Access to Care: End-to-End Digital Response for COVID-19 Care Delivery

The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic disrupted health care, requiring organizational leaders to act quickly to manage the health-related concerns of individuals and communities. The ability to offer a variety of digitally enabled telehealth services with 24/7 access to nurse practitioners and physician assistants allowed us to care for patients in their homes. It reduced the spread of the virus, protected our employees from further disease spread, and provided early interventions to those in need. The roles of nurse practitioner leaders, the enacted strategies, and patient outcomes demonstrate the impact of an innovative digital care delivery model on care across the continuum.     

Comparing the rates of low-value back images ordered by physicians and nurse practitioners for Medicare beneficiaries in primary care

BackgroundLittle is known about the extent of ordering low-value services by.PurposeTo compare the rates of low-value back images ordered by primary care physicians (PCMDs) and primary care nurse practitioners (PCNPs).MethodWe used 2012 and 2013 Medicare Part B claims for all beneficiaries in 18 hospital referral ?regions (HRRs) and a measure of low-value back imaging from Choosing Wisely. Models included random clinician effect and fixed effects for beneficiary age, disability, Elixhauser comorbidities, clinician sex, the emergency department setting, back pain visit volume, organization, and region (HRR).FindingsPCNPs (N = 231) and PCMDs (N = 4,779) order low-value back images at similar rates (NP: all images: 26.5%; MRI/CT: 8.4%; MD: all images: 24.5%; MRI/CT: 7.7%), with no detectable significant difference when controlling for covariates.DiscussionPCNPs and PCMDs order low-value back images at an effectively similar rate.     

上海市浦东新区基层全科医师心身医学项目培训效果评估*

目的在上海市浦东新区全科医师队伍中开展心身医学知识培训。方法采用问卷星平台进行问卷调查,选取辖区内45家社区卫生服务中心参加培训的135名学员作为培训组,未参加培训的100名全科医师作为对照组,进行培训效果评估。结果培训组总分高于对照组,差异有显著统计学意义(P0.001),培训后,提升最快的模块依次是心身医学知识的应用(P0.001)、精神科问诊及治疗(P0.001)、社区随访沟通技巧(P0.001)和儿童青少年心身疾病(P=0.002),但焦虑症模块的变化差异无统计学意义(P=0.213);相对于城区的全科医师,乡镇的全科医师培训后,精神科问诊及治疗(P=0.471)和儿童青少年心身疾病(P=0.06)模块的变化均无统计学意义。结论心身医学培训能显著提升全科医师对相应知识的掌握,城区和乡镇的全科医师对心身医学知识的需求有差别,需要进一步精确设计培训模式和方向。     

Neuroendocrine,epigenetic, and intergenerational effects of general anesthetics

The progress of modern medicine would be impossible without the use of general anesthetics (GAs). Despite advancements in refining anesthesia approaches, the effects of GAs are not fully reversible upon GA withdrawal. Neurocognitive deficiencies attributed to GA exposure may persist in neonates or endure for weeks to years in the elderly. Human studies on the mechanisms of the long-term adverse effects of GAs are needed to improve the safety of general anesthesia but they are hampered not only by ethical limitations specific to human research, but also by a lack of specific biological markers that can be used in human studies to safely and objectively study such effects. The latter can primarily be attributed to an insufficient understanding of the full range of the biological effects induced by GAs and the molecular mechanisms mediating such effects even in rodents, which are far more extensively studied than any other species. Our most recent experimental findings in rodents suggest that GAs may adversely affect many more people than is currently anticipated. Specifically, we have shown that anesthesia with the commonly used GA sevoflurane induces in exposed animals not only neuroendocrine abnormalities (somatic effects), but also epigenetic reprogramming of germ cells (germ cell effects). The latter may pass the neurobehavioral effects of parental sevoflurane exposure to the offspring, who may be affected even at levels of anesthesia that are not harmful to the exposed parents. The large number of patients who require general anesthesia, the even larger number of their future unexposed offspring whose health may be affected, and a growing number of neurodevelopmental disorders of unknown etiology underscore the translational importance of investigating the intergenerational effects of GAs. In this mini review, we discuss emerging experimental findings on neuroendocrine, epigenetic, and intergenerational effects of GAs.     

Surgical Technique Notes of Arterial Vascular Reconstruction During Kidney Transplantation: Personal Experience and Literature Review

Background

Arterial vascular anomalies in patients undergoing kidney transplantation (KT) are correlated with a higher incidence of early surgical complications, potentially causing graft loss. Arterial reconstruction allows patients to overcome these surgical challenges, thus minimizing the risk of poor outcomes. The aim of the present study is to retrospectively investigate the safety and effectiveness of the multiple arterial reconstruction technique with a Teflon patch in case of an unavailable aortic patch: to do so, surgical complications, graft function, and patient survival were evaluated.