call center

BACKGROUND: The transition from adolescence to young adulthood marks a developmental period where responsibility for management of chronic conditions such as food allergy shifts from the caregiver to the young adult. Fatal food-induced anaphylaxis is most common among adolescents and young adults. However, colleges are currently not well-positioned to provide integrated support for students with food allergies. OBJECTIVE: The study objective was to explore the systems, structures, and policies that currently support students with food allergies at college, assess unmet needs, and develop pilot interventions through the use of patient-centered design processes...

INTRODUCTION: Neurothrombectomy frequency is increasing, and a better understanding of the neurothrombectomy call burden is needed. METHODS: Neurointerventional physicians at nine participating stroke centers prospectively recorded time requirements for all neurothrombectomy (NT) consultations over 30 consecutive 24 hour call periods. RESULTS: Data were collected from a total of 270 days of call. 214 NT consultations were reported (mean 0...

BACKGROUND: During the past several decades, anesthesia has become increasingly safe. Truly major adverse events are rare, and anesthesia quality researchers have instituted programs to evaluate "near miss" or less critical adverse events to evaluate the safety of anesthesia delivery. In this study, we aimed to evaluate calls for emergency help in our institution as a surrogate for pending critical events. We hypothesized that calls would be more common in patients with high American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status, history of prematurity, and children with recent respiratory illness compared to those without these characteristics...

Stem cells in both plant and animal kingdoms reside in a specialized cellular context called stem-cell niche (SCN). SCN integrity is crucial for organism development. Here we show that the H3/H4 histone chaperone CHROMATIN ASSEMBLY FACTOR-1 (CAF-1) and the H2A/H2B histone chaperone NAP1-RELATED PROTEIN1/2 (NRP1/2) play synergistic roles in Arabidopsis root SCN maintenance. Compared to either the m56-1 double mutant deprived of NRP1 and NRP2 or the fas2-4 mutant deprived of CAF-1, the combined m56-1fas2-4 triple mutant displayed a much more severe short-root phenotype...

The use of poorly treated water in hemodialysis centers may lead to fungal contamination, which poses a serious threat to immunologically debilitated hemodialysis patients. This study aimed to isolate and identify yeast species in the water of a Brazilian hemodialysis center by using classic microbiological techniques and Raman spectroscopy. For 12 months, a total of 288 water samples were collected from different points of the hemodialysis treatment distribution center. One hundred and forty-six yeast species were isolated and identified in the samples that tested positive for the presence of yeasts such as Candida parapsilosis (100 isolates, or 68...

A new family of cobalt complexes with the general formula [CoII (OTf)2 (Y,X PyMe tacn)] ( 1R , Y,X PyMe tacn = 1-[(4-X-3,5-Y-2-pyridyl)methyl]-4,7-dimethyl-1,4,7-triazacyclononane, (X = CN ( 1CN ), CO2 Et ( 1CO2Et ), Cl ( 1Cl ), H ( 1H ), NMe2 ( 1NMe2 )) where (Y = H, and X = OMe when Y = Me ( 1DMM )) is reported. We found that the electronic tuning of the Y,X PyMe tacn ligand not only has an impact on the electronic and structural properties of the metal center, but also allows for a systematic water-reduction-catalytic control...

BACKGROUND: In end-stage renal disease patients treated with peritoneal dialysis (PD), the osmotic conductance to glucose (OCG) represents the intrinsic ability of the membrane to transport water in response to a crystalloid osmotic gradient. A progressive loss of OCG in long-term PD patients indicates the development of fibrosis in the peritoneal interstitium, and helps identify patients at risk for encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis. The double mini-peritoneal equilibration test (PET) has been proposed as a simple method to assess OCG using the difference in initial ultrafiltration rates generated by 2 successive dwells using 1...

BACKGROUND: Patients receiving chronic dialysis often require emergent and inpatient care; however, only a minimal amount is known about their out-of-hospital/inter-hospital use of Emergency Medical Services (EMS). The purpose of this study was to describe the utilization of EMS in a cohort of dialysis patients. METHODS: We analyzed a cohort of adult (≥18 years) chronic dialysis patients within the Nova Scotia Health Authority Central Zone Renal Program who initiated chronic dialysis between January 1, 2009 and June 30, 2013 (last follow up July 1, 2015)...

The incidence of acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) increases progressively with age. Favorable genetic mutations are most prevalent in children, and unfavorable profiles increase proportionately in adolescents and young adults (AYA) and into later adulthood. Survival rates of AYA have improved over recent decades to 50-60%, but their accrual to clinical trials remains poor. In contrast to AYA with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the prognostic benefit for AYA with AML enrolled in pediatric compared with adult trials is minor and only seen when different protocols are used...

