Ongoing Projects >>>
Sepsis Trial of Early Physical Therapy Outside the ICU
(STEP TO IT)
The goals of this project are:
- To test the feasibility and safety of implementing an intensive physical therapy (PT) based intervention on patients admitted to the general medicine ward with severe sepsis.
- To test the feasibility of gathering necessary data for future studies to determine the efficacy of the intervention.
Completed Projects
Targeting Hospitalists to Reduce Inappropriate Antibiotic Use for Urinary Tract Infections
The goals of this project were:
- To estimate the proportion of patients in which a urine culture was obtained and the patient had signs or symptoms of a urinary tract infection
- To evaluate the appropriateness of antibiotic use in the hospital for treatment of urinary tract infections.
- To design, implement and evaluate an intervention targeted at inpatient physicians, primarily hospitalists, aimed at improving testing and/or treatment of urinary tract infections.
A Cluster-Randomized Cross-Over Trial Comparing the Effects of Three Skin Antiseptic Agents on Peripheral Blood Culture Contamination Rates
The goals of this project were:
- To determine the relative rates of blood culture contamination for three different skin antisepsis preparations (povidone iodine, iodine tincture, and chlorhexidine gluconate-isopropyl alcohol solution) when used by dedicated phlebotomy teams to obtain blood cultures by peripheral venipuncture in non-ICU medical and surgical patients.
- To estimate cost savings associated with decreased rates of blood culture contamination.
Pharmacist Facilitated Discharge: A Strategy for Reducing Medication Discrepancies and Post-Discharge Adverse Medication Events
The aim of this project was to determine whether pharmacy facilitated discharge and transitional care reduces medication-related adverse events post-discharge, leads to financial savings, and improves patient satisfaction.
Improving the Safety and Effectiveness of Glycemic Control in Hospitalized Patients using a Standardized Subcutaneous Insulin Order Form and an Educational Program
The overall aim of this study was to determine whether the use of a standardized subcutaneous insulin order form led to the simultaneous achievement of better glycemic control and improved patient safety in non-critically ill hospitalized patients.
Preventing deaths from in-hospital cardiac arrests: what are the consequences of medical errors during cardiopulmonary resuscitation?
The purpose of this clinical retrospective study was to evaluate the expected survival in patients who undergo cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), independent of outcome of the cardiac arrest event. Secondary aims include determining the factors that lead to cardiac arrest in hospitalized patients and how many of these arrests may have been preventable.
Assessing Practice Patterns for Treatment of Healthcare Associated Pneumonia, a Multi-Center Evaluation
The objectives of this project were:
- To assess physicians’ self reported practice patterns for treatment of healthcare associated pneumonia (HCAP).
- To investigate gaps in knowledge of current published treatment guidelines.
- To assess physicians’ awareness of and attitudes about HCAP guidelines.