Attitudes and acceptance of patients undergoing visceral surgery towards an open access electronic medical record – a Swiss-German single-centre study

Original article
Raptis DA, Frei L, Bindschädler P, Tschuor C, Breitenstein S
Swiss Med Wkly. 2020;150:w20328

The question of whether patients should have electronic access to their data has become one of the key topics under discussion.

The new remuneration system TARPSY in Swiss psychiatric hospitals: effects on length of stay and readmissions?

Original article
Hepp U, Raim Gautier C, Baumgartner M, Bridler R, Hoff P, Minder J, Müller M, Savaskan E, Seifritz E, Stulz N
Swiss Med Wkly. 2020;150:w20337

If being evident at all, the effects of the new remuneration system TARPSY on LOS and readmission rates seem to be small. Concerns that declining daily rates in TARPSY would result in early discharges and increased readmission rates did not prove true in adult and geriatric psychiatry.

Neonatal transport in Switzerland: a retrospective single-centre analysis – quo vadis?

Original article
Leemann T, Bernet V, