Significant and unexpected, and critical diagnoses in surgical pathology: a College of American Pathologists' survey of 1130 laboratories.

CONTEXT: The Joint Commission and the College of American Pathologists have emphasized improved communication as a strategy to improve patient safety and reduce errors. OBJECTIVE: To determine current policies and practices concerning critical and/or significant and unexpected results in anatomic pathology. DESIGN: A survey was distributed with the 2007 D mailing of the Performance Improvement Program slides. The survey included questions that determined laboratory size, practice setting, and anatomic pathology critical and/or significant and unexpected result policies and practices. RESULTS: Surveys from 1130 laboratories were received. A total of 75% had a written policy regarding anatomic pathology critical and/or significant and unexpected results; 25% did not. A total of 30% of laboratories with written policies stated that their policies included guidelines but did not include specific examples. A total of 33% listed 5 or fewer specific examples, 18% listed more than 5 examples, and 19% stated that they had a specifically defined list of significant and unexpected and/or critical diagnoses. The conditions that were listed included malignancies (48% of all laboratories), findings not expected by the clinical history (45%), life-threatening infections (45%), no chorionic villi in products of conception (37%), inflammatory or immunologic processes (19%), and organ rejection (14%). Laboratories with a higher median number of accessioned surgical and cytology cases and independent laboratories tended to have policies with more than 5 specific examples or precise lists of must-call diagnoses (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: This survey illustrates current anatomic pathology policies and practices with respect to critical and significant and unexpected results.

Operator service access and pay telephone compensation rules--FCC. Final rule.

In its Memorandum Opinion and Order on Reconsideration, the Commission affirms certain aspects of the Second Report and Order and makes a number of modifications. First, the Commission affirms its holding that interexchange carriers (IXCs) must pay competitive payphone owners (PPOs) compensation in the amount of $6 per month per payphone. Second, the Commission modifies the Second Report and Order to allow IXCs to avoid the obligation to pay compensation if they do not receive access code calls from payphones to which they are not presubscribed. Third, the Commission affirms its decision to use to toll revenue standard for apportioning compensation among those IXCs required to pay. Fourth, the Commission clarifies in a number of respects its requirements pertaining to the customer-owned coin-operated telephone (COCOT) lists provided by local exchange carriers (LECs) to IXCs. In addition, the Commission denies Allnet's Application for Review of a decision by the Common Carrier Bureau relating to the list of IXCs required to pay compensation. The Commission's Memorandum Report and Order on Reconsideration ensures that PPOs receive fair compensation for the service they provide in originating interstate access code calls from their payphones.

Eligibility rules for special emergency paging--FCC. Final rule.

This action modifies 90.38 of the Commission's Rules by expanding the eligibility of end users to which special emergency paging licensees can provide service. Hospital paging systems could not be used to inform participants in an organ donor program of the availability of a suitable organ. The Commission has decided that patients actively awaiting an organ transplant should be eligible under the Special Emergency Radio Service to receive paging service.

Comunicación y Salud / Communication and Health

Producto de nuestras observaciones y vivencias pudimos constatar que en las horas de visita los familiares de los pacientes se aglomeraban en las estaciones de enfermería, constatación que fué el orígen de la pregunta que nos permitió realizar nuestra investigación...

Allocation of spectrum in a certain MHz band and to establish other rules, policies, and procedures for one-way paging stations in the Domestic Public Land Mobile Radio Service--Federal Communications Commission. Final rule.

This First Report and Order allocates 3 MHz of spectrum for paging services in the 929-932 MHz band. Private paging services will use frequency band 929-930 MHz, common carrier services will use frequency band 931-932 MHz, with a flexible boundary between the two bands effective after five years. The 930-931 MHz band will be reserved for advanced technology paging systems. This allocation was made in response to petitions filed by the Ad Hoc Private Paging Committee and Telocator Network of America. These new paging frequencies will allow for substantial growth of the paging industry, which has been restricted by a shortage of frequencies.