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Biomedical subjects

F K Orkin

Publications and source records attributed to F K Orkin.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

Age and anesthetic practice: a regional perspective.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To obtain information about practitioners' behaviors, perceptions, and perspectives concerning issues related to advancing age and anesthetic practice. DESIGN: Questionnaire survey mailed to 1,208 active and retired American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) members in Northern New England. Topics included hours worked, practice policies, stress level of activities, observed in colleagues and personally perceived errors and problems associated with performance, and plans, preparation, and reasons for retirement. SETTING: Practicing respondents worked in academic, community, or federal hospitals, and in ambulatory surgical facilities. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: For descriptive analysis, counts and frequency distributions were calculated for each question. Statistical methods were used to test differences across age groups and to identify sources of differences. Approximately 40% of respondents in each age group worked an average work week of 50 to 59 hours. Respondents aged 40 to 49 years worked the longest work weeks and duty periods and were more concerned about liability issues than other age groups. Respondents age 60+ tended to work shorter average and maximum work weeks, although 5% of them continued to work 70- to 79-hour weeks. There was no statistically significant difference in hours worked among men and women. Approximately 20% to 30% of respondents relieved older colleagues of late night or call duties, and asked them to restrict or to stop practice out of concern for patient safety. Night call was equally stressful for all age groups. Economic uncertainty, production pressure, and interpersonal relations were more stressful for younger respondents. In preparation for retirement, shifting away from complex cases and phased reduction in clinical activity were increasingly prevalent with each advancing age group. Important reasons for retirement included attitude changes, physical limitations, and declining health. CONCLUSIONS: Despite modest age-associated trends, chronological age per se is not a strong correlate of an individual's practice pattern, behaviors, or perceptions about performance.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Rural realities.

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Anesthesiology↗
PubMed1995

Error in medicine.

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Anesthesiology↗
PubMed1992

Reassessment of preoperative laboratory testing has changed the test-ordering patterns of physicians.

To test the hypothesis that physicians have substantially reduced the ordering of unwarranted preoperative tests, the authors reviewed 2,093 medical records of patients having four surgical procedures performed at three institutions in three cities in 1979, 1981, 1983, 1985 or 1987. Excluding hemoglobin measurements, the incidence of ordering preoperative laboratory tests unwarranted by findings on history or physical examination decreased from 32.2 to 25.9 percent during this decade, representing a 19.6 percent reduction. This decrease was irregular and varied from operation to operation, test to test and institution to institution. Overall, the percentage of preoperative tests ordered that were unwarranted decreased from 66.9 percent in 1979 to 60.1 percent in 1987. Extrapolating these results, the authors estimate that more than $320 million was saved annually by elimination of unwarranted tests and that the potential savings could exceed $1.35 billion a year. Unexpectedly, the preoperative ordering of medically indicated tests also decreased (from 92.9 to 80.9 percent, representing a 12.9 percent reduction). Because the benefit of performing justified tests is probably greater than the benefit of avoiding unwarranted tests, the net change has probably not been beneficial. A better system for obtaining justified tests and for eliminating the unwarranted tests may be necessary before a net benefit occurs. Punitive measures to reduce testing without prior establishment of such a system may save money, but impair health.

Chicago↗
PubMed1990

Work and rest cycles in anesthesia practice.

A questionnaire inquiring about existing and desirable work and rest patterns appeared in a newsletter mailed to about 22,000 anesthesiologists and anesthesiology residents and 24,000 nurse anesthetists (CRNA). Almost 3,000 anonymous replies were received and analyzed. Respondents reported mean work weeks of 47.5 h (CRNA) to 69.8 h (residents), longest continuous period of administering anesthesia without a break of 6.6 h (CRNA) to 7.7 h (residents), and longest period of administering anesthesia with or without breaks of 14.1 h (CRNA) to 20 h (resident). However, the respondents considered it safe to administer anesthesia without a break for 4.2 (CRNA) to 5.2 h (anesthesiologists) and with break for 12.8 h (CRNA) to 15 h (residents). A substantial number of respondents believed that they work at least occasionally beyond their perceived self-limitations. The majority of respondents recalled having made errors in the administration of anesthesia that they attributed to fatigue. These results may not be representative of work patterns or attitudes among American anesthesia providers because of the small sample size and the resultant potential for bias. Yet, the subject deserves attention and further study because fatigue can affect professional performance, ability to learn, and family life.

Anesthesiology↗
PubMed1990

Physician payment reform: anesthesiology as a case study.

