Current status of temporomandibular joint arthroscopy in the United Kingdom

In an era during which minimally invasive procedures are increasingly becoming the norm, arthroscopy of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) seems to be infrequently used for diagnosis and treatment of disorders of the TMJ. The reasons for this are not clear. The purpose of this study was to find out the current state of arthroscopy of the TMJ in the UK and, more specifically, how often it is used, the indications for its use, the level of experience of practising surgeons, and the reasons for not using it. Information was gathered between 2009 and 2010 from a postal and e-mail questionnaire to all oral and maxillofacial consultants in the UK. Of the 346 consultants, 215 (60%) responded to the questionnaire. Forty-two said that they currently used arthroscopy of the TMJ, and 33 of those (81%) have more than 5 years' experience. During the past year, a total of 8 consultants nationally have done 20 arthroscopies or more. Thirty-three of the procedures (81%) were done for both diagnosis and treatment. Lack of perceived need of patients and lack of interest in this specialty were the main reasons given for not doing arthroscopy, lack of training being a key secondary reason. The Storz and Olympus systems were the most commonly used within the UK. Results seem to support the opinion that arthroscopy of the TMJ is under-used, and consideration should be given to ensuring that trainees are instructed in its use, which is important in the diagnosis and treatment of disorders of the TMJ.     

Perceived Value of Teaching and Learning Curriculum Programs Among Pharmacy Practice Department Chairs

Objective. To determine the perceived value that pharmacy practice department chairs ascribe to pharmacy faculty candidates having completed a teaching and learning curriculum (TLC) program and related activities.Methods. An 18-item survey instrument was created that was intended to capture the overall impressions of pharmacy practice chairs regarding the value of TLC programs, relative importance compared to other accomplishments (eg, residency completion, board certification), and importance of specific activities. Following pilot testing and establishment of intra-rater reliability, invitations to complete the electronic survey instrument were sent to pharmacy practice chairs (or their equivalent) at accredited Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) programs in the United States.Results. Of the 127 pharmacy practice chairs invited, 53 completed the survey (response rate of 41.7%). The majority of respondents held a PharmD degree (90.6%), had been in their role of chair for zero to five years (60.4%), and represented a private institution (54.7%). The majority of respondents who answered the question (32 of 49) felt it was very important or important (16.3% and 49.0%, respectively) that teaching experiences be completed within a formal teaching and learning curriculum program. These programs were believed to be most important for candidates with less than five years of professional experience. Teaching and learning curriculum programs were not deemed to be more important than other accomplishments by most responders. The perceived most important TLC program activities were instruction on didactic and experiential teaching strategies, and experience developing learning objectives, developing examination items, evaluating examination results, and facilitating case conferences or practice laboratory activities.Conclusion. Teaching and learning curriculum programs may provide the foundational experiences needed for pharmacy graduates to stand out among other candidates, although department chairs’ perceptions of the value of teaching and learning curriculum experiences varied.     

洪广祥国医大师诊治慢性咳嗽的方药规律数据分析

 

目的 分析国医大师洪广祥教授诊治慢性咳嗽的方药规律。方法 收集洪广祥教授诊治慢性咳嗽的医案。运用中医丹歌智慧诊疗云平台,通过数据挖掘技术分析诊治慢性咳嗽的方药规律。结果 共选取105例慢性咳嗽病案,使用方剂36个,中药138味。最常用的前5位的方剂分别是温肺煎、麻黄连翘赤小豆汤、清咽利窍汤、窍痒煎、益气护卫汤。常用的前13位的中药分别为甘草、法半夏、生姜、麻黄、枳实、苏叶、天浆壳、矮地茶、薄荷、桔梗、细辛、木蝴蝶、杏仁。结论 基于数据挖掘技术发现洪教授诊治慢性咳嗽,非局限于某方某药,而是重在辨证论治,同病异治,灵活应用经方、验方。

     

The use of simulation and moulage in undergraduate diagnostic radiography education: A burns scenario

