency; technician travel decreased 29% and pharmacist travel, 42%. The new facility design met the specifications in the functional program and appeared to comply with all recommendations in the ASHP document for all risk levels of preparations.

Objective:To evaluate the use of focused surveillance in following resistance patterns within an intensive care unit (ICU).Design:Antibiograms of 167 gram-negative isolates from ICU patients were compared to the hospitalwide antibiograms. ICU isolates were examined for the newer forms of beta-lactamase resistance. An outbreak of multiresistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa during the survey illustrated the usefulness of focused surveillance in early intervention and containment.Setting:A 700-bed adult tertiary care hospital with a 16-bed medical and surgical ICU.Results:Hospitalwide and ICU antibiograms of the Enterobacteriaceae were similar. However, resistance of P aeruginosa in the ICU was underestimated by hospitalwide rates. Susceptibility of ICU isolates to ceftazidime, ciprofloxacin, and piperacillin was 54%, 54%, and 42%, compared with 81%, 77%, and 85%, respectively, in the hospital at large. Thirty-five percent of isolates exhibited one of the newer forms of beta-lactamase-mediated resistance, with 17% of isolates exhibiting Class I cephalosporinase production.Conclusion:Targeted survey of high antibiotic-use hospital units should be used to study bacterial epidemiology, rather than relying on general hospital data to evaluate patterns of antimicrobial resistance. Monitoring of potential problem areas leads to prompt identification of changes in resistance and allows early intervention.

Article-at-a-Glance Background Hospitals across the country are seeking to restructure the delivery of care. Planetree, an international consumer health care organization, works with hospitals to cultivate educated health care consumers and to create caring inpatient environments. This article gives an overview of Planetree's philosophy, examines staff and patient satisfaction, and contrasts Planetree with total quality management (TQM)/continuous quality improvement (CQI) as practiced at one hospital. Planetree’s philosophy Planetrees model differs from other patient-centered or patient-focused care models because of its emphasis on educating patients and making them active partners in the care process. To help make the hospital environment less forbidding, more homelike, and more conducive to social interaction, Planetree physically redesigns the hospital space. Study results Planetree hopes to achieve many goals with its restructuring of patient care, two of which are staff and patient satisfaction. Preliminary surveys indicate that nurses and nursing assistants on Planetree are more satisfied than are staff on comparable units. The results of patient surveys, however, are more ambiguous. Planetree patients are no more, or no less, satisfied with their care than patients on comparable units. Discussion Both Planetree and TQM/CQI have goals of improving the delivery of patient care, and there are times when these approaches work in concert. There are times, however, when the different vantage points of TQM/CQI and Planetree may raise different questions and foster different solutions. Questions are also raised regarding whether Planetree benefits all patients in the same way. Furthermore, since it is not clear if Planetree's vision of humanizing patient care brings the results it hopes for, a long-term multifaceted research program is called for.

Older persons who re hospitalized for acute illnesses often lose their independence and are discharged to institutions for long-term care.We studied 651 patients 70 years of age or older who were admitted for general medical care at a teaching hospital; these patients were randomly assigned to receive usual care or to be cared for in a special unit designed to help older persons maintain or achieve independence in self-care activities. The key elements of this program were a specially prepared environment (with, for example, uncluttered hallways, large clocks and calendars, and handrails); patient-centered care emphasizing independence, including specific protocols for prevention of disability and for rehabilitation; discharge planning with the goal of returning the patient to his or her home; and intensive review of medical care to minimize the adverse effects of procedures and medications. The main outcome we measured ws the change from admission to discharge in the number of five basic activities of daily living (bathing, getting dressed, using the toilet, moving from a bed to a chair, and eating) that the patient could perform independently.Twenty-four patients in each group died in the hospital. At the time of discharge, 65 (21 percent) of the 303 surviving patients in the intervention group were classified as much better in terms of their ability to perform basic activities of daily living, 39 (13 percent) as better, 151 (50 percent) as unchanged, 22 (7 percent) as worse, and 26 (9 percent) as much worse. In the usual care group, 40 (13 percent) of the 300 surviving patients were classified as much better, 33 (11 percent) as better, 163 (54 percent) as unchanged, 39 (13 percent) as worse, and 25 (8 percent) as much worse (P = 0.009). The difference between the groups remained significant (P = 0.04) in a multivariable model in which we controlled for potentially confounding base-line characteristics of the patients. Lengths of stay and hospital charges were similar in the two groups. Fewer patients assigned to the intervention group were discharged to long-term care institutions (43 patients [14 percent], as compared with 67 patients [22 percent] in the usual-care group; P = 0.01). Among the 493 patients discharged to private homes, similar proportions (about 10 percent) in the two groups were admitted to long-term care institutions during the three months after discharge.Specific changes in the provision of acute hospital care can improve the ability of a heterogeneous group of acutely ill older patients to perform basic activities of daily living at the time of discharge from the hospital and can reduce the frequency of discharge to institutions for long-term care.