We examined the effects of Resource-based Relative Value Scale (RBRVS)- and physician diagnosis-related groups (MDDRG)-based payment for anesthesiology services related to surgery by simulating these physician payment reform options. We merged Medicare Part A (hospital) and Part B (anesthesiology) payment data for 7,770 patients for the MDDRG analysis and examined 10,431 surgical procedures for the RBRVS analysis within 27 diagnosis-related groups (DRGs) during the second half of 1986 in 16 hospitals representing different geographic regions, bed size, and teaching status. Assuming budget neutrality (i.e., constant total expenditure for anesthesiology services) and using the proposed methodologies, we simulated RBRVS and MDDRG payments and compared them to current payments for anesthesiology services. Individual surgical procedures demonstrated a two- to more than four-fold variation in duration, accompanied by a similar variation in anesthesiology payments. Within DRGs, there was a three- to ten-fold variation in duration, and a two- to seven-fold variation in anesthesiology payments. Anesthesiology time was highly correlated with surgical time (r = 0.86-0.96). Compared to the current system, RBRVS and MDDRG systems were associated with systematic variations in payments, such that on average, on each case, anesthesiologists practicing in rural and nonteaching hospitals would gain, whereas those in urban or suburban and teaching facilities would lose. After adjusting for complexity of procedure, the distribution of payment gains and losses was a function of duration of surgery, which is not influenced by the anethesiologist. Longer cases of a given surgical procedure result in payment decreases. The results document the importance of retaining a time factor in the payment methodology for anesthesiology services to maintain equitable payment across practice settings--an objective of physician payment reform.

Anesthesia Department, Hospital↗
PubMed1983

Hemodynamic predictors of myocardial ischemia during halothane anesthesia for coronary-artery revascularization.

The authors undertook a prospective study of 30 patients undergoing halothane anesthesia for coronary-artery revascularization to ascertain which clinically monitored hemodynamic variables--or combination of variables--associated with myocardial oxygen supply and demand best predict myocardial ischemia. Simultaneous recordings of electrocardiogram (lead II and V5), systemic, central venous, pulmonary artery, and pulmonary artery occluded pressures were analyzed for correlation with ischemic episodes. Ischemia occurred with significant increases (P less than 0.0001) in heart rate, central venous pressure, and pulmonary artery occlusion pressure and with significant decreases (P less than 0.0001) in systolic and mean arterial blood pressure and in coronary perfusion pressure (mean arterial minus pulmonary artery occluded pressure). There was no correlation between ischemia and either hypertension (systolic blood pressures up to 200 mmHg) or the rate-pressure product. Systemic systolic blood pressure, systemic mean arterial blood pressure, and coronary perfusion pressure as single determinants were the most useful to monitor in avoiding myocardial ischemia. A combination of systemic arterial blood pressure (systolic or mean) and filling pressure (central venous or pulmonary artery occluded) was generally as useful but not more so than the preceding single variables in avoiding ischemia. Rate-pressure product was not of value in this regard. Patients were divided into three groups according to preoperative left ventricular (LV) function to determine whether pulmonary artery occluded pressure (PAOP) was more useful than central venous pressure (CVP) as either a predictor of ischemia or an index of cardiac filling: normal LV function (Group I), moderately abnormal LV function (Group II), and markedly abnormal LV function (Group III). PAOP offered no advantage over CVP for either purpose, except in some Group III patients.

Blood Pressure↗
PubMed1980

Prediction of the need for postoperative mechanical ventilation in myasthenia gravis.

In order to determine predictors for the postoperative need of mechanical ventilation in patients with myasthenia gravis undergoing thymectomy, the authors retrospectively applied multivariate discriminant analysis to preoperative physical, historical, and laboratory data of 24 myasthenic patients. They identified four risk factors--duration of myasthenia, respiratory disease, pyridostigmine dosage, and vital capacity--that allowed prediction of which patients would need postoperative mechanical ventilation and which could readily have their tracheas extubated. The four factors were weighted according to their respective importance in making this prediction and combined to form a preoperative scoring system. Using the resultant scores for each patient, the authors correctly predicted ventilatory need in 91 per cent of the patients, and only conservative errors (predicting the need for ventilatory support) were made. Traditionally used criteria for evaluating myasthenic patients were poorer predictors than the four factors identified by the authors. The scoring system may be clinically useful in the preoperative evaluation and postoperative care of the patient with myasthenia gravis, for its identifies important variables in the evaluation of the myasthenic patient and serves as an aid to the physician in identifying those able to tolerate early tracheal extubation.

Adult↗