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Electronic health records (EHRs) are widely promoted to improve the quality of health care, but information about the association of multifunctional EHRs with broad measures of quality in ambulatory settings is scarce.

To assess the association between EHRs with different degrees of capabilities and publicly reported ambulatory quality measures in at least 3 clinical domains of care.

This cross-sectional and longitudinal study was conducted using survey responses from 1141 ambulatory clinics in Minnesota, Washington, and Wisconsin affiliated with a health system that responded to the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society Annual Survey and reported performance measures in 2014 to 2017. Statistical analysis was performed from July 10, 2019, through February 26, 2021.

A composite measure of EHR capability that considered 50 EHR capabilities in 7 functional domains, grouped into the following ordered categories no functional EHR, EHR underuser, EHR, neither underuser or superuser, EHR supetatistically significant.
Interventions to improve judicious prescribing of opioid analgesics for acute pain are needed owing to the risks of diversion, misuse, and overdose.

To assess the effect of modifying opioid analgesic prescribing defaults in the electronic health record (EHR) on prescribing and health service use.

A cluster randomized clinical trial with 2 parallel arms was conducted between June 13, 2016, and June 13, 2018, in a large urban health care system comprising 32 primary care and 4 emergency department (ED) sites in the Bronx, New York. Data were analyzed using a difference-in-differences method from 6 months before implementation through 18 months after implementation. Data were analyzed from January 2019 to February 2020.

A default dispense quantity for new opioid analgesic prescriptions of 10 tablets (intervention) vs no change (control) in the EHR.

The primary outcome was the quantity of opioid analgesics prescribed with the new default prescription. Secondary outcomes were opioid analgesic reorders anudy, implementation of a uniform reduced default dispense quantity of 10 tablets for opioid analgesic prescriptions led to a modest reduction in the quantity prescribed initially, without significantly increasing health service use. However, during 30 days after implementation, the influence on prescribing was mixed. Reducing EHR default dispense quantities for opioid analgesics is a feasible strategy that can be widely disseminated and may modestly reduce prescribing.

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT03003832.
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT03003832.
Women and families constitute the fastest-growing segments of the homeless population. However, there is limited evidence on whether women experiencing homelessness have poorer childbirth delivery outcomes and higher costs of care compared with women not experiencing homelessness.

To compare childbirth delivery outcomes and costs of care between pregnant women experiencing homelessness vs those not experiencing homelessness.

This cross-sectional study included 15 029 pregnant women experiencing homelessness and 308 242 pregnant women not experiencing homelessness who had a delivery hospitalization in 2014. The study used statewide databases that included all hospital admissions in 3 states (ie, Florida, Massachusetts, and New York). Delivery outcomes and delivery-associated costs were compared between pregnant women experiencing homelessness and those not experiencing homelessness cared for at the same hospital (analyzed using the overlap propensity-score weighting method and multivariable regression mo to make sure their health care needs are met.
This study found that women experiencing homelessness, compared with those not experiencing homelessness, who had a delivery and were admitted to the same hospital were more likely to experience preterm labor and incurred higher delivery-associated costs. These findings suggest wide disparities in delivery-associated outcomes between women experiencing homelessness and those not experiencing homelessness in the US. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/sitagliptin.html The findings highlight the importance for health care professionals to actively screen pregnant women for homelessness during prenatal care visits and coordinate their care with community health programs and social housing programs to make sure their health care needs are met.
Acute ischemic stroke (AIS) is a known neurological complication in patients with respiratory symptoms of COVID-19 infection. However, AIS has not been described as a late sequelae in patients without respiratory symptoms of COVID-19.

To assess AIS experienced by adults 50 years or younger in the convalescent phase of asymptomatic COVID-19 infection.

This case series prospectively identified consecutive male patients who received care for AIS from public health hospitals in Singapore between May 21, 2020, and October 14, 2020. All of these patients had laboratory-confirmed asymptomatic COVID-19 infection based on a positive SARS-CoV-2 serological (antibodies) test result. These patients were individuals from South Asian countries (India and Bangladesh) who were working in Singapore and living in dormitories. The total number of COVID-19 cases (54 485) in the worker dormitory population was the population at risk. Patients with ongoing respiratory symptoms or positive SARS-CoV-2 serological test results al age-, sex-, and ethnicity-matched cohort (rate ratio, 2.16; 95% CI, 1.36-3.48; P < .001).

This case series suggests that the risk for AIS is higher in adults 50 years or younger during the convalescent period of a COVID-19 infection without respiratory symptoms. Acute ischemic stroke could be part of the next wave of complications of COVID-19, and stroke units should be on alert and use serological testing, especially in younger patients or in the absence of traditional risk factors.
This case series suggests that the risk for AIS is higher in adults 50 years or younger during the convalescent period of a COVID-19 infection without respiratory symptoms. Acute ischemic stroke could be part of the next wave of complications of COVID-19, and stroke units should be on alert and use serological testing, especially in younger patients or in the absence of traditional risk factors.