Author Interviews, Critical Care - Intensive Care - ICUs, End of Life Care, Primary Care, Pulmonary Disease, University of Pennsylvania / 07.10.2019
Primary and Palliative Care Can Prevent Significant Number of ICU Admissions
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_51756" align="alignleft" width="180"] Dr. Weissman[/caption]
Gary Weissman, MD, MSHP
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Division
Palliative and Advanced Illness Research (PAIR) Center
University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: There are millions of hospitalizations every year in the United States (US) that include a stay in an intensive care unit (ICU). Such ICU stays put strain on health system resources, may be unwanted by patients, and are costly to society. As the population of the US gets older and more medically complex, some have argued that we need more ICU beds and a larger ICU workforce to keep pace.
We hypothesized that some proportion of these ICU admissions could be prevented with early and appropriate outpatient care. Such a strategy would alleviate some of the strains and costs associated with ICU stays. If an appreciable proportion of ICU stays were preventable in this way, it would strengthen support for an alternative population-health based framework instead of further investments in the ICU delivery infrastructure.
Dr. Weissman[/caption]
Gary Weissman, MD, MSHP
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Division
Palliative and Advanced Illness Research (PAIR) Center
University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: There are millions of hospitalizations every year in the United States (US) that include a stay in an intensive care unit (ICU). Such ICU stays put strain on health system resources, may be unwanted by patients, and are costly to society. As the population of the US gets older and more medically complex, some have argued that we need more ICU beds and a larger ICU workforce to keep pace.
We hypothesized that some proportion of these ICU admissions could be prevented with early and appropriate outpatient care. Such a strategy would alleviate some of the strains and costs associated with ICU stays. If an appreciable proportion of ICU stays were preventable in this way, it would strengthen support for an alternative population-health based framework instead of further investments in the ICU delivery infrastructure. 
Dr. Hongying (Daisy) Dai[/caption]
Hongying (Daisy) Dai, PhD
Associate Professor
Department of Biostatistics | College of Public Health
University of Nebraska Medical Center
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Although marijuana is still classified as a Schedule I drug at the Federal level, as of June 2019, 33 states and the District of Columbia have legalized one or more forms of marijuana; 11 states and the District of Columbia have approved both medical and recreational uses. Public opinion on marijuana has changed dramatically over the last two decades and support for legalization has doubled since 2010. However, very little is known about the prevalence and patterns of marijuana use among adults with medical conditions.
This study analyzed the 2016 and 2017 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data to report the prevalence and patterns of marijuana use among adults with self-reported medical conditions. 
Dr. Munzer[/caption]
Tiffany G. Munzer, MD
Department of Pediatrics
University of Michigan Medical School
Ann Arbor
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: There’s been such a rise in the prevalence of tablet devices and the recommendation for families of young children has been to engage in media together because children learn the most from screens when they’re shared with an adult. However, little is known about how toddlers and adults might behave and interact using a tablet.
