Past, present and future of university hospitals.

Objectives: Health care systems worldwide are changing and taking new forms. The old, more hierarchically oriented, model with individual institutional and bilateral interactions between primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary care is being replaced by an integrated and dynamic network model. We aim to look at what role university hospitals will play in this future organization of health care.Method: In this paper, we look at the relevant literature on the history of academic medicine and university hospitals. Subsequently, we look at the challenges university hospitals are facing according to contemporary literature on the topic.Results: Our current model of academic medicine with its university hospitals finds its origin in the institutionalization of the academic mission in the late 18th century. Currently, the sustainability of the model is under immense pressure. University hospitals are facing economic challenges, teaching challenges and research challenges. However, there is reason to believe that they can continue to play a role of importance in tomorrow's medicine. The organization of health care is undergoing two important changes. The first is the evolution towards a more dynamic and integrated network model. University hospitals can become an important hub within this network. The second change is an evolution towards evidence based medicine and translational research.Conclusion: Due to their unique tripartite mission, we argue that university hospitals can continue to play an important and critical role in promoting evidence-based medicine and speedy translation of new evidence.

Effects of quality indicator monitoring for glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis and trends of drug treatment in a Japanese hospital.

AIMS: Globally, the appropriate prescription rate for glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis (GIOP) is low. Thus, we aimed to examine the improvement in real-world GIOP care using a hospital-wide systematic approach with quality indicator (QI) monitoring. METHODS: We defined a novel QI for GIOP care for the prescription rate of anti-osteoporotic drugs according to 2010 American College of Rheumatology GIOP management recommendations, with the target being patients prescribed ≥7.5 mg prednisolone daily or its equivalent for ≥3 months. We monitored the glucocorticoid and osteoporotic medication dose for all patients who visited our hospital. From May 2011, we began interventions to improve QI: monthly QI monitoring providing QI-trend feedback to each department in a hospital-wide QI meeting every 3 months and organizing lectures on GIOP. We retrospectively analyzed QI trends from 2010 to 2013. We categorized groups by sex and age for subanalyses: group A, men; group B, women, aged <50 years; group C, women, aged ≥50 years. RESULTS: The numbers of participants were 401, 420, 520 and 513 in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013, respectively, with pooled QI rates of 45.8%, 51.3%, 55.0% and 54.8%, respectively. Changes in QI between each consecutive 2 years were statistically significant. Subanalyses showed statistically significant QI improvements in groups A and C. We observed a decreasing trend of daily bisphosphonate use throughout the study period, especially at the Immuno-Rheumatology Center. CONCLUSIONS: Quality indicator monitoring for GIOP significantly improved appropriate anti-osteoporotic drug prescriptions, especially in men and postmenopausal women.

Case Management may Reduce Emergency Department Frequent use in a Universal Health Coverage System: a Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: Frequent emergency department (ED) users account for a disproportionately high number of ED visits. Studies on case management (CM) interventions to reduce frequent ED use have shown mixed results, and few studies have been conducted within a universal health coverage system. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether a CM intervention-compared to standard emergency care-reduces ED attendance. DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial. PARTICIPANTS: Two hundred fifty frequent ED users (5 or more visits in the prior 12 months) who visited a public urban ED at the Lausanne University Hospital between May 2012 and July 2013 were allocated to either an intervention (n = 125) or control (n = 125) group, and monitored for 12 months. INTERVENTIONS: An individualized CM intervention consisting of concrete assistance in obtaining income entitlements, referral to primary or specialty medical care, access to mental health care or substance abuse treatment, and counseling on at-risk behaviors and health care utilization (in addition to standard care) at baseline and 1, 3, and 5 months. MAIN MEASURES: We used a generalized linear model for count data (negative binomial distribution) to compare the number of ED visits during the 12-month follow-up between CM and usual care, from an intention-to-treat perspective. KEY RESULTS: At 12 months, there were 2.71 (±0.23) ED visits in the intervention group versus 3.35 (±0.32) visits among controls (ratio = 0.81, 95 % CI = 0.63; 1.02). In the multivariate model, the effect of the CM intervention on the number of ED visits approached statistical significance (b = -0.219, p = 0.075). The presence of poor social determinants of health was a significant predictor of ED use in the multivariate model (b = 0.280, p = 0.048). CONCLUSIONS: CM may reduce ED use by frequent users through an improved orientation to the health care system. Poor social determinants of health significantly increase use of the ED by frequent users.

Non-communicable diseases at a regional hospital in Nepal: Findings of a high burden of alcohol-related disease.

