The marginal effects of acute kidney injury on in-hospital mortality, length of stay (LOS), and costs have not been well described. A consecutive sample of 19,982 adults who were admitted to an urban academic medical center, including 9210 who had two or more serum creatinine (SCr) determinations, was evaluated. The presence and degree of acute kidney injury were assessed using absolute and relative increases from baseline to peak SCr concentration during hospitalization. Large increases in SCr concentration were relatively rare (e.g., >2.0 mg/dl in 105 [1%] patients), whereas more modest increases in SCr were common (e.g., >0.5 mg/dl in 1237 [13%] patients). Modest changes in SCr were significantly associated with mortality, LOS, and costs, even after adjustment for age, gender, admission International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification diagnosis, severity of illness (diagnosis-related group weight), and chronic kidney disease. For example, an increase in SCr >0.5 mg/dl was associated with a 6.5-fold (95% confidence interval 5.0 to 8.5) increase in the odds of death, a 3.5-d increase in LOS, and nearly $7500 in excess hospital costs. Acute kidney injury is associated with significantly increased mortality, LOS, and costs across a broad spectrum of conditions. Moreover, outcomes are related directly to the severity of acute kidney injury, whether characterized by nominal or percentage changes in serum creatinine. A cute kidney injury (AKI) has been reported in 5 to 7%of hospitalized patients on the basis of several singlecenter reports (1,2). Despite the perception that AKI is relatively common, there is no uniform definition for AKI, and relatively few data regarding its incidence in hospitalized patients are available. Moreover, the relative effects of AKI on mortality, hospital length of stay (LOS), and costs have not been well described. Most studies that have explored downstream effects of AKI have either considered AKI requiring dialysis or homogenous patient populations, such as those who were exposed to radiocontrast agents or undergoing cardiothoracic surgery.In the context of a computer-based intervention in which data were collected on kidney function, severity of illness, drug prescription, and outcomes in hospitalized patients (3), we linked changes in serum creatinine (SCr) with in-hospital mortality, LOS, and costs. We hypothesized that relatively small changes in SCr would be common and associated with adverse outcomes, even after adjustment for severity of disease. Materials and Methods Study SettingThe study was conducted at Brigham and Women's Hospital, a 720-bed urban academic medical center in Boston, MA. Data were obtained for a study to examine the effects of a computer-order entrybased decision tool on drug prescribing for hospitalized patients with impaired kidney function (3). As part of the data library collected for evaluation of the appropriateness of drug prescription, serial SCr determinations were collected on a consecutive series of hospitalized pat...

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LTHOUGH NUMEROUS STUDies have evaluated the patterns and quality of prescription medication use among the elderly, 1-5 information related to the incidence of preventable adverse drug events in the ambulatory geriatric population is limited. Even though most medication errors do not result in injury, 6,7 the extensive use of medications by the geriatric population suggests that sizeable numbers of older persons are affected. The prevalence of prescription medication use among the ambulatory adult population increases with advancing age. A recent national survey of the US noninstitutionalized adult population indicated that more than 90% of persons aged 65 years or older used at least 1 medication per week. 8 More than 40% used 5 or more different medications per week, and Author Affiliations and Financial Disclosures are listed at the end of this article.

Recently there has been a remarkable upsurge in activity surrounding the adoption of personal health record (PHR) systems for patients and consumers. The biomedical literature does not yet adequately describe the potential capabilities and utility of PHR systems. In addition, the lack of a proven business case for widespread deployment hinders PHR adoption. In a 2005 working symposium, the American Medical Informatics Association's College of Medical Informatics discussed the issues surrounding personal health record systems and developed recommendations for PHR-promoting activities. Personal health record systems are more than just static repositories for patient data; they combine data, knowledge, and software tools, which help patients to become active participants in their own care. When PHRs are integrated with electronic health record systems, they provide greater benefits than would stand-alone systems for consumers. This paper summarizes the College Symposium discussions on PHR systems and provides definitions, system characteristics, technical architectures, benefits, barriers to adoption, and strategies for increasing adoption.