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Research Activities
October 1997, No. 209
Contents
About Research Activities
Feature Story
New EKG add-on could reduce deaths from heart attack
Departments
Research on Heart Disease
Study reaffirms link between angioplasty outcomes and hospital and physician experience
More women than men die in the hospital after a heart attack, but
experts disagree about the reasons for this disparity
Beta-blockers reduce deaths from congestive heart failure
Cardiologists and internists disagree about the risks associated with frequently performed cardiac procedures
Medical Effectiveness/Outcomes Research
Low Birthweight PORT publishes recent finding
Most people take more than 30 days following pneumonia to be symptom-free
Health Care Costs and Financing
Hospitals' bargaining effectiveness with health insurers has
diminished over time
HMO copayments for emergency care don't delay people from seeking treatment for heart attack symptoms
Health Care Delivery
Inappropriate lab testing in the ICU remains a problem
Male and female physicians have very different patterns of communication with their pediatric patients
Greater pediatric experience generally denotes facilities that provide more appropriate care for children on dialysis
Most patients with dyspepsia credit gastrointestinal medicines or dietary changes for improvement
Continuity of care is strongly influenced by the nature of the provider-patient relationship
Preventive Health/Chronic Conditions
Screening more people for cancer may mean less frequent
screening for certain cancers
Improvements are needed in the provision of preventive health services
Age, weight, and back injury influence the likelihood of chronic back disability
Medical Informatics
Patient confidentiality must be safeguarded before life-saving information can be transmitted via the Internet
Barriers continue to hinder integration of medical technology into home health care
Special Populations
Stressful life events linked with use of drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes by poor women during pregnancy
Announcements
AHCPR and AAHPF issue RFA for studies on quality of care for chronic disease in managed care
New publications available from AHCPR
AHCPR funds new projects
Research Briefs
Defining primary care: Empirical analysis of the
national ambulatory medical care survey
Dollars may not buy as many QALYs as we think: A
problem with defining quality-of-life adjustments
An invitational workshop on collaboration between quality improvement organizations and business coalitions
Assessing the validity of the SF-36 general health
survey
Measuring casemix, severity, and complexity in geriatric patients undergoing rehabilitation
Impairment-specific dimensions
within the functional independence measure
Current as of October 1997
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