In this 5-year prospective study, we determined the feasibility of reducing polypharmacy in a long-term care institution by a systematic review of the pharmacy records. At 6-month intervals, the computer printout of all medications prescribed to patients in a 550-bed institution was reviewed. After patients taking more than 10 different drugs were identified, their physician was notified and was asked to review their medications according to specific guidelines. The number of patients taking 10 or more medications was reduced from 67, when the program was started, to 9. The average number of medications per patient was reduced from 5.5 to 4.6. This program reduced the prevalence of polypharmacy and had long-lasting effects on the physicians' prescribing habits. We also believe it led to improved patient care by reducing the potential for drug interactions and to cost savings for the pharmacy.

Background: Needlestick injury has been identified as a major cause of exposure to blood and body fluids. The heparin-lock intermittent intravenous procedure was implicated in the largest number of needlestick-related exposures (26%) at this 1100-bed tertiary care hospital, and replacement of this system was imperative. Cost concerns, however, necessitated that replacement products not increase overall hospital costs. Methods: A needleless intravenous access system (Interlink IV Access System; Baxter Healthcare Corp., Parenterals Division, Deerfield, Ill.) was introduced. Effectiveness and cost-benefit of this system were analyzed by comparing needlestick injuries and their associated costs, as well as costs of relevant products and procedures, for the year before introduction of the new product with those for 1 year after implementation of the new system. Results: During the study period, the needleless access system was 78.7% effective in reducing intravenous line—related needlestick injuries. There was an overall reduction of 43.4% in total needlestick injuries from all procedures and events. The incremental cost to this hospital ranged from a 5.3% additional cost to a 5.7% savings, without even considering the less quantifiable benefits associated with avoidance of needlestick injury, time saved by using this product, and decreased infection rate. Conclusion: When used as intended, this system was extremely effective in reducing intravenous line—related needlestick injuries, and the system does pay for itself.

Objective: To validate a previously published model for predicting bacteremia in hospitalized patients. Design: Application of a published bacteremia prediction model to a prospective validation cohort of patients and comparison of its predictability to that found in the derivation cohort. Setting: Urban, university-affiliated, 550-bed public hospital. Patients: The validation cohort consisted of 342 patients with 559 blood culture episodes between October 14, 1992, and December 5, 1992. Each blood culture episode was scored based on the presence or absence of seven predictors of bacteremia and the findings compared with published results (derivation cohort). Interventions: None. Results: Application of the bacteremia prediction model to the validation cohort identified episodes with a low risk (3%) and a high risk (17%) for true bacteremia, similar to the findings in the derivation cohort (1% and 16%, respectively). Comparison of the predictions of the model in the two cohorts by receiver operator characteristic curve analysis revealed that the overall predictability of the model in the validation cohort was not as good as in the derivation cohort. Conclusions: Although the bacteremia prediction model did not perform as well overall in the validation cohort, the model still was able to clearly define two extreme groups: those with a low risk and those with a high risk for true bacteremia. This predictive capability may aid physicians in prescribing empiric antimicrobial therapy and also may be useful to hospital epidemiologists in assessing quality of care

Objective: To examine the prescribing of mood stabilizers (lithium, carbamazepine, and valproic acid) in a 500-bed state-operated psychiatric hospital in New York. Method: All 129 inpatients receiving mood stabilizers were identified and their medical records reviewed using a standardized drug use evaluation form. Diagnosis, other indications, and prior experience with mood stabilizers were examined, as well as outcome and adverse effects. Results: Approximately one-quarter of the inpatient population received a mood stabilizer. The frequency of carbamazepine use exceeded the use of lithium, with 72 patients receiving carbamazepine and only 62 receiving lithium. Twenty-eight patients received valproic acid. Indications found most frequently for carbamazepine use included assaultive or aggressive behavior (70% for those receiving carbamazepine as the only mood stabilizer). Of those patients with bipolar or schizoaffective disorder and receiving either lithium, carbamazepine, or valproic acid, 36% were prescribed carbamazepine (10% as a first-line agent) and 50% lithium (26% as a first-line agent). None of these indications for carbamazepine has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. In general, positive outcomes were documented but without supporting objective measures. Significant adverse effects were documented in the medical record in one-quarter of the patients. Conclusions: There was widespread use of the three mood stabilizers examined, singly and in combination, for a variety of indications. Lithium and valproic acid remain more frequently prescribed for the treatment of bipolar and schizoaffective disorders. Monotherapy with carbamazepine or valproic acid results in statistically significantly fewer adverse effects than lithium or combination therapy (p values between p = 0.00038 and p = 0.006). Current clinical practice has endorsed the use of carbamazepine for aggressive or assaultive behavior, although there does not appear to be sufficient proof of effectiveness in the literature. Formal studies of carbamazepine's antiagressive effects should be conducted.

The delivery of service quality has become a topic of increasing interest especially in the context of health care services marketing. The research investigated the responsiveness component of quality service. Both issues, the customers' perception of time as well as their expectations for responsiveness in quality service delivery were addressed. Specifically, an attempt was made to determine if the patients' perception of bell response time differed from the actual response time. In addition, this paper tried to determine if the difference between patient's perception of bell response time and actual response time had an effect on their perception of the responsiveness of the nurse.