Few studies have compared treatment patterns, healthcare resource utilization (HRU), and costs in patients with metastatic breast cancer (mBC) receiving HER2 directed therapy. This study evaluated these outcomes in patients receiving trastuzumab or lapatinib. Adult women with mBC, who were initiated on trastuzumab or lapatinib, on or after March 13, 2007, were selected from the US-based PharMet...

OBJECTIVE The dearth of age-appropriate formulations of many medicines for children poses a major challenge to pediatric therapeutic practice, adherence, and health care delivery worldwide. We provide information on current administration practices of pediatric medicines and describe key stakeholder preferences for new formulation characteristics. PATIENTS AND METHODS We surveyed children age...

In recent years, healthcare institutions have had problems accessing and maintaining the large amounts of data they deal with. This paper identifies current approaches and technologies which relate to patient administration systems. It argues that, in the near future, WWW-based multimedia patient administration systems would become the norm for healthcare institutions. The development and accep...

Those overseeing clinical engineering (CE) functions at the top policy level--the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), and others in the profession--depend on sporadic assessments of nonstandard samplings of data when analyzing CE functions such as maintenance compliance, risk and failure analysis, and inventory managemen...

Section 304(g) of P.L.96-265, the “Social Security Disability Amendments of 1980,” requires that the Social Security Administration (SSA) institute a program of ongoing review of administrative law judge (ALJ) decisions on claims for Social Security disability benefits. This section-commonly referred to as the Bellmon amendment-is intended to ensure that hearings decisions by ALJs conform to st...

PURPOSE A study was conducted to identify discrepancies between medication histories taken by emergency department (ED) providers (physicians, nurses, and medical students) and medication histories taken by clinical pharmacists. METHODS During a three-month period, a clinical pharmacist was assigned to the ED in a 475-bed, tertiary care teaching facility that serves as a level I trauma center...