BACKGROUND Much has been written lately regarding hospitalisations for ambulatory care-sensitive conditions (ACSH) and their strengths and weaknesses as a quality management indicator. The idea underlying ambulatory care-sensitive conditions (ACSC) is that effective treatment of acute conditions, good management of chronic illnesses and immunisation against infectious diseases can reduce the ri...

Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are associated with morbidity, mortality, and can contribute to increased healthcare costs. This study was conducted to identify the occurence, types, and management of ADRs, as well as analyze the causal relationship, severity, and preventability of ADRs. The study was observational analysis with concurrent data collection from patients with Coronary Artery Diseas...

BACKGROUND Standardised mortality ratios do not provide accurate measures of preventable mortality. This has generated interest in using case notes to assess the preventable component of mortality. But, different methods of measurement have not been compared. We compared the reliability of two scales for assessing preventability and the correspondence between them. METHODS Medical specialists...

As might be predicted of any book by Dr. Hunter, this is readable, comprehensive, accurate and stimulating. The only pity is that although his chapters on history and legislation recognise the importance of neurosis and its preventability, there is hardly another reference to it in the bulk of the book describing occupational diseases.

PURPOSE The rates of adverse drug events (ADEs) associated with high-cost and high-use drugs in the intensive care unit (ICU) were studied. METHODS This retrospective analysis was conducted from October 1997 through June 2001 in a 647-bed academic medical center with over 120 ICU beds. Adult patients with a documented ADE occurring in the ICU were included in the analysis. ADE information, in...

BACKGROUND Numerous observational studies suggest that preventable adverse drug reactions are a significant burden in healthcare, but no meta-analysis using a standardised definition for adverse drug reactions exists. The aim of the study was to estimate the percentage of patients with preventable adverse drug reactions and the preventability of adverse drug reactions in adult outpatients and i...

PURPOSE Medication-related adverse events (MRAEs) are an important priority for patient safety. Results from Dutch AE studies showed that-despite various improvement initiatives-the incidence of preventable MRAEs did not decline. The aim of this study is to describe the characteristics of MRAEs during hospitalizations using national patient data from records of patients admitted to Dutch hospit...