BACKGROUND/AIMS The purpose of this study is to understand how outpatients awaiting initial gastroenterology consultation seek medical information on the Internet and how wait times affect Internet usage. MATERIALS AND METHODS A cross-sectional survey of 87 gastroenterology outpatients awaiting consultation was performed at a tertiary care center. RESULTS Fifty-two patients (60%) utilized t...

IMPORTANCE A number of studies have investigated music perception in adult cochlear implant (CI) users. However, little is known about how pediatric CI users perceive and process music, in part because suitable methods for assessing music perception in this population are lacking. Therefore, we developed the Music in Children With Cochlear Implants (MCCI) battery to assess music perception in p...

Patients referred to tertiary care centers occasionally may have their diagnostic procedures repeated and have a final diagnosis that differs from that of the referring center. The aim of this study was to evaluate discordance rates and their clinical implications in the diagnosis of patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) referred to a tertiary center. We analyzed 915 patients with MDS wh...

Medication administration and laboratory processing/results reporting are examples of complex systems in healthcare that are known to be error prone. At Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, errors with IV medication drips and laboratory processing and results reporting were well documented. The purpose of this paper is to describe our initial experience utilizing the Six Sigma methodolog...

BACKGROUND Health seeking behaviour refers to the behaviour of people towards seeking their own health through provided health services. The medical professionals are at a higher risk of avoiding health seeking behaviour because they believe they are aware of the diseases and their symptoms as well as the pharmaceutical management of the disease. The aim of this study was to understand the heal...

Background. The objective of this study was to estimate trends in ectopic pregnancies (EP) in a tertiary care center of Eastern Saudi Arabia. Method. Information about patients with ectopic pregnancies who had been admitted to King Fahd Hospital of the University, AlKhobar, between January 2000 and 31 December 2011 was collected from a computerized hospital registry. Age-specific ectopic pregna...

Background Despite a demanding work environment, information on stress and burnout of critical care fellows is limited. Objectives To assess 1) levels of burnout, perceived stress, and quality of life in critical care fellows, and 2) the impact of a brief stress management training on these outcomes. Methods In a tertiary care academic medical center, 58 critical care fellows of varying subspec...

OBJECTIVE To explore patient's perspectives and expectations from physicians with respect to breaking of bad news. METHODS A cross-sectional survey was carried out in the Community Health Centre of a tertiary care teaching hospital in Pakistan. All consenting individuals from 18 to 60 years of age were interviewed on the basis of a structured, pre-tested questionnaire. RESULTS The response ...

BACKGROUND Improved outcomes for severe sepsis and septic shock have been consistently observed with implementation of early best practice intervention strategies or the 6-hour resuscitation bundle (RB) in single-center studies. This multicenter study examines the in-hospital mortality effect of GENeralized Early Sepsis Intervention Strategies (GENESIS) when utilized in community and tertiary c...

Background and study aims Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatgraphy (ERCP) carries a radiation risk to patients undergoing the procedure and the team performing it. Fluoroscopy time (FT) has been shown to have a linear relationship with radiation exposure during ERCP. Recent modifications to our ERCP suite design were felt to impact fluoroscopy time and ergonomics. This multivariate analysi...