From E. coli UTI to Spots on the Thigh: A Rare Cause of Erythema Multiforme.

Erythema multiforme has largely been associated with microbes such as herpes simplex virus and Mycoplasma pneumoniae, drugs, and autoimmune conditions. Here, we report an unusual presentation of erythema multiforme secondary to Escherichia coli (E. coli) UTI in a pediatric patient. A literature search was conducted and a similar case describing the association between erythema multiforme and hematuria secondary to an E. coli UTI in an adult male was identified. However, no case describing E. coli manifesting in erythema multiforme has been described in the pediatric patient population previously.

Multi-Dimensional Assessment and Interdisciplinary Care to Reduce Asthma Readmissions in Safety Net Hospitals.

Asthma is a prevalent disease that disproportionately affects socioeconomically underprivileged minorities. In fact, racial and ethnic minorities such as Blacks and Latinos have higher rates of severe asthma, asthma-associated emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and readmissions compared with whites. Such disparities exist due to genetic predispositions and to socioeconomic determinants of health such as environmental factors and limited health-care access. A value-based purchasing program encourages hospitals to improve communication and care coordination to better engage patients and caregivers in discharge plans, and, in turn, reduce avoidable readmissions. The program supports the national goal of improving health care by linking payment to the quality of hospital care. Efforts have been made to address asthma-related complications in these populations, which have been addressed at various levels of the care system, including the patient and family, community, organization, provider/microsystem, and policy. Many of these programs promote patient education and health-care accessibility through interdisciplinary and multi-dimensional approaches, and have been shown to be effective in reducing asthma-associated readmissions and hospitalizations, but these localized approaches have not been largely adopted. The wide-spread implementation of asthma programs is necessary to address factors related to the increased incidence of asthma and associated rates of hospitalizations and readmissions in impoverished, minority populations.