Recent global burden of disease reports find that a major proportion of global deaths and disability worldwide can be attributed to alcohol use. Thus, it may be surprising that very few studies have reported on the burden of alcohol-related disease in low income settings. The evidence of non-communicable disease (NCD) burden in Nepal was recently reviewed and concluded that data is still lacking, particularly to describe the burden of alcohol-related diseases (ARDs). Therefore, here we report on NCD burden and specifically ARDs, in hospitalized patients at a regional hospital in Nepal. We conducted a retrospective chart-review that included detailed information on all discharged patients during a four month period. A local database that included sociodemographic information and diagnoses at discharge was established. All doctor-assigned discharge diagnoses were retrospectively assigned ICD-10 codes. A total of 1,139 hospitalized adult patients were included in the study and one third of these were NCDs (n = 332). The main NCDs were chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (n = 148, 45%) and ARDs (n = 57, 17%). Patients with ARD often presented with signs of liver cirrhosis and were typically younger men, with a median age at 43 years, from specific ethnic groups. These data demonstrate that severe alcohol-related organ failure in relatively young men contributed to a high proportion of NCDs in a regional hospital in Nepal. These findings are novel and alarming and warrant further studies that can establish the burden of ARDs and alcohol use in Nepal and other similar low-income countries.

[Research Assessment in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery on a National Level: A 5-Years Systematic Review of Research Activity in German University Hospitals]. / Eine Analyse der Forschungsaktivität universitärer Kliniken für Plastische Chirurgie im nationalen Vergleich: Eine systematische 5-Jahres Evaluation der Forschungsaktivität in Deutschland.

BACKGROUND: In plastic surgery, a broad spectrum of research activity has been performed over the past decade. However, compared with other medical fields, there seems to be a lack of central coordination in the individual research areas. Also no comprehensive, periodical assessment has been undertaken to date. This study aims to provide an overview of German research activity in plastic surgery departments affiliated to medical universities. METHODS: We performed a 5-year interval (01/2010-12/2014) survey of PubMed-listed publications of plastic surgery departments in German university hospitals. For each university (n=11), statistical analyses of the following parameters were performed: distribution of research fields, number of publications, annual cumulative impact sum (IS) and impact factor (IF). RESULTS: For the above-mentioned period, a total of n=904 publications were analysed. Ranking among academic departments was as follows: number of publications: 1. Medizinische Hochschule Hannover 178 (annual average x̅=36/median x͂=34; 2. University Hospital of Erlangen 115 (x̅=23/x͂=23); 3. Bergmannsheil Bochum 90 (x̅=18/x͂=19). The annual impact sum (IS) averaged 33.51 (SD 11.088, p<0.05); separated IS: 1. Medizinische Hochschule Hannover x̅=74.66, x͂=62.22, 2. University Hospital of Erlangen x̅=53.24, x͂=50.84, 3. University Hospital RWTH Aachen x̅=46.12, x͂=44.67. The average impact factor per publication was: 1.98 (SD 0.31, p<0.05); separated IF: 1. University Hospital RWTH Aachen x̅=2.76, x͂=2.79; 2. University Hospital of Erlangen x̅=2.34, x͂=2.46; 3. Medizinische Hochschule Hannover x̅=2.08, x͂=2.05. The analysed publications were distributed as follows: 43% reviews, 20% cell biology/tissue engineering, 10% reconstruction, 27% others (including wound healing, vessel/nerve research, hand surgery, burn, aesthetics, oncology). CONCLUSION: Based on this comprehensive analysis, it seems that a periodical assessment of current research activity would be useful for the future. Data assessments should be started on European and international levels and should also be applied to other surgical and medical disciplines.

Clinical Decision Support Reduces Overuse of Red Blood Cell Transfusions: Interrupted Time Series Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Red blood cell transfusion is the most common procedure in hospitalized patients in the US. Growing evidence suggests that a sizeable percentage of these transfusions are inappropriate, putting patients at significant risk and increasing costs to the health care system. METHODS: We performed a retrospective quasi-experimental study from November 2008 until November 2014 in a 576-bed tertiary care hospital. The intervention consisted of an interruptive clinical decision support alert shown to a provider when a red blood cell transfusion was ordered in a patient whose most recent hematocrit was ≥21%. We used interrupted time series analysis to determine whether our primary outcome of interest, rate of red blood cell transfusion in patients with hematocrit ≥21% per 100 patient (pt) days, was reduced by the implementation of the clinical decision support tool. The rate of platelet transfusions was used as a nonequivalent dependent control variable. RESULTS: A total of 143,000 hospital admissions were included in our analysis. Red blood cell transfusions decreased from 9.4 to 7.8 per 100 pt days after the clinical decision support intervention was implemented. Interrupted time series analysis showed that significant decline of 0.05 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.03-0.07; P < .001) units of red blood cells transfused per 100 pt days per month was already underway in the preintervention period. This trend accelerated to 0.1 (95% CI, 0.09-0.12; P < .001) units of red blood cells transfused per 100 pt days per month following the implementation of the clinical decision support tool. There was no statistical change in the rate of platelet transfusion resulting from the intervention. CONCLUSIONS: The implementation of an evidence-based clinical decision support tool was associated with a significant decline in the overuse of red blood cell transfusion. We believe this intervention could be easily replicated in other hospitals using commercial electronic health records and a similar reduction in overuse of red blood cell transfusions achieved.

