MDedge Emergency Medicine Archives - Vascular Specialist [LIVE]

Physician value thyself!

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines value as “the regard that something is held to deserve; the importance, worth, or usefulness of something” and “relative worth, utility, or importance.” We usually assess our professional worth by how we are treated at work.…

Antibiotic resistance remains a challenge for hospitals

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention just released a surveillance report describing national estimates of antimicrobial resistance among health care–associated infections (HAIs) in hospitals. The report compiles HAI data submitted to the CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) from…

Idle intravenous catheters are associated with preventable complications

Intravenous catheters (ICs) are common and necessary for inpatient care. However, peripheral and especially central venous catheters (CVCs) are associated with increased risk for local and systemic complications, including bloodstream infections and endocarditis. University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and…

Law & Medicine: Which doctors get sued?

Question: Doctors are more prone to lawsuits if they: A. Have been sued before. B. Spend fewer dollars per hospitalized patient. C. Show poor communication skills. D. A and C only. E. A, B, and C. Answer: E. Two very…

Analysis finds 28.8% prevalence of depression in residents

The estimated prevalence of depression or depressive symptoms was 28.8% among residents and interns worldwide in a meta-analysis of 54 studies of the issue, according to a report published online December 8 in JAMA. The depression rate ranged from 20.9%…

Medicare at 50: Physicians brace for transition to value-based payment

As Medicare celebrates its 50th anniversary, federal officials are beginning one of the most significant shifts in the program’s history – paying physicians based on quality and efficiency rather than for the volume of services they provide. The shift to…

Reduced resident duty hours haven’t changed patient outcomes

Patient mortality and morbidity outcomes have not changed since the most recent round of reforms to medical residents’ duty hours in 2011, according to two of the first nationwide studies to assess these “improvements,” which both were published online Dec.…