IntroductionThere is a national drive to increase allied health professions simulation training. However, there is a paucity of literature within diagnostic radiography in relation to clinical simulation. No research could be found regarding the impact of simulation in radiography with complex clinical burns scenarios.This research aims to explore the perceptions of radiography undergraduate students regarding their preparedness for the complex care requirements in imaging examinations of clinical burns cases using a mixed methods approach.MethodA small-scale simulation-based teaching session was developed in a Scottish HEI, using role play and moulage to create realism. Twenty-eight undergraduate student radiographers participated in the scenario. Students completed pre and post-scenario questionnaires using Likert scale and free response data. Focus groups were undertaken three months after the simulation to obtain rich qualitative data. Common themes were identified via a process of initial coding and a 6-phase thematic analysis.ResultsThematic analysis demonstrated a marked increased perception of preparedness post-scenario; students felt more prepared to undertake their role in the imaging of complex care patients (Likert scoring increased with both mode and median post-scenario). Common themes that were identified were patient centeredness, realism and learning.ConclusionWithin this limited pilot project, the use of simulation was an effective means of preparing students to understand their role within the complex care setting (with respect to the traumatic realism of burns) in preparedness for professional practice. Additionally, students related to the practical understanding of the complexity of human factors that exist within clinical practice.     

The Current State of Teleradiology Across the United States: A National Survey of Radiologists’ Habits,Attitudes, and Perceptions on Teleradiology Practice

PurposeTo explore the current state of teleradiology practice, defined as the interpretation of imaging examinations at a different facility from where the examination was performed.MethodsA national survey addressing radiologists’ habits, attitudes, and perceptions regarding teleradiology was distributed by e-mail to a random sample of ACR members in early 2019.ResultsAmong 731 of 936 respondents who indicated a non-teleradiologist primary work setting, 85.6% reported performing teleradiology within the past 10 years and 25.4% reported that teleradiology represents a majority of their annual imaging volumes; 84.4% performed teleradiology for internal examinations and 45.7% for external examinations; 46.2% performed teleradiology for rural areas and 37.2% for critical access hospitals; 91.3% performed teleradiology during weekday normal business hours and 44.5% to 79.6% over evening, overnight, and weekend hours. In all, 76.9% to 86.2% perceived value from teleradiology for geographic, after-hours, and multispecialty coverage, as well as reduced interpretation turnaround times. The most common challenges for teleradiology were electronic health record access (62.8%), quality assurance (53.8%), and technologist proximity (48.4%). The strategy most commonly considered useful for improving teleradiology was technical interpretation standards (33.3%). Radiologists in smaller practices were less likely to perform teleradiology or performed teleradiology for lower fractions of work, were less likely to experience coverage advantages of teleradiology, and reported larger implementation challenges, particularly relating to electronic health records and prior examination access.ConclusionDespite historic concerns, teleradiology is widespread throughout modern radiology practice, helping practices achieve geographic, after-hours, and multispecialty coverage; reducing turnaround times; and expanding underserved access. Nonetheless, quality assurance of offsite examinations remains necessary. IT integration solutions could help smaller practices achieve teleradiology’s benefits.     

Adding Value in Radiology Reporting

The major goal of the radiology report is to deliver timely, accurate, and actionable information to the patient care team and the patient. Structured reporting offers multiple advantages over traditional free-text reporting, including reduction in diagnostic error, comprehensiveness, adherence to national consensus guidelines, revenue capture, data collection, and research. Various technological innovations enhance integration of structured reporting into everyday clinical practice. This review discusses the benefits of innovations in radiology reporting to the clinical decision process, the patient experience, the cost of imaging, and the overall contributions to the health of the population. Future directions, including the use of artificial intelligence, are reviewed.     

Harnessing public domain data to discover and validate therapeutic targets

Introduction: Discovering, developing and validating new disease treatments is a challenging and time-consuming endeavor. Successful drug discovery hinges on selecting the best drug targets with relevance to human disease and evidence that modulating them will be beneficial for patients. Open data initiatives are increasingly placing such knowledge into the public domain.

