Hospital Administration News & Articles

1 Medication Errors in the Home: A Multisite Study of Children With Cancer Pediatrics, May 2, 2013
Walsh KE et al. – As home medication use increases, medications previously managed by nurses are now managed by patients and their families. The authors objective was to describe the types of errors occurring in the home medication management of children with cancer. Medication errors were common in this multisite study of outpatient pediatric cancer care. Rates of preventable medication–related injuries in this outpatient population were comparable or higher than those found in studies of ...

2 Adolescents Access to Their Own Prescription Medications in the Home Journal of Adolescent Health, May 16, 2013
Ross–Durow PL et al. – The objective of this descriptive study was to determine adolescents’ access to their own medications at home, specifically prescription pain, stimulant, antianxiety, and sedative medications. The majority of adolescents who were prescribed medications in the pain, stimulant, antianxiety, or sedative categories during the previous 6 months had unsupervised access to them at home. It is critical that clinicians educate parents and patients about the importance of proper ...

3 The Role of Home Blood Pressure Telemonitoring in Managing Hypertensive Populations Current Hypertension Reports, May 14, 2013
Zullig LL et al. – Hypertension is a common chronic disease affecting nearly one–third of the United States population. The authors review key interventional trials involving home based blood pressure (BP) monitoring, with special emphasis placed on studies involving additionally behavioral modification and/or medication management. Furthermore, they discuss the role of home–based blood pressure telemonitoring within the context of the patient–centered medical home and the evolving role of ...

4 Nonbenzodiazepine Sleep Medication Use and Hip Fractures in Nursing Home Residents JAMA Internal Medicine, May 15, 2013
Berry SD et al. - It is important to understand the relationship between sleep medication use and injurious falls in nursing home residents. To conduct a case-crossover study to estimate the association between nonbenzodiazepine hypnotic drug use (zolpidem tartrate, eszopiclone, or zaleplon) and the risk for hip fracture among a nationwide sample of long-stay nursing home residents, overall and stratified by individual and facility-level characteristics. The risk for ...

5 Medication errors also happen at home: study Reuters Health News, April 30, 2013
While doctors and nurses can make mistakes with medications in hospitals, a new study says drug errors often happen at home and can lead to harm. Researchers observed 72 medication mistakes at homes where 92 children with cancer were being cared for between November 2007 and April 2011. "I was surprised by how much we found," said Dr. Kathleen Walsh, the study's lead author from the University of Massachusetts School of Medicine in Worcester. Previous research by Walsh and her colleagues found ...

6 Is Medical Home Enrollment Associated With Receipt of Guideline-Concordant Follow-up Care Among Low-Income Breast Cancer Survivors Medical Care, May 14, 2013
Wheeler SB et al. - Community Care of North Carolina (CCNC) initiated an innovative medical home program in the 1990s to improve primary care in Medicaid-insured populations. CCNC has been successful in improving asthma, diabetes, and cardiovascular outcomes but has not been evaluated in the context of cancer care. Results suggest that CCNC enrollment is associated with guideline-concordant follow-up care for Medicaid-insured survivors. Given the growing ...

7 Framing the evidence for health smart homes and home-based consumer health technologies as a public health intervention for independent aging: A systematic review International Journal of Medical Informatics, May 9, 2013
Reeder B et al. - There is a critical need for public health interventions to support the independence of older adults as the world's population ages. Health smart homes (HSH) and home-based consumer health (HCH) technologies may play a role in these interventions. The majority of included studies were published in the period beginning in the year 2005. All 3 effective (first tier) studies and 9 of 10 of promising studies were published during this period. Almost all studies ...

8 Making the medical home more homey Health Data Management, May 23, 2013
Adelante Healthcare is a federally qualified health center in Mesa, Arizona that was formed in the late 1970s to serve migrant workers. Back then, clinicians worked out of ramshackle trailers. Today it’s a different story. Serving the working poor and uninsured, the clinic recently completed construction of a new LEED Platinum-certified patient care facility, one its leaders say upholds the true meaning of the “medical home” distinction. CEO Avein Saaty-Tafoya noted that the ...

9 Medication Errors in the Home: A Multisite Study of Children With Cancer Pediatrics, April 30, 2013
Walsh KE et al. - As home medication use increases, medications previously managed by nurses are now managed by patients and their families. The authors objective was to describe the types of errors occurring in the home medication management of children with cancer. Medication errors were common in this multisite study of outpatient pediatric cancer care. Rates of preventable medication-related injuries in this outpatient population were comparable or higher than those found in ...

10 Study Shows Preschoolers Affected by Medication-Related Poisonings at Alarming Rate Nationwide Children's Hospital, May 17, 2013
Poisonings in young children have increased over the past decade, mainly due to medications in the home. A new study led by the Central Ohio Poison Center at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, found that medication-related poisonings in children younger than 6 increased by 33 percent during the 11 year study period. According to the study, released in the May print issue of the journal, Pediatric Emergency Care, the overall total number of poisonings in young children in the 5 states where ...