Fixing a Fragmented System: Impact of a Comprehensive Geriatric Hip Fracture Program on Long-Term Mortality.

CONTEXT: Geriatric hip fractures are increasingly common and confer substantial morbidity and mortality. Fragmentation in geriatric hip fracture care remains a barrier to improved outcomes. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of a comprehensive geriatric hip fracture program on long-term mortality. DESIGN: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients aged 65 years and older admitted to our academic medical center between January 1, 2012, and March 31, 2016 with an acute fragility hip fracture. Mortality data were obtained for in-state residents from the state public health department. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Mortality within 1 year of index admission and overall survival based on available follow-up data. RESULTS: We identified 243 index admissions during the study period, including 135 before and 108 after program implementation in October 2014. The postintervention cohort trended toward a lower unadjusted 1-year mortality rate compared with the preintervention cohort (15.7% vs 24.4%, p = 0.111), as well as lower adjusted mortality at 1 year (relative risk = 0.73, 95% confidence interval = 0.46-1.16, p = 0.18), although the differences were not statistically significant. The postintervention cohort had significantly higher overall survival than did the preintervention cohort (hazard ratio for death = 0.43, 95% confidence interval = 0.25-0.74, p = 0.002). CONCLUSION: Fixing fragmentation in geriatric hip fracture care such as through an orthogeriatric model is essential to improving overall survival for this patient population.

Opioid Utilization and Perception of Pain Control in Hospitalized Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study of 11 Sites in 8 Countries.

BACKGROUND: Hospitalized patients are frequently treated with opioids for pain control, and receipt of opioids at hospital discharge may increase the risk of future chronic opioid use. OBJECTIVE: To compare inpatient analgesic prescribing patterns and patients' perception of pain control in the United States and non-US hospitals. DESIGN: Cross-sectional observational study. SETTING: Four hospitals in the US and seven in seven other countries. PARTICIPANTS: Medical inpatients reporting pain. MEASUREMENTS: Opioid analgesics dispensed during the first 24-36 hours of hospitalization and at discharge; assessments and beliefs about pain. RESULTS: We acquired completed surveys for 981 patients, 503 of 719 patients in the US and 478 of 590 patients in other countries. After adjusting for confounding factors, we found that more US patients were given opioids during their hospitalization compared with patients in other countries, regardless of whether they did or did not report taking opioids prior to admission (92% vs 70% and 71% vs 41%, respectively; P < .05), and similar trends were seen for opioids prescribed at discharge. Patient satisfaction, beliefs, and expectations about pain control differed between patients in the US and other sites. LIMITATIONS: Limited number of sites and patients/country. CONCLUSIONS: In the hospitals we sampled, our data suggest that physicians in the US may prescribe opioids more frequently during patients' hospitalizations and at discharge than their colleagues in other countries, and patients have different beliefs and expectations about pain control. Efforts to curb the opioid epidemic likely need to include addressing inpatient analgesic prescribing practices and patients' expectations regarding pain control.

Reducing Firearm Injuries and Deaths in the United States: A Position Paper From the American College of Physicians.

For more than 20 years, the American College of Physicians (ACP) has advocated for the need to address firearm-related injuries and deaths in the United States. Yet, firearm violence continues to be a public health crisis that requires the nation's immediate attention. The policy recommendations in this paper build on, strengthen, and expand current ACP policies approved by the Board of Regents in April 2014, based on analysis of approaches that the evidence suggests will be effective in reducing deaths and injuries from firearm-related violence.