Ethical triage and scarce resource allocation during public health emergencies: tenets and procedures

Public health emergencies may result in mass casualties and a surge in demand for hospital-based care. Healthcare standards may need to be altered to respond to an imbalance between demands for care and resources. Clinical decisions that involve triage and scarce resource allocation may present unique ethical challenges. To address these challenges, the authors detailed tenets and procedures to guide triage and scarce resource allocation during public health emergencies. The authors propose health care organizations deploy a Triage and Scarce Resource Allocation Team to over-see and guide ethically challenging clinical decision-making during a crisis period. The authors' goal is to help healthcare organizations and clinicians balance public health responsibilities and their duty to individual patients during emergencies in as equitable and humane a manner as possible.     

Obtaining Data on Patient Race, Ethnicity, and Primary Language in Health Care Organizations: Current Challenges and Proposed Solutions

Objectives. To provide an overview of why health care organizations (HCOs) should collect race, ethnicity, and language data, review current practices, discuss the rationale for collecting this information directly from patients, and describe barriers and solutions.
Principal Findings. Hospitals and HCOs with data from their own institutions may be more likely to look at disparities in care, design targeted programs to improve quality of care, and provide patient-centered care. Yet data collection is fragmented and incomplete within and across organizations. A major factor affecting the quality of data is the lack of understanding about how best to collect this information from patients.
Conclusions. If HCOs make a commitment to systematically collect race/ethnicity and language data from patients, it would be a major step in enhancing the ability of HCOs to monitor health care processes and outcomes for different population groups, target quality initiatives more efficiently and effectively, and provide patient-centered care.     

我国脊髓损伤患者延续性护理研究进展

介绍我国延续性护理在脊髓损伤患者中的发展状况,总结我国脊髓损伤延续性护理的开展内容、形式以及效果,指出脊髓损伤延续性护理发展中存在的主要问题,提出改进建议,并对脊髓损伤延续性护理的发展前景进行展望,旨在充分发挥延续性护理在脊髓损伤患者康复中的作用,促进其进一步的发展。     

Survival of tetraplegic spinal cord injured persons after the first admission of a rehabilitation center and prognosis factors: a multicenter study of 697 subjects in French centers

BACKGROUND: We surveyed survival and prognosis factors in tetraplegic spinal cord injured persons (TSCI) after their admission to a physical medicine and rehabilitation center. METHODS: This multicenter study included 697 individuals, the entire cohort of patients admitted to three of the principal French centers caring for spinal cord injured persons from 1949 to 1997. The data set was drawn from the medical files and included data on the accident and its complications, social and demographic features, and the characteristics of the spinal injury. Survival data were obtained for all subjects from the official registries of their place of birth. Univariate (Kaplan-Meier) and multivariate (Cox regression) analysis was made to study links between these data and survival. RESULTS: Univariate analysis indicated that the principal variables significantly related to survival were: level of the lesion, age at the time of the accident, the cause of the accident, and the presence of a permanent tracheotomy or a depressive syndrome requiring medical care. Multivariate analysis showed that the risk of dying was 82% lower for persons who did not have a permanent tracheotomy. The risk declined by 92%, 89% and 69% for TSCI aged 20 years or less, 20-39 years and 40-59 years respectively at the time of the accident compared with those aged more than 60 years. This risk was 37% lower for TSCI without depressive syndrome and 52% lower for persons injured at levels C6, C7, C8 compared with those injured at levels C2, C3, C4. CONCLUSION: Multivariate analysis showed that the principal prognosis factors for survival are the presence of a permanent tracheotomy, the age at the time of the accident, the presence of a depressive syndrome and the level of the lesion. No statistical improvement of survival was observed related with time (corresponding to the year of inclusion) but, over the study period, there was an increasing number of spinal cord injured person who survived with high lesions.     

Nurses' Comfort Level With Emergency Interventions in the Rural Hospital Setting

ABSTRACT:  Context: One quarter of the persons living in the United States receive their emergency care in a rural hospital. Nurses employed in these hospitals see few emergencies but must be prepared to provide expert and efficient care when they do occur. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of registered nurses' certifications and years of experience on comfort level in emergencies. Methods: Data were collected using a survey design. The questionnaire gathered demographic data, number and type(s) of certifications held, and comfort level with 7 emergency interventions. The sample was recruited from registered nurses (RNs) working in 10 Critical Access Hospitals that represented different geographic locations and different distances to larger, more comprehensive hospitals in an upper Midwestern state. Findings: Mean comfort level of all respondents with the 7 selected emergency interventions ranged from 2.3 for assisting with thoracentesis to 3.6 for assisting with precipitous vaginal delivery, indicating only a moderate comfort level with the selected emergency interventions. While 70% of the 86 respondents answered "yes" when asked if they felt comfortable in emergency situations, the percentage of respondents who reported being comfortable ranged from 33% to 83%. Conclusions: Number and type(s) of certifications and years of experience as an RN were associated with higher comfort levels. Responses to open-ended questions provided insight into the realities of rural emergency nursing and strategies for improving comfort levels of rural nurses in emergency situations.     