[Independence in Plastic Surgery - Benefit or Barrier? Analysis of the Publication Performance in Academic Plastic Surgery Depending on Varying Organisational Structures]. / Vorteil durch Eigenständigkeit? Analyse der Publikationsleistung der universitären Plastischen Chirurgie in verschiedenen Organisationsstrukturen.

INTRODUCTION: Despite its recognition as an independent specialty, at German university hospitals the field of plastic surgery is still underrepresented in terms of independent departments with a dedicated research focus. The aim of this study was to analyse the publication performance within the German academic plastic surgery environment and to compare independent departments and dependent, subordinate organisational structures regarding their publication performance. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Organisational structures and number of attending doctors in German university hospitals were examined via a website analysis. A pubmed analysis was applied to assess the publication performance (number of publications, cumulative impact factor, impact factor/publication, number of publications/MD, number of publications/unit) between 2009 and 2013. In a journal analysis the distribution of the cumulative impact factor and number of publications in different journals as well as the development of the impact factor in the top journals were analysed. RESULTS: Out of all 35 university hospitals there exist 12 independent departments for plastic surgery and 8 subordinate organisational structures. In 15 university hospitals there were no designated plastic surgery units. The number of attending doctors differed considerably between independent departments (3.6 attending doctors/unit) and subordinate organisational structures (1.1 attending doctors/unit). The majority of publications (89.0%) and of the cumulative impact factor (91.2%) as well as most of the publications/MD (54 publications/year) and publications/unit (61 publications/year) were created within the independent departments. Only in departments top publications with an impact factor > 5 were published. In general a negative trend regarding the number of publications (- 13.4%) and cumulative impact factor (- 28.9%) was observed. 58.4% of all publications were distributed over the top 10 journals. Within the latter the majority of articles were published in English journals (60% of publications, 79.9% of the cumulative impact factor). The average impact factor of the top 10 journals increased by 13.5% from 2009 to 2013. CONCLUSION: In contrast to subordinate and dependent organisational structures, independent departments of plastic surgery are the key performers within German academic plastic surgery which, however, suffers from a general declining publication performance. Hence, the type of organisational structure has a crucial influence on the research performance.

Gender disparities in leadership and scholarly productivity of academic hospitalists.

BACKGROUND: Gender disparities still exist for women in academic medicine but may be less evident in younger cohorts. Hospital medicine is a new field, and the majority of hospitalists are <41 years of age. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether gender disparities exist in leadership and scholarly productivity for academic hospitalists and to compare the findings to academic general internists. DESIGN: Prospective and retrospective observational study. SETTING: University programs in the United States. MEASUREMENTS: Gender distribution of (1) academic hospitalists and general internists, (2) division or section heads for both specialties, (3) speakers at the 2 major national meetings of the 2 specialties, and (4) first and last authors of articles from the specialties' 2 major journals RESULTS: We found equal gender representation of hospitalists and general internists who worked in university hospitals. Divisions or sections of hospital medicine and general internal medicine were led by women at 11/69 (16%) and 28/80 (35%) of university hospitals, respectively (P = 0.008). Women hospitalists and general internists were listed as speakers on 146/557 (26%) and 291/580 (50%) of the presentations at national meetings, respectively (P < 0.0001), first authors on 153/464 (33%) and 423/895 (47%) publications, respectively (P < 0.0001), and senior authors on 63/305 (21%) and 265/769 (34%) articles, respectively (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Despite hospital medicine being a newer field, gender disparities exist in leadership and scholarly productivity.

[The Health Technology Assessment Engine of the Academic Hospital of Udine: first appraisal]. / Il motore di ricerca Health Technology Assessment dell'Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Udine: prime valutazioni.

