Not all chest pain is a heart attack. While acute coronary syndrome (ACS) may be the most common serious cause of chest pain, clinicians must keep other dangerous conditions in the differential diagnosis and eliminate the possibilities based on the patient’s history, risk stratification, physical exam and diagnostic testing. One of the most dramatic and perplexing causes for acute chest pain, other than ACS, is thoracic aortic dissection.
February is American Heart Month and an appropriate time to recognize the recent reduction in mortality rate from cardiovascular disease in women. The increased awareness of women and healthcare professionals has resulted in better care and is at least partially responsible for the lower death rate from heart disease seen over the past decade.
However, the battle against women’s heart disease is far from over. Awareness has improved, but the realities of heart disease in women remain underappreciated.
Given that proven effective solutions exist today, why haven't more institutions implemented programs that have proven to reduce diagnostic errors?
I listened with great interest to the interview conducted by Dr. Robert Wachter with Dr. Mark Graber in the January 2016 podcast of “Perspectives on Safety,” also published in the AHRQ PSNet.
It is certainly a good idea to avoid readmissions that are deemed unnecessary. However, from the vantage point of risk and patient safety, the sword of readmissions reduction has another sharp and dangerous edge. Plain and simple, along with sensible system solutions, there will be irrational but powerful pressures exerted on the gatekeepers of inpatient admission to send sick patients home rather than readmit them.
[4 MIN READ]
World Stroke Day, established by the World Stroke Organization in 2006, is observed worldwide on October 29 to underscore the serious nature and high rates of stroke, raise awareness of the prevention and treatment of the condition, and ensure better care and support for survivors.
Stroke has emerged as one of the most significant quality, risk and safety issues of the 21st century.
Consider some of the numbers:
