Registry data from the American Heart Association show that some patients subject to the UN10 rule to discontinue resuscitation during in-hospital cardiac arrest could survive, according to a study in JAMA Network Open. Researchers conclude that the UN10 rule could be refined in the future to create a more predictive tool.

The use of muscle-pump activators instead of compression stockings was associated with shorter hospital stays and better short-term outcomes for patients who had a kidney transplant or a simultaneous pancreas and kidney transplant, researchers reported at the American Transplant Congress. Dr. Alp Sener said MPAs are the size of a pen and can stimulate the leg equal to walking several miles per day.

A Commonwealth Fund report found combined nationwide mortality from suicide, drug overdoses and alcohol reached record levels in 2017, but parts of the country were affected more heavily than others. The report, which used 47 measures to rank states, also looked at population health more broadly and found that health care coverage was a key differentiator between high- and low-ranking states.

A study in Pediatric Emergency Care showed that the rate of marijuana ingestions among children younger than 6 rose 27% annually between 2009, when marijuana legalization expanded, and 2017, and states with legal marijuana accounted for more than 70% of pediatric marijuana ingestions. Researchers also found that 54.6% of youths who ingested marijuana required hospital-based care, 7.5% of whom needed critical care.

Advanced ICU Care CEO Lou Silverman said telehealth has an important and growing role in health care and the delineation between in-person care and virtual care is disappearing, even in critical care settings. "The greatest successes occur when workflows and patient engagement are built around the unique attributes of a specific telemedicine specialty rather than focused on importing bedside traditions into the telemedicine environment," Silverman said.

A study in the Journal of General Internal Medicine based on EHR data from 170,332 encounters and interviews with 40 physicians found that variations in clinical documentation in EHRs could result in patient harm and clinical inefficiencies. Researchers suggest conducting user training during the implementation of EHR systems and setting up practice meetings for standardized documentation.