The Health Technology Assessment Engine (HTAE) of the Academic Hospital of Udine aggregates about one hundred of health technology assessment websites. It was born thanks to Google technology in 2008 and after about four years of testing it became public for everybody from the Homepage of the Italian Society of Health Technology Assessment (SIHTA). In this paper the first results obtained with this resource are reported. The role of the scientific librarian is examined not only as a support specialist in bibliographic search but also as a creative expert in managing new technologies for the community.

Head-to-head comparison of length of stay, patients' outcome and satisfaction in Switzerland before and after SwissDRG-Implementation in 2012 in 2012: an observational study in two tertiary university centers.

BACKGROUND: On 1 January 2012 Swiss Diagnosis Related Groups (DRG), a new uniform payment system for in-patients was introduced in Switzerland with the intention to replace a "cost-based" with a "case-based" reimbursement system to increase efficiency. With the introduction of the new payment system we aim to answer questions raised regarding length of stay as well as patients' outcome and satisfaction. METHODS: This is a prospective, two-centre observational cohort study with data from University Hospital Basel and the Cantonal Hospital Aarau, Switzerland, from January to June 2011 and 2012, respectively. Consecutive in-patients with the main diagnosis of either community-acquired pneumonia, exacerbation of COPD, acute heart failure or hip fracture were included. A questionnaire survey was sent out after discharge investigating changes before and after SwissDRG implementation. Our primary endpoint was LOS. RESULTS: Of 1,983 eligible patients 841 returned the questionnaire and were included into the analysis (429 in 2011, 412 in 2012). The median age was 76.7 years (50.8% male). Patients in the two years were well balanced in regard to main diagnoses and co-morbidities. Mean LOS in the overall patient population was 10.0 days and comparable between the 2011 cohort and the 2012 cohort (9.7 vs 10.3; p = 0.43). Overall satisfaction with care changed only slightly after introduction of SwissDRG and remained high (89.0% vs 87.8%; p = 0.429). DISCUSSION: Investigating the influence of the implementation of SwissDRG in 2012 regarding LOS patients' outcome and satisfaction, we found no significant changes. However, we observed some noteworthy trends, which should be monitored closely.

The influence of hospital drug formulary policies on the prescribing patterns of proton pump inhibitors in primary care.

AIM: This study had two aims: Firstly, to describe how prescriptions for proton pump inhibitor (PPI) in primary care were influenced by a change of the hospital drug policy, and secondly, to describe if a large discount on an expensive PPI (esomeprazole) to a hospital would influence prescribing patterns after discharge. METHODS: This register study was conducted at Odense University Hospital, Denmark, and by use of pharmacy dispensing data and a hospital-based pharmacoepidemiological database, the medication regimens of patients were followed across hospitalisation. The influence of hospital drug policy on prescribings in primary care was measured by the likelihood of having a high-cost PPI prescribed before and after change of drug policy. RESULTS: In total, 9,341 hospital stays in 2009 and 2010 were included. The probability of a patient to be prescribed an expensive PPI after discharge decreased from 33.5 to 9.4%, corresponding to a risk ratio of 0.28. In primary care after discharge, 13.4% of esomeprazole use was initiated in the hospital, and this was 8.4% for PPIs in general. After the change of hospital drug policy, this decreased to 6.5% for esomeprazole and increased for the recommended PPIs pantoprazole and lansoprazole to 14.6 and 26.1%, respectively. The effect of a large discount on expensive PPI to hospital was 14.7%, and this decreased to 2.6% when coordinating drug policy in hospital and primary care. CONCLUSION: The likelihood of having an expensive PPI prescribed after hospital stay decreased when coordinating drug policy and the influence of a large discount to hospital could be minimised.

[Adolescents consulting at the pediatric emergency room for psychological or psychiatric reasons]. / Accueil en urgence des adolescents pour motif pédopsychiatrique.

INTRODUCTION: The number of pediatric emergency consultations for psychological or psychiatric reasons continues to rise, raising the question of the adequacy of existing facilities. Our aim was therefore to identify and characterize a population of adolescents consulting at the pediatric emergency unit at Rouen university hospital. METHODS: This study was conducted from 1 January to 31 December 2006. We distinguished three types of variables in adolescents consulting at the pediatric emergency unit. The main objective was to describe the profile and requirements of these young patients and their subsequent care management as compared to that of other studies. RESULTS: Of the 400 patients consulting over 12years of age, 69% were female and the average age was 13.8years. These cases were mainly attempted suicide in girls and conduct disorder in boys; hospitalization was at the request of the family. These consultations were directly linked to the school calendar and 70% required hospitalization. DISCUSSION: We both analyzed and compared the results of this study to those of other studies to propose solutions to improve the care of these young patients.

