BACKGROUND Clinical teratology studies often rely on patient reports of medication use in pregnancy with or without other sources of information. Electronic medical records (EMRs), administrative databases, pharmacy dispensing records, drug registries, and patients' self-reports are all widely used sources of information to assess potential teratogenic effect of medications. The objective of this study was to assess comparability of self-reported and prescription medication data in EMRs for the most common therapeutic classes. METHODS The study population included 404 pregnant women prospectively recruited from five prenatal care clinics affiliated with the University of New Mexico. Self-reported information on prescription medications taken since the last menstrual period (LMP) was obtained by semistructured interviews in either English or Spanish. For validation purposes, EMRs were reviewed to abstract information on medications prescribed between the LMP and the date of the interview. Agreement was estimated by calculating a kappa (κ) coefficient, sensitivity, and specificity. RESULTS In this sample of socially-disadvantaged (i.e., 67.9% high school education or less, 48.5% no health insurance), predominantly Latina (80.4%) pregnant women, antibiotics and antidiabetic agents were the most prevalent therapeutic classes. The agreement between the two sources substantially varied by therapeutic class, with the highest level of agreement seen among antidiabetic and thyroid medications (κ ≥0.8) and the lowest among opioid analgesics (κ = 0.35). CONCLUSIONS Results indicate a high concordance between self-report and prescription data for therapeutic classes used chronically, while poor agreement was observed for medications used intermittently, on an 'as needed" basis, or in short courses.

Vancomycin with piperacillin-tazobactam is used as empirical therapy for critically ill patients. Studies of this combination against methicillin-resistant

The New Mexico Medicaid fee-for-service system incurred a total cost of approximately $11.6 million (in 2000 dollars) from 1994 through 1998 for the treatment of the 4 categories of skin ulcers studied. The data showed that the majority of wounds were coded as pressure ulcers, which had the highest associated costs.

Interdisciplinary team training (IDT) is an important component of ensuring quality geriatric care delivery, which can be complex and time intensive, requiring coordination of many medical, psychosocial, and therapeutic interventions and professionals. The Partnership for Health in Aging (PHA), a loose coalition of more than 30 organizations representing healthcare professionals who care for older adults supported by the American Geriatrics Society, identified IDT training in geriatrics as a priority area in addressing the geriatrics workforce shortage described in the 2008 Institute of Medicine report, Retooling for An Aging America: Building the Health Care Workforce. A PHA Workgroup on Interdisciplinary Team Training in Geriatrics was convened to review the literature focused on geriatrics IDT training and to develop a position statement that would inform and influence groups involved in the development and expansion of academic and continuing education programs in IDT training, including professional associations, credentialing and licensing bodies, accreditation organizations, and university administrators. There are significant challenges to expanding the development and implementation of geriatrics IDT training for health professionals, and such training will be successful only with substantial and sustained advocacy from the above professional groups.

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