IT in Nursing Homes and wound care

I came across this describing an AHRQ grant to study the benefit of IT in wound management:

"AHRQ is funding a study (K08HS016862-01) to assess the relationship between IT sophistication and nursing home quality. The Sinclair School of Nursing, University of Missouri at Columbia with lead investigator Professor Greg Alexander, has two specific goals. One goal is to compare pressure ulcer quality measures in nursing homes with high IT sophistication versus nursing homes with low IT sophistication. The second goal is to explore strategies to communicate pressure ulcer preventions used in highly sophisticated nursing homes versus nursing homes with low IT sophistication."

" For more information, contact Greg Alexander at (573) 882-0277 or email greg_alexander@missouri.edu"

Remote Ultrasound

A surgeon from Detroit has shown that it is possible for a minimally trained person to capture good ultrasound images and send them via the Internet to a remote site where a trained radiologist can then interpret them. This is another telemedicine application that will allow for the "virtualization" of medical expertise. The ability to capture ultrasound images using a portable unit by a non-radiologist can prove very useful. An ultrasound is a very important diagnostic device for emergency situations, such as an impending aortic aneurysm rupture in a patient presenting with abdominal pain. The problem is that many community hospitals do not have ultrasound techs or radiologists on site during nights. Being able to capture images locally and transmitting them remotely for interpretation will allow these hospitals to offre this service and in doing so, will surely save lives . Read more...

If you're interested in reading further about "Diagnostic ultrasound usability, reliability, comparisons, news and reviews", see this blog.

List of References for "Care Transitions"

Here is a list of References that I found very useful while researching the topic of "Care Transitions"

AHRQ website, Care Transitions Perspective by Sunil Kripalani, MD, MSc



Deficits in Communication and Information Transfer Between Hospital-Based and Primary Care Physicians
Implications for Patient Safety and Continuity of Care
Sunil Kripalani, MD, MSc; Frank LeFevre, MD; Christopher O. Phillips, MD, MPH; Mark V. Williams, MD; Preetha Basaviah, MD; David W. Baker, MD, MPH
JAMA. 2007;297:831-841.


Dangerous Transitions Health Research for Action by the U of Berkley. Very good discussion on the Hospital to home transition and the problems encountered.

Medical errors related to discontinuity of care from an inpatient to an outpatient setting.

J Gen Intern Med. 2003 Aug;18(8):675-6.


Carlton Moore, MD,1 Juan Wisnivesky, MD,1 Stephen Williams, MD,1 and Thomas McGinn, MD1

CONCLUSION: prevalence of medical errors related to the discontinuity of care from the inpatient to the outpatient setting is high and may be associated with an increased risk of rehospitalization.



Conversation with Eric A. Coleman, MD, on Care TRansitions.

Coloroda Business Plan for care transitions http://caretransitions.org/documents/Colorado_Business_Plan.pdf





Lost in transition: challenges and opportunities for improving the quality of transitional care


Ann Intern Med. 2004 Oct 5;141(7):533-6, Coleman EA, Berenson RA



Post Discharge Communications, The Discharge Summary


Deficits in Communication and Information Transfer Between Hospital-Based and Primary Care Physicians
Implications for Patient Safety and Continuity of Care ,


Sunil Kripalani et al, JAMA. 2007;297:831-841.