Applying critical pathways to neurosurgery patients at the University of Michigan Medical Center

Project Overview: In April 1990, The University of Michigan Hospitals began a major, multidisciplinary project to standardize care processes in order to increase efficiency and reduce costs while maintaining the quality of clinical care. A team of nurses began the project by developing critical pathways for two neurosurgery procedures--lumbar laminectomy and transphenoidal pituitary tumor resection. The pathways were reviewed by physicians and other staff from other disciplines and were implemented in January of 1991. Key Findings: Data from the first 14 months show a decrease in patients' average lengths of stay in both the intensive care unit (ICU) and routine care unit. Costs and variance data are being analyzed and further improvements to the pathways are being made. Eleven critical paths are now being used for neurosurgery patients. In retrospect, participants learned that physicians should be involved at the earliest stages of critical pathway development and in the process of implementation.     

Characteristics of acute care hospitals with diversity plans and translation services

Hospitals provide diversity activities for a number of reasons. The authors examined community demand, resource availability, managed care, institutional pressure, and external orientation related variables that were associated with acute care hospital diversity plans and translation services. The authors used multiple logistic regression to analyze the data for 478 hospitals in the 2006 National Inpatient Sample (NIS) dataset that had available data on the racial and ethnic status of their discharges. We also used 2004 and 2006 American Hospital Association (AHA) data to measure the two dependent diversity variables and the other independent variables. We found that resource, managed care, and external orientation variables were associated with having a diversity plan and that resource, managed care, institutional, and external orientation variables were associated with providing translation services. The authors concluded that more evidence for diversity's impact, additional resources, and more institutional pressure may be needed to motivate more hospitals to provide diversity planning and translation services.     

Deciding Which Drugs Get Onto the Formulary: A Value-Based Approach

ObjectivesHospitals, physicians, payers, and patients face economic and ethical decisions about the use of biotechnology drugs, commonly called specialty medications. These often target a small population, have data based on smaller clinical trials, are expensive, and may have questionable advantage. This is a result of how the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves medications, which is based only on safety and efficacy. Cancer drugs, once approved by the FDA, regardless of cost or value must be covered by Medicare. Some states have laws requiring additional coverage as well. All of this has created an unintended consequence: It has driven up costs with questionable evidence to support the medication’s value, placing patients, payers, and providers in an ethical conflict. In this new era of health care transformation, health care leaders must focus on creating value to support a sustainable health system. Christiana Care Health System’s Value Institute has designed a new model to evaluate specialty medications, using value as its main criterion.MethodsThis article describes the process and outcomes using a new value model for evaluating specialty medications for a hospital formulary. It also introduces a new criterion of evaluation entitled “Societal Benefit” that provides a rating on quality- of-life issues. With measurable factors of efficacy, risk, cost, and quality-of-life concerns, our methodology provides a more balanced approach in the evaluation of specialty medications.ResultsSpecialty medications are the fastest growing segment of drug expense, and it is hard to understand how these medications will be sustainable under health care reforms. Unlike other countries, the United States has no national agency providing cost-effectiveness review; review occurs, if at all, at a local level. Laws governing Medicare and most private insurers’ coverage of FDA-approved medication and some clinical quality standards conflict with cost-effectiveness, making this type of review difficult. Finally, because these medications affect the health system as a whole, it is a great example to begin to support health care reform.ConclusionsHospitals need to challenge the value of specialty medication. Although our model will continue to evolve, value is now our central consideration when selecting specialty medications to be added to the formulary. We share this experience to encourage other hospitals to design their own approach to this vital issue.     

Problems and costs associated with alcohol and drug abuse in emergency medicine

Preclinical care refers to patients with life-threatening conditions. It remains unclear how alcohol and drug abuse contribute to the frequency and severity of emergency cases. This study evaluated the influence of these psychotropic substances on preclinical emergencies and the social security costs arising from this. The records of 400 emergency patients were analyzed prospectively regarding type and severity of emergency, intake of psychotropic substances before the emergency, and their influence on patients' outcome. Psychotropics were detected in 19% of patients; 84% of these patients (vs. 55% overall) were scored below 4 (not life threatening) on the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics scale and therefore did not require a physician on-site. Alcohol or drug intake frequently causes emergencies with physicians on-site; retrospectively 84% of these interventions were thus found to be unnecessary, caused by difficulties in recognizing the severity of the disorder, especially in mental or respiratory disorders. Extrapolated to Germany overall this means 675,000 drug-related emergencies yearly, costing euro 310,000,000.     

