Gestión de las peticiones de NT-proBNP y procalcitonina mediante reglas computarizadas basadas en criterios clínicos / NT-proBNP and procalcitonin request management using computerized rules based on clinical criteria

Introducción: El péptido natriurético cerebral y su fragmento aminoterminal (NT-proBNP) se secretan en respuesta al incremento de la presión arterial y sobrecarga de volumen. Presenta un elevado valor predictivo negativo para el diagnostico de la insuficiencia cardiaca, correlacionándose con su grado de severidad. La procalcitonina es un biomarcador que aumenta su concentración en el plasma de pacientes sépticos, y permite diferenciar infecciones bacterianas frente a otras etiologías, siendo su concentración proporcional a la gravedad de la sepsis. Ambos biomarcadores presentan un elevado precio, que no hace aconsejable su uso indiscriminado. En el presente trabajo hemos propuesto un protocolo de petición para los 2 biomarcadores, basado en los criterios clínicos, con el fin de filtrar adecuadamente las peticiones a través del sistema informático del laboratorio (SIL). Método: Se diseñaron volantes de petición basados en la guía de la insuficiencia cardiaca de la European Society of Cardiology, para el NT-proBNP y en la guía de la Society of Critical Care Medicine para procalcitonina, puntuándose cada uno de los ítems considerados. Mediante reglas informáticas se excluyeron las peticiones cuya puntuación fuese inferior a un determinado valor. Para ambos biomarcadores se excluyeron aquellas peticiones que no procedían de los servicios clínicos implicados. Resultados: Se solicitaron un total de 140 peticiones para el NT-proBNP y 339 para la procalcitonina. Para la procalcitonina se excluyeron 32 peticiones (4,42%) y para el NT-proBNP 4 peticiones (9,43%). Conclusiones: El diseño de una petición específica para NT-proBNP y procalcitonina es una herramienta eficaz para controlar el gasto (AU)

Background: Type B natriuretic peptide and its N-terminal fragment (NT-proBNP) are secreted in response to an increase in blood pressure and volume overload. NT-proBNP shows a high negative predictive value for heart failure and correlates with the level of severity. Procalcitonin is a biomarker over-expressed in septic patients, which enables bacterial infections to be distinguished from other etiologies, as its concentration is proportional to sepsis severity. Both biomarkers are expensive, thus its indiscriminate use is not advisable. A request protocol based on clinical criteria is presented for both biomarkers, in order to filter the requests using the laboratory informatics system (LIS). Methods: The request forms were designed following the heart failure guidelines of European Society of Cardiology for NT-proBNP, and the guidelines of Society of Critical Care Medicine for procalcitonin, giving a score for each item. Using computerized rules, requests with a score lower than a specific cut-off value were excluded. In addition requests from clinical departments not involved in critical patient care were rejected. Results: A total of 140 requests were received for NT-proBNP, with 339 for procalcitonin. Of these 32 (9.43%) were rejected for procalcitonin, and 4 (2.8%) for NT-proBNP. It can be concluded that the design of a specific request form for NT-proBNP and procalcitonin is an efficient tool for the cost management (AU)

¿Es el sistema tiempos quirúrgicos estándar (TQE) aplicable a la oftalmología actual del sistema sanitario público? / Is the standard operating times system applicable to ophthalmology in the public health system?

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Traceability in healthcare: crossing boundaries.

OBJECTIVES: This paper is a survey on the problem of traceability in healthcare. Traceability covers many different aspects and its understanding varies among different players. In supply chains and retails, traceability usually covers aspects pertaining to logistics. The challenge is to keep trace of objects manufactured, to track their locations in a production and distribution processes. In food industry, traceability has received a lot of attention because of public health problems related to infectious diseases. For instance, in Europe, the challenge of traceability has been to build the tracking of meat, from the living animal to the shell. In the health sector, traceability has mostly been involved in patient safety around human products such as blood derivates contaminants or implanted devices and prosthesis such as mammary implants. There are growing interests involving traceability in health related to drug safety, including the problem of counterfeited drugs, and to privacy. Traceability is also increasingly seen as a mean to improve efficiency of the logistics of care and a way to better understand costs and usage of resources. METHODS: This survey is reviewing the literature and proposes a discussion based on the real use and needs of traceability in a large teaching hospital. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Traceability in healthcare is at the crossroads of numerous needs. It is therefore of particular complexity and raises many new challenges. Identification management and entity tracking, from serialization of consumers' good production in the supply chains, to the identification of actors, patients, care providers, locations and processes is a huge effort, tackling economical, political, ethical and technical challenges. New requirements are needed, not usually met in the supply chain, such as serialization and persistence in time. New problems arise, such as privacy and legal frameworks. There are growing needs to increase traceability for drug products, related to drug safety, counterfeited drugs, and to privacy. Technical problems around reliability, robustness and efficiency of carriers are still to be resolved. There is a lot at stakes. Traceability is a major aspect of the future in healthcare and requires the attention of the community of medical informatics.