Objective: High BMI predicts adverse cardiovascular outcomes and positively correlates with increased levels of adipokines. The relationship among BMI, IL6, TNFα, adiponectin and oxidized high density lipoprotein (Ox-HDL) with circulating endothelial cells (CECs) and endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) has not been well studied. We have described elevated CEC levels in both humans and mice with obesity and diabetes. We have shown that Ox-HDL is a potent driver of adipogenesis in vivo and in vitro. In this study, we examined elevated BMI in two groups of women studied in Brooklyn, NY and Huntington, WV, respectively. Methods: 26 females with obesity and 5 lean controls without overt cardiovascular disease were enrolled, 13 from West Virginia and 13 from Brooklyn, New York. Cytokine levels, EPC and CEC were determined. Results: females with obesity had elevated levels of Leptin, IL6, and Ox HDL, increased CEC and decreased EPC and adiponectin levels (all p<0.01). The Ox- HDL levels were higher in women from Brooklyn vs Huntington (p<0.01), possibly from higher TNFα levels in Brooklyn or higher adiponectin levels in WV. 75% of the variance in Ox-HDL levels could be predicted in this population (p<0.01). Conclusions: Our study reveals a unique inflammatory biomarker profile in females with obesity.

Ineffective communication between nursing staff and residents leads to numerous educational and patient-care interruptions, increasing resident stress and overall workload. We developed an innovative and simple, secure electronic health record (EHR) base text paging system to communicate with internal medicine residents. The goal is to avoid unnecessary interruption during patient care or educational activities and reduce stress. Traditional paging system can send a phone number to call back. We developed and implemented a HIPPA-compliant, EHR-integrated text paging at a busy 591-bed urban hospital. Access was granted to unit clerks, nursing staff, case managers, and physicians. Senders could either send a traditional telephone number page or a text page through our EHR. The recipient could then either acknowledge receipt of the page or take appropriate actions. Afterward, Internal medicine residents were polled on overall satisfaction difference between basic phone based numeric paging and the enhanced EHR text paging system. Educational interruptions (averaging over 7 pages) decreased from 64% to 16%. Patient care interruptions fell from 68% to 12%. 88% of residents felt that 50% or less of the pages were non-emergent and did not require an immediate action. 92% of 25 surveyed internal medicine residents preferred text paging over numeric paging and responded through the EHR 60% of the time by placing direct orders. Time savings using the new system over a 3-month span amounted to 72.5 h in transmission time alone. Text paging among medical caregivers and internal medicine residents through EHR-associated communication reduced patient care and educational interruptions. It saved time spent sending pages, answering unnecessary pages and it improved resident's subjective stress and satisfaction levels.

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NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital embarked on a Zero Unnecessary Study (ZEUS) initiative, whereby all aspects of clinical care were evaluated and strategies were implemented to mitigate waste. An opportunity was found in regards to thyroid function testing. It has been shown that certain TFTs are ordered far more often than clinically indicated. Free T3 (fT3) and Free T4 (fT4) are only indicated when the TSH is abnormal in the inpatient setting, with rare exceptions.Thus, a clinical algorithm for Clinical Decision Support (CDS) and Hard Stops (HS) were incorporated into the Electronic Medical Record (EMR) to prevent fT3 or fT4 to be ordered without an abnormal TSH, with certain predefined exceptions. In addition, a reflex rule was built which automatically orders (reflex) fT3 and fT4 if the TSH is abnormal. The pre and post-intervention ratios of fT3 and fT4 orders per total TSH orders were analyzed.Pre-intervention data revealed that fT4 was the most frequently ordered TFT laboratory test on admission, after TSH. Post-Intervention, there was a decrease in the ratio of fT4 to TSH orders (fT4/TSH) of 35.2%, from 44.6% to 28.9%. The percentage of fT4 ordered due to abnormal TSH increased by 126.1%, from 36.8% to 83.2%. The fT3 to TSH ordering ratio similarly decreased by 55.2%, from 6.2% to 2.9%. The decreases in both fT3/TSH and fT4/TSH ratios were statistically significant.Any unnecessary orders are a burden on healthcare. It is now possible to achieve goals that were not previously thought to be possible because of advancement in medicine and technology. By making small changes and saving costs, we can target our energy and resources toward effectively treating patients.

