LAS VEGAS (EGMN) – The federal government is stepping up its audit activities in Medicare, and that could mean greater scrutiny of emergency department billing practices, including the use of observation codes.

Influenza-like activity is currently below the national baseline level, but the death rate remains above the epidemic threshold, Dr. Anne Schuchat of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Feb. 5 during a news briefing.

CHANDLER, Ariz. (EGMN) – Despite having more severe injuries and longer travel times, trauma patients transported by helicopter were more likely to survive than were those taken by ground in a national sample of 258,387 patients.

CHANDLER, Ariz. (EGMN) – The idea of using suspended animation in trauma care was unthinkable just 5 years ago, but surgeons now stand at the cusp of the first clinical trial in humans.

U.S. hospitals have significantly improved the care they provide for patients with myocardial infarction, heart failure, and pneumonia, according to a new report from the Joint Commission.

A single negative whole-leg compression ultrasound may safely identify which patients with suspected deep vein thrombosis can forego anticoagulation therapy because they are at low risk for venous thromboembolism, according to a meta-analysis published in the Feb. 3 issue of JAMA.

Do hospitals that do better on discharge planning measures have lower rates of readmission than facilities that don’t do as well?

SAN FRANCISCO (EGMN) – A year-long pilot study found Pneumocystis DNA in initial oropharyngeal wash results of 10 of 104 health care workers, and 7 more converted from negative to positive tests on subsequent gargle tests.

MIAMI BEACH (EGMN) – A significantly higher rate of multiple organ failure after transfusion with red blood cells stored 14 days or longer, compared with fresher cells, has been shown for the first time in pediatric critical care patients.

As we look to the year ahead, hospital medicine is changing almost as much today as it did when the movement first began. The specialty is launching a pathway to certification, we are rethinking our roles as we comanage complex patients, and new medicines are emerging with the potential to change the way we treat common diseases. But with all this progress, we are still struggling to make a difference in areas like patient safety.

SNOWMASS, Colo. (EGMN) – The large multicenter CABANA trial, now recruiting, may be the last and best chance to learn if maintaining sinus rhythm confers a survival advantage over rate control in patients with atrial fibrillation.

SNOWMASS, Colo. (EGMN) – In-hospital mortality due to left atrial catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation is markedly increased at lower-volume centers, according to a recent analysis of all patients in the Medicare database undergoing the increasingly popular procedure.

The story “Ulipristal Acetate More Effective Than Levonorgestrel for Emergency Contraception, Study Indicates” (published Jan. 29, 2010) contained a misspelling of the lead investigator’s last name. The correct name is Dr. Anna F. Glasier.

Ulipristal acetate is more effective than the widely used levonorgestrel in preventing pregnancy at any point within 5 days of unprotected intercourse, according to findings published Jan. 29 in the Lancet.

Diagnosing and treating patients with incomplete information is often a reality in medicine, but officials at the Department of Veterans Affairs are working to fill those gaps by exchanging information electronically with clinicians outside the VA system.

The Food and Drug Administration has issued a recall of Huber (non-coring) infusion needles manufactured by the Nipro Medical Corporation, because they were found to “core” in a high proportion of tests, the agency announced Jan. 26.

Compared with usual care, intensive insulin therapy failed to improve in-hospital mortality in a large clinical trial of adults receiving hydrocortisone for septic shock, according to a report in the Jan. 27 issue of JAMA.