Areas covered: In this review, the authors discuss emerging resources such as Open Targets which integrate key information to prioritize target-disease connections. Researchers can use it, along with other resources, to select potential new therapeutic targets to initiate drug discovery projects. They also discuss public resources such as DrugBank and ChEMBL that offer potential tools to interrogate these targets.

Expert opinion: In our opinion, publically available resources are democratizing and connecting information, enabling disease experts to access and prioritize targets of interest in ways that were not possible a few years ago. Moreover, there are several modalities in addition to small molecule perturbation to modulate a target’s activity. Drug discovery scientists can now utilize these new resources to simultaneously evaluate a much larger number of targets than previously possible.     

A comparison of synthetic control approaches for the evaluation of policy interventions using observational data: Evaluating the impact of redesigning urgent and emergency care in Northumberland

Objective

To compare the original synthetic control (OSC) method with alternative approaches (Generalized [GSC], Micro [MSC], and Bayesian [BSC] synthetic control methods) and re-evaluate the impact of a significant restructuring of urgent and emergency care in Northeast England, which included the opening of the UK's first purpose-built specialist emergency care hospital.

Data Sources

Simulations and data from Secondary Uses Service data, a single comprehensive repository for patient-level health care data in England.

Study Design

Hospital use of individuals exposed and unexposed to the restructuring is compared. We estimate the impact using OSC, MSC, BSC, and GSC applied at the general practice level. We contrast the estimation methods' performance in a Monte Carlo simulation study.

Data Collection/Extraction Methods

Hospital activity data from Secondary Uses Service for patients aged over 18 years registered at a general practice in England from April 2011 to March 2019.

Principal Findings

None of the methods dominated all simulation scenarios. GSC was generally preferred. In contrast to an earlier evaluation that used OSC, GSC reported a smaller impact of the opening of the hospital on Accident and Emergency (A&E) department (also known as emergency department or casualty) visits and no evidence for any impact on the proportion of A&E patients seen within 4 h.

Conclusions

The simulation study highlights cases where the considered methods may lead to biased estimates in health policy evaluations. GSC was found to be the most reliable method of those considered. Considering more disaggregated data over a longer time span and applying GSC indicates that the specialist emergency care hospitals in Northumbria had less impact on A&E visits and waiting times than suggested by the original evaluation which applied OSC to more aggregated data.     

Effects of an electronic health record-based mobility assessment and automated referral for inpatient physical therapy on patient outcomes: A quasi-experimental study

Objective

To assess the effectiveness of a hospital physical therapy (PT) referral triggered by scores on a mobility assessment embedded in the electronic health record (EHR) and completed by nursing staff on hospital admission.

Data Sources

EHR and billing data from 12 acute care hospitals in a western Pennsylvania health system (January 2017–February 2018) and 11 acute care hospitals in a northeastern Ohio health system (August 2019–July 2021).

Study Design

We utilized a regression discontinuity design to compare patients admitted to PA hospitals with stroke who reached the mobility score threshold for an EHR-PT referral (treatment) to those who did not (control). Outcomes were hospital length of stay (LOS) and 30-day readmission or mortality. Control variables included demographics, insurance, income, and comorbidities. Hospital systems with EHR-PT referrals were also compared to those without (OH hospitals as alternative control). Subgroup analyses based on age were also conducted.

Data Extraction

We identified adult patients with a primary or secondary diagnosis of stroke and mobility assessments completed by nursing (n = 4859 in PA hospitals, n = 1749 in OH hospitals) who completed their inpatient stay.

Principal Findings

In the PA hospitals, patients with EHR-PT referrals had an 11.4 percentage-point decrease in their 30-day readmission or mortality rates (95% CI −0.57, −0.01) relative to the control. This effect was not observed in the OH hospitals for 30-day readmission (β = 0.01; 95% CI −0.25, 0.26). Adults over 60 years old with EHR-PT referrals in PA had a 26.2 percentage-point (95% CI −0.88, −0.19) decreased risk of readmission or mortality compared to those without. Unclear relationships exist between EHR-PT referrals and hospital LOS in PA.

Conclusions

Health systems should consider methodologies to facilitate early acute care hospital PT referrals informed by mobility assessments.