Canadian Association of Gastroenterology policy on the application for,and implementation of,clinical practice guidelines

An important mandate of the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology (CAG), as documented in the Association’s governance policies, is to optimize the care of patients with digestive disorders. Clinical practice guidelines are one means of achieving this goal. The benefits of timely, high-quality and evidenced-based recommendations include:

• Enhancing the professional development of clinical members through education and dissemination of synthesized clinical research;
• Improving patient care provided by members by providing focus on quality and evidence;
• Creating legislative environments that favour effective clinical practice;
• Enhancing the clinical care provided to patients with digestive disease by nongastroenterologists; and
• Identifying areas that require further information or research to improve clinical care.

The present document provides the foundation required to ensure that clinical practice guidelines produced by the CAG are necessary, appropriate, credible and applicable. These recommendations should be adhered to as closely as possible to obtain CAG endorsement.     

我院开展远程会诊的实践与探索

远程会诊在我国的发展经历多个时期,作为实现分级诊疗和发展远程医疗的有力手段已在全国各级医院得到广泛应用。国内开展远程会诊的竞争激烈,并且出现受众需求个性化、缴费流程不合理、学科覆盖不全面的问题。中国人民解放军总医院在扩充远程会诊专家团队、优化远程缴费路径和加强资源融合等方面进行了实践和探索。作者总结了远程会诊的发展和新形势、分析远程会诊实践中出现的问题,在探索远程会诊实践的基础上提出了关注远程早期筛查、常规检测、诊断后转诊等建议,进一步思考和展望,促进了远程会诊服务能力的进一步提升。     

Frequency and erroneous usage of temporary medical exemptions and knowledge of immunization guidelines among some Miami-Dade County Florida providers

Objective

We assessed knowledge and practices regarding immunization guidelines and the Florida Certificate of Immunization (DH-680) based on FL-DOH and CDC recommendations, to identify the cause of the increasing number of erroneously issued temporary medical exemptions (TME) among selected health care providers in Miami-Dade County Florida.

Methodology

After reviewing immunization certificates from all public schools, a list of physicians who improperly issued 3 or more TMEs, defined as one given to a child who was up to date for their kindergarten and seventh grade requirements, was compiled. The DOH-Miami-Dade developed educational materials and questionnaires, and conducted face-to-face interviews and interventions during site visits to these providers (n = 134). Data was analyzed using SAS 9.2.

Results

Of the 104 questionnaires completed, 4 (3.85%) had correct answers to all 10 vaccine knowledge and practice related questions, while 10 (9.62%) had 7 or more incorrect answers. Frequently missed questions included: the required doses of varicella vaccine for seventh grade students entering the 2011–12 school year (86, 82.7%) and the proper scenario for issuing a TME (57, 54.8%).

Conclusions

In order to eliminate the improper use of TMEs, long-term efforts are needed to provide immunization-related educational materials and trainings to the medical community regarding vaccinations. These findings also suggest a need for enhanced explanation in multiple languages on the current Florida Immunization Certificate. Due to enhanced surveillance and education, the number of TMEs for kindergarten and seventh grade students was reduced by 12% and 4.9%, respectively, during the 2011 and 2012 school year.     

Parental perception,knowledge, barriers and practice of kangaroo care for preterm infants in Indonesia

This study aimed to identify knowledge, perception, barriers and practice of Kangaroo Care (KC), and investigate the possible predictors of KC practice in Indonesia from parents' perspective. A Cross-sectional survey targeting 86 parents and family members of premature infants (77 mothers, 9 fathers and grandmothers) from four hospitals in Central Java was conducted. This study found less Indonesian parents practicing KC and have low knowledge about KC. However, they have good perception and moderately perceived barriers. Multiple linear regression analysis confirmed that knowledge, perception and barriers were significant factors associated with practice (p < .001), and explained 72.1% of the variance in KC practice among the parents. While educational level, parity, experience having premature infant and giving KC are not proved convincing the KC practice. Therefore, the healthcare providers have to make more effort to improve parents’ knowledge, perception and reduce barriers of KC to improve KC practice.