A study to evaluate resource draining "no shows".

INTRODUCTION: Waiting lists are problems that plague all government radiation therapy centers across the country, leading to disease progression, and reduced treatment efficacy. No shows for appointments create artificial access issues, reduce revenues, waste staff time, and negatively affect patient care. METHODOLOGY: A Retrospective analysis of 180 patients, who were given an appointment and were to be started for radiation therapy at the Department of Radiation Therapy and Oncology, at our institute from May 1, 2013 to July 31, 2013, was done. Patients were divided into two Groups; Group A (n = 104, 57.8%) that complied for treatment and Group B (n = 76, 42.2%) that did not comply for treatment on the scheduled date. The Group B ("no shows") patients were contacted telephonically and were evaluated for the primary reasons for their failure to comply for treatment through a preformed questionnaire. RESULTS: The mean age, gender distribution and patient's habitat in both the groups were comparable. On Group B analysis, the average waiting period for the appointment was 74 days; 31.4% had died within an average of 31 days; 37.1% said they were better; 10% said their condition was the same; 18.6% said their disease had progressed. Patients were also evaluated for various factors responsible for their not reporting for treatment at the institute. CONCLUSION: Better communication and constant reminders between patients and the departmental staff can go a long way in helping to curb the problem of no shows and mitigate the artificial access issues. This would lead to better patient care and better resource utilization.

Myocardial Performance Index (Tei Index): A simple tool to identify cardiac dysfunction in patients with diabetes mellitus.

BACKGROUND: Cardiac dysfunction is the major cause of morbidity and mortality in diabetes. Myocardial Performance Index (MPI/Tei Index) includes both systolic and diastolic time intervals to assess the global cardiac dysfunction. Our aim was to assess the MPI in patients with type 2 diabetes. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This hospital-based analytic observational study was performed in the tertiary care center. The conventional Doppler parameters, tissue Doppler-derived E/E' and MPI, were measured in all patients. RESULTS: 100 patients with type 2 diabetes were included in the study. 65 patients showed diastolic dysfunction, 33 with Grade I diastolic dysfunction, 23 with Grade II diastolic dysfunction, and 14 patients with Grade III diastolic dysfunction. The conventional Doppler showed abnormality in 44% of patients (33 patients with Grade I and 14 patient with Grade III). 23 patients were in Grade II diastolic dysfunction (12 patients showed reversal E/A on valsalva maneuver and 11 patients showed abnormality in tissue Doppler-derived E/E', E/E'>15). MPI with cut-off 0.36 was found to have 94% sensitivity, 100 specificity, and 94% PPV for the detection of cardiac dysfunction. MPI negatively correlated with systolic dysfunction (rho=0.455, p<0.001) and positively correlated with grade of diastolic dysfunction (rho=0.832, p<0.001) and NYHA grading of dyspnea (rho=0.872, p<0.001) CONCLUSIONS: MPI as a single parameter can be used for assessment in diabetic cardiac dysfunction.