Findings from this qualitative study may help improve sustainability. ABSTRACT: Purpose: This study aimed to address the knowledge gap between implementing and sustaining evidencebased fall prevention practices for hospitalized patients by exploring perspectives of the interprofessional health care team. DESIGN: A qualitative design was used to capture insights from clinicians across disciplines in a large midwestern academic medical center. METHODS: Four homogenous semistructured focus groups and three individual interviews involving a total of 20 clinicians were conducted between October 2013 and March 2014...

Recent health system innovations provide encouraging evidence that greater coordination of medical and social services can improve health outcomes and reduce health care expenditures. This study evaluated the savings associated with a managed care organization's call center-based social service referral program that aimed to assist participants address their social needs, such as homelessness, transportation barriers, and food insecurity. The program evaluation linked social service referral data with health care claims to analyze expenditures in 2 annual periods, before and after the first social service referral...

OBJECTIVE: To explore the perspective on Decompressive craniectomy (DH) of each of these specialties to establish common grounds for improved clinical practice. METHODS: An electronic survey was distributed via email and social media groups to members of these specialties in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries. Local practices, common triggers for referral for DH, perceived outcomes of these procedures, individual impression of what constitutes good clinical outcomes were explored...

Livedoid vasculopathy (LV) is a thrombotic skin disease characterized by episodic painful ulcerations of the distal aspects of the legs. Its healing process typically leaves small porcelain-white scars called atrophie blanche as a result of the occlusion of cutaneous microcirculation. The main goals of the treatment are pain management and the prevention of ulceration and of progressive scarring in the malleolar area. The therapeutic management is still a challenge, however, and most treatments were based on anecdotal off-label protocols...

BACKGROUND: The term black cloud for a surgeon is generally used to describe someone who is unusually busy compared with his or her counterparts, and it is a superstition that tends to pervade the medical world. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether black clouds exist in hand surgery. METHODS: We examined one academic year's worth of hand surgery-specific call at a level I trauma center and tabulated the number of hand-related patient transfers and add-on cases per surgeon...

OBJECTIVE: In 2013, our group assessed a risk stratification tool of endometrial cancer (EC), called REM (Risk of Endometrial Malignancy). A well known risk factor for EC is body mass index (BMI). In fact, (BMI > 30 and <35 kg/m2) and severe obesity (BMI > 35 kg/m2) were associated with a 2.6-fold and a 4.7-fold increase in EC risk, respectively. Therefore, in the present study we aim to improve the performance of REM, including BMI and developing a new scoring system, called REM-B (Risk of Endometrial Malignancy score associated to BMI), to classify patients into high risk or low risk groups for EC...

Objective: Therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) offers an alternative therapeutic modality for patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and primary antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). However, there is conflicting evidence regarding its efficacy in different sub-phenotypes. This study aimed to investigate the main clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients with different phenotypes of SLE and APS treated with TPE at a tertiary care center. Methods: The database of the Blood and Apheresis Unit between 2001 and 2013 was screened for patients with SLE and primary APS...

BACKGROUND: It is essential to understand the latent structure of the population of suicide attempters for effective suicide prevention. The aim of this study was to identify subgroups among Korean suicide attempters in terms of the details of the suicide attempt. METHODS: A total of 888 people who attempted suicide and were subsequently treated in the emergency rooms of 17 medical centers between May and November of 2013 were included in the analysis. The variables assessed included demographic characteristics, clinical information, and details of the suicide attempt assessed by the Suicide Intent Scale (SIS) and Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS)...

In this descriptive, retrospective study, we analyzed the types of questions posed by healthcare professionals to drug counselors at a medical center and the types of provision of pharmaceutical advice solicited to improve pharmaceutical care quality and establish clear directions for clinical pharmacist training. We collected 8,558 questions posed by healthcare professionals (physicians, 38%; pharmacists, 39%; nurses, 23%) from the electronic drug information record system from May 2013 to April 2015 in one medical center...

Objective: To construct a predictive score for the development or progression of Graves' orbitopathy (GO) in Graves' hyperthyroidism (GH). Design: Prospective observational study in patients with newly diagnosed GH, treated with antithyroid drugs (ATD) for 18 months at ten participating centers from EUGOGO in 8 European countries. Methods: 348 patients were included with untreated GH but without obvious GO. Mixeded effects logistic regression was used to determine best predictors. A predictive score (called PREDIGO) was constructed...

Background Dysphagia and difficulty with eating affects a significant portion of individuals with advanced dementia. Such problems with oral intake can have serious health consequences including mealtime distress, dehydration and malnutrition, aspiration, reduced quality of life, and increased mortality risk. Design We present the first data indicating that "Music & Memory" interventions improve swallowing in individuals with advanced dementia, thereby making oral feeding easier and potentially diminishing reliance on PEG...