SIR—We read with great interest the important paper by Carpenter et al. on the relationship between physical disability, length of stay, and diagnosis-related group (DRG) reimbursement in hospitalised people [1]. We would like to contribute to the discussion on this topic presenting data obtained in 4,094 elderly patients (female = 61.5%, mean age = 79.4 ± 7.8 years) consecutively admitted to o...

“High risk” groups for exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in the 2011 Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) proposal (i.e. groups C and D) [1] include: patients with a forced expiratory volume in 1 s FEV1 <50% reference and <2 exacerbations year (subgroups C1 and D1); patients with ⩾2 exacerbations·year and an FEV1 ⩾50% reference (subgroups C2 ...

since late 1960s, pharmacists in the usa and england have started a professional movement towards a more efficient presence in clinical wards of hospitals. a similar movement has started in developed european countries during the past decade. pharmacists are convinced of the need for them to play their role as drug consultants and pharmacotherapy advisers to make decisions on drug therapy probl...

background and purpose: clinical knowledge management (ckm) is considered as a dominant approach for information management and expansion of knowledge in clinical settings. health care executives have recently begun to focus on ckm. therefore, identification of challenges against proper ckm planning is of paramount importance. the aim of this study was to explore challenges in clinical knowledg...

Since late 1960s, pharmacists in the USA and England have started a professional movement towards a more efficient presence in clinical wards of hospitals. A similar movement has started in developed European countries during the past decade. Pharmacists are convinced of the need for them to play their role as drug consultants and pharmacotherapy advisers to make decisions on drug therapy probl...

Since late 1960s, pharmacists in the USA and England have started a professional movement towards a more efficient presence in clinical wards of hospitals. A similar movement has started in developed European countries during the past decade. Pharmacists are convinced of the need for them to play their role as drug consultants and pharmacotherapy advisers to make decisions on drug therapy probl...

Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are heterogeneous diseases [1, 2]. In diagnosing a patient with asthma or COPD, an individual is thereby lumped together with other patients whose disease phenotype and response to treatment may be quite different. Doing so simplifies treatment guidelines and facilitates the application of evidence-based medicine but there is a risk that i...