Introduction: Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) is a rare, life-threatening disorder characterized by microangiopathic hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia, neurological symptoms, renal dysfunction and other end organ failure. It is associated with inherited or acquired antibody-mediated deficiency of ADAMTS13 resulting in an inability to cleave von Willebrand factor. It occurs in approximately 3 in 1 million adults and 1 in 10 million children annually. First line therapy is plasmapheresis, typically coupled with steroids. Patients recovering from TTP may demonstrate persistent or intermittent ADAMTS13 deficiency without symptoms or thrombocytopenia. Most relapses of acquired TTP occur in the first week after stopping plasma exchange. There are multiple factors contributing to relapses, which include age &gt; 60, severe neurological symptoms at presentation and a persistently elevated lactate dehydrogenase. Thus young patients with low ADAMTS13 activity are appropriate candidates for prophylactic treatment. The early initiation of immune-modulatory therapy targeting the antibody inhibitor of ADAMTS13 could potentially reduce the number of plasma exchange procedures required to achieve remission, increase the response rate and decrease the incidence of relapses in patients with TTP. Since TTP is a rare disease, the aim of our study was to outline the trends and outcomes of hospitalizations due to TTP using the nationally representative database for future use in risk stratification and treatment protocols. Methods: We performed retrospective study using the National Inpatient Sample database, a part of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) of the agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). We extracted the study cohort of adult admissions with TTP from 2007-2017 by using International Classification of Diseases (9th/10th editions) Clinical Modification diagnosis codes. In the final study cohort we only included patients who received plasmapheresis to restrict patient population with active TTP disease. This approach has been validated in prior publications from administrative databases. Other diagnosis of interests and other comorbidities were identified by ICD-9/10-CM codes and Elixhauser comorbidity software. We utilized Cochran Armitage trend test and survey logistic multivariable regression modeling to analyze trends and predictors of outcomes with weighted analysis. Statistical analyses were performed using SAS software, version 9.4. Results: There were a total 22,054 hospitalizations due to TTP, which increased from 1,620 in 2007 to 1,870 in 2017. The median age was 47-years (IQR:33-60) with 25% hospitalizations among the age group of 18-34 years, 66.1% were females, 46.7% were Caucasians followed by 39.2% African American race. The overall length of stay was 16-days which declined from 17-days in 2007 to 15-days is 2017 (pTrend&lt;0.001). In the study cohort, 14.5% were discharged to a facility, and 9.8% died during the hospitalization. In trend analysis, in-hospital mortality decreased (13.4% in 2007 to 8.02% in 2017; pTrend&lt;0.001) but discharge to facilities increased (8.9% in 2007 to 14.4% in 2017; pTrend&lt;0.001). Furthermore, in multivariable regression analysis, increasing age (OR 1.4; 95%CI 1.3-1.5; p&lt;0.001), Caucasians (OR 1.4; 95%CI 1.2-1.7; p&lt;0.001), pneumonia (OR 1.8; 95%CI 1.4-2.5; p&lt;0.001), septicemia (OR 3.4; 95%CI 2.6-4.5; p&lt;0.001), cardiovascular events (OR 2.2; 95%CI 1.5-3.2; p&lt;0.0001), electrolytes imbalance (OR 1.4; 95%CI 1.1-1.9; p=0.005), and liver disorders (OR 1.7; 95%CI 1.1-2.6; p=0.02) were associated with higher odds of in-hospital mortality. Conclusion: In this study, we described national trends of hospitalizations and outcomes of TTP. We observed in-hospital mortality has decreased coupled with an increase in discharge to facilities over the past decade. We also identified risk factors for poorer outcomes, including advanced age, caucasian background and associated sepsis, revealing higher odds of in-hospital mortality. Early identifications of these potential risk stratifiers may play a crucial role in initiating early treatment in addition to identifying populations who may benefit from immune-modulatory therapy along with prophylactic plasma exchange. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.