Práticas ambientais sustentáveis: uma análise dos custos de adoção das ações sustentáveis aplicáveis ao Hospital Universitário Prof. Alberto Antunes (HUPAA) / Sustainable environmental practices: an analysis of the costs of adopting the sustainable actions applicable to the University Hospital Prof. Alberto Antunes (HUPAA)

Este estudo teve por objetivo analisar os custos de adoção das ações sustentáveis aplicáveis ao Hospital Universitário Professor Alberto Antunes (HUPAA). Por meio de estudo das legislações pertinentes e uso de metodologia qualitativa, baseada em estudo de caso, procedeu-se á observação participante, aplicação de questionários e entrevistas semiestruturadas com responsáveis pela gestão hospitalar como também com os colaboradores relacionados direta e indiretamente com as ações ambientais da instituição. Observou-se que dentre um universo de 27 (vinte e sete) práticas ambientais sustentáveis pesquisadas, o HUPAA desenvolve efetivamente 20 (vinte) ações, 03 (três) são parcialmente desenvolvidas e 04 (quatro) não são aplicáveis ao hospital. Constatou-se que o hospital investiu em torno de R$ 957.125,28 (novecentos e cinquenta e sete mil cento e vinte cinco reais e vinte e oito centavos) para adotar as práticas ambientais sustentáveis. Em relação à prática ambiental que apresenta maior impacto no orçamento hospitalar foi representada pela aquisição de equipamentos e materiais que consomem menos energia, o qual o hospital gastou o um valor anual de R$ 495.169,70 (quatrocentos e noventa e cinco mil cento e sessenta e nove reais e setenta centavos). Observou-se também a necessidade do HUPAA implantar novas práticas ambientais, as quais teria que investir um valor de R$ 169.111,04 (cento e sessenta e nove mil cento e onze reais e quatro centavos). Os dados encontrados demonstram que o HUPAA apresenta uma situação favorável no desempenho das suas práticas ambientais sustentáveis, porém o hospital tem a obrigação de adotar todas as práticas ambientais inerentes à legislação ambiental, uma vez que existe a necessidade dele cumprir com o seu papel social e legal. Contudo, espera-se que as informações levantadas nesta pesquisa sirvam de instrumento de gestão para tomada de decisões da gestão hospitalar, para estruturação do serviço de gerenciamento de resíduos, além de alertar para adoção de novas práticas ambientais sustentáveis.(AU)

This research aimed to analyze the costs of adoptions of the sustainable actions applicable to the University Hospital Professor Alberto Antunes (HUPAA). By means of study of the pertinent legislations and use of qualitative methodology, based on case study it took place participating observation, utilization of questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with the ones responsible for hospital management as well as the collaborators related direct or indirectly to the environmental actions of the institution. It was noticed that within the universe of 27 (twenty-seven) sustainable environmental practices researched, the HUPAA develops effectively 20 (twenty) actions, 03 (three) are partially developed and 04 (four) are not applicable to the hospital. It was observed that the hospital invested around R$ 957.125,28 (Nine hundred fifty-seven thousand one hundred twenty-five reais and twenty-eight scents) to adopt the sustainable environmental practices. With regard to the environmental practice, that presents the highest impact to the hospital budget was represented by the purchase of equipment and materials that expend less electricity, in which the hospital spent the annual value of R$495.169,70 (Four hundred ninety-five thousand one hundred sixty-nine and seventy scents). It was also observed the need of the HUPAA to establish new environmental practices, which should be invested an amount of R$ 169.111.04 (One hundred sixty-nine thousand one hundred eleven reais and four scents). The data found show that the HUPAA presents a favorable situation in the development of its sustainable environmental practices, however the hospital has the obligation to adopt all the environmental practices inherent to the environmental legislation, once that there is the necessity of it fulfills its social and legal role. Nevertheless, it is expected that the relevant information collected in this research may be useful as an instrument of management for decision-making of hospital management, the organization of the service of residue management, besides alerting for the adoption of new sustainable environmental practices.(AU)

Proactive approach identifies benefits.

The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City, has developed strategies to identify uninsured patients early in the stay, and help them access ongoing care in the community. Twelve healthcare benefit assistance program social workers educate patients and families about financial options and help them apply for government-sponsored programs. Through a Revolving Fund agreement, the hospital pays the Medicaid rate to post-acute facilities while patients' Social Security Disability is pending and is paid back when the disability coverage is approved. Dedicated social workers help patients who need brand name medications and can't afford them sign up for national pharmaceutical assistance programs.