Decubitus ulcer and nutritional status: literature review

In order to better understand aspects related to the nutritional assessment of patients in risk for pressure ulcers, we reviewed the national and international literature indexed on Medline and LILACS bibliographic databases, from 1987 to 2001. The aim of this research was to investigate the knowledge production on pressure ulcers and nutritional status, as well as to learn about the authors and the publication focus. We concluded that patients in risk for pressure ulcers can be early identified based on nutritional assessment, including biochemical data, anthropometric evaluation, clinical data, diet history and energetic consumption. The alterations are frequent in elderly patients, hospitalized patients, patients with a chronic disease such as a vascular cerebral accident, cancer and spinal cord injury.     

Female sexuality after spinal cord injury

A questionnaire investigating women's perception of sexuality and sexual behavior after spinal cord injury was mailed to all 74 women followed by the Central Pennsylvania Spinal Cord Injury Program. 37% responded. (After spinal cord injury, women rated sex as being 26% less important to them, but also felt 23% less satisfied with their sexual lives.) 52% were able to achieve an orgasm after their injury, but half of the women who experienced orgasm felt it was different after spinal cord injury. The biggest perceived change after spinal cord injury was perceived attractiveness of their bodies. Women rated their bodies as being only half as attractive after their injury as before. Female sexuality remains a vastly underresearched area in spinal cord injury, and much more data is needed to counsel women about sex after their injury. All members of the rehabilitation team need to be comfortable addressing issues of sexuality with their patients.Presented at the American Spinal Injury Association Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL, May 4, 1990.     

Characteristics of the patients needing emergency dental treatment at the hospital of Clermont-Ferrand (France)

BACKGROUND: Data on the profile of patients attending hospital dental emergencies units in France, and the activity of these units is scarce. Such knowledge is nevertheless necessary not only to optimize care, but also as the first step in a quality assurance process. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the Clermont-Ferrand University Hospital dental emergencies unit to estimate its activity and ascertain the profile of the attending patients. The unit's computerized database was used to list the time distribution of the consultations as well as the profile of the patients attending in 2003 (N=2207). Furthermore, patients attending in February and March 2003 (N=383) completed a questionnaire about why they consulted and their regular dental follow-up. The emergency diagnoses as well as the treatment applied were also noted. RESULTS: The general profile of patients who attended the unit in 2003 was as follows: age of most patients 20-29 years, 52% of the patients were male, majority (85.4%) lived in Clermont-Ferrand or its suburbs, 13.5% had subsidized health insurance for disadvantaged people and 43% consulted the unit only when they suffered from a dental emergency. There were more consultations in the afternoons (59.2%) and their number decreased gradually during the week. The results from the questionnaire indicated that: pain (42%) and prosthetic problems (34%) were the most frequent reasons for consulting, 38.8% of the patients waited more than 7 days before attending and 50.8% had not seen a dentist in the previous year except in case of emergency. CONCLUSION: The patients attending the hospital units for dental emergencies have a special profile. These units should adapt care to the needs of attending patients who generally do not consult regular dental care facilities.     

全脊柱核磁共振在脊柱外科中的应用

目的探讨全脊柱核磁共振在脊柱外科中的应用范围。方法回顾性分析脊柱骨折伴脊髓损伤112例中,39例全脊柱核磁共振的临床资料。结果 39例全脊髓核磁共振中,有2处病灶17例,3处病灶8例。结论对于昏迷截瘫或药物中毒等脊柱外科患者,全脊柱核磁共振检查是早期明确诊断的最佳方法。     

A discharge panel at denver health, focused on complex patients, may have influenced decline in length-of-stay

Acute care hospitals struggle to manage complex patients who no longer require acute care services but who present medical and psychosocial challenges that make safe discharge to a lower level of care difficult. These challenges can be particularly acute at safety-net hospitals that cater predominantly to the poor and uninsured. For a person with a serious illness, such as a spinal cord injury, lack of insurance for long-term care services may add many weeks of medically unnecessary hospital days and result in higher costs. We describe safety-net system Denver Health's efforts to facilitate appropriate nonhospital care for these complex patients through the formation of a Complex Discharge Subcommittee. Successful solutions include accelerating legal guardianship approval to facilitate patient acceptance by skilled nursing facilities, as well as providing specialized equipment such as bariatric beds to nursing facilities to enable them to accommodate these patients. However, further policy interventions, such as updated reimbursement policies, are warranted.     

Investigating police officers' perceptions of their role in pathways to mental healthcare

In the United Kingdom, one‐in‐four individuals with mental health problems access mental healthcare with police involvement. However, little is known about police officers' perceptions of their role in pathways to services. The aim of this study was to examine UK police officers' views and experiences of their involvement in mental healthcare, focusing on decision‐making in emergency situations. Using volunteer sampling, we recruited 15 police officers from a large metropolitan conurbation in the North West of England. Semi‐structured interviews, including a vignette depicting a mental health emergency, were used to elicit data. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed at the manifest level using thematic analysis, yielding three main themes: ‘Doing What's Right’, ‘Challenges of Working Together’ and ‘Training versus Experience’. Our findings indicate that, while police officers believe they have a duty of care to protect people in mental health emergencies, they sometimes lack relevant knowledge, skills and confidence in decision‐making. Challenges associated with multi‐agency working were also perceived as impeding officers’ ability to effectively manage these emergencies. Our findings suggest that strengthening multi‐agency working and improving training might positively influence police officers' views of their role and maximise their contribution to improving emergency mental healthcare.     

Mental competence and surrogate decision-making towards the end of life

German legislation demands that decisions about the treatment of mentally incompetent patients require an 'informed consent'. If this was not given by the patient him-/herself before he/she became incompetent, it has to be sought by the physician from a guardian, who has to be formally legitimized before. Additionally this surrogate has to seek the permission of a Court of Guardianship (Vormundschaftsgericht), if he/she intends to consent to interventions, which pose significant risks to the health or the life of the person under his/her care. This includes 'end-of-life decisions'. Deviations from this procedure are only allowed in acute emergencies or cases of 'medical futility'. On the basis of epidemiological and demographical data it can be shown that the vast majority of surrogate decisions on incompetent patients in Germany is not covered by legally valid consent. Moreover, the data suggests that if consent were to be requested according to the legal regulations, both the legal and medical system could realistically never cope with the practical consequences of this. Additionally, empiric research has revealed serious deficits concerning medical 'end of life-decisions' and practical performance in palliative care. As a consequence a multidisciplinary discussion has developed in Germany about the reform of present legislation with respect to key-issues like the assessment of mental competence, the options for exercising patient self-determination via advance directives and durable powers of attorney, the improvement of palliative care facilities, the clarification of formal procedures for surrogate decision-making in health care and towards the end of life and the possibilities and their limitations of controlling these decision-making processes 'externally' (e.g., by Guardianship Courts or committees). The authors discuss those proposals, which clearly dominate the present debate: They all aim to comply with the scientific basis of German law, jurisdiction and the European traditions of philosophy of health care and bioethics.     

Ongoing patient randomization: an innovation in medical care research.

Hospitals often have rotational assignment of patients to one of several similar provider care teams. The research potential of these arrangements has gone unnoticed. By changing to random assignment of patients and physicians to provider care teams (firms) this kind of organization can be used for sequential, randomized clinical trials which are ethical and efficient. The paper describes such arrangements at three different hospitals: Cleveland Metropolitan General Hospital, Brooke Army Medical Center, and University Hospitals of Cleveland. Associated methodologic issues are discussed. This is a new, more widely applicable method for medical care research.     

神经干细胞移植的方法选择及其在脊髓损伤中的应用

脊髓损伤是一种创伤性中枢神经系疾病,常伴有脊髓损伤平面以下感觉、运动、自主神经功能丧失,常导致患者终身残疾,且并发症较多,甚至死亡。至今尚无有效的治疗方法从根本上修复已损伤的脊髓功能。神经干细胞具有自我更新、增殖和多向分化等潜能,其移植后可向神经元分化并替代已坏死的神经元,形成新的突触,重建神经通路促进脊髓功能的修复,为脊髓损伤患者的康复带来曙光。近年来许多科学家对神经干细胞进行基因修饰,基因调控,或联合其他细胞、生物材料以及改变移植时间、途径等多方面进行深入研究,来提高移植效率,虽然取得了长足的进展,但仍存在一些不足之处尚待进一步完善,如神经干细胞移植的途径、时机、次数的相关标准,移植细胞的免疫排斥、长期存活、定向分化,神经干细胞的来源及伦理,移植的安全性等。本文拟对神经干细胞移植方法,移植时间,移植途径进行综述,并对神经干细胞移植所存在的问题及应用前景进行展望。