cover story
An individualized approach after an asthma flare-up is key to reducing emergency visits. But an ED's brisk pace limits emergency physicians fromspending extended time educating patients, and they may not recognize the importance of targeted asthma education. Hospitals are answering these challenges with a three-pronged approach that works like a video camera. They zoom in to optimize asthma educators' role in the ED. They pan toinvolve families in thorough follow-up visits. And then they use the wide angle to integrate community health care professionals in long-term management.
By Kristen Ziegler Cover image: ADVANCE thanks Charles Macias, MD, MPH, Krista Smith, and Texas Children's Hospital in Houston. Photo by Jeffrey Leeser
features
The sleep field finally has the tools to take obstructive sleep apnea
testing out of the lab and into the home. But how do you choose which system
is best for your center?
By Stephen Tarnoczy, BS, RRT, RPSGT
An array of ventilator modes is available today, although many are prone to
patient-ventilator asynchrony. The inability to deliver assist with
sufficient support in a timely fashion is a significant problem.
By Jennifer
Beck, PhD, and Christer Sinderby, PhD
As the U.S. heads into its most worrisome flu season since the 1968 Hong
Kong flu pandemic, the watchword from epidemiologists is a tense, "Hope for
the best but prepare for the worst."
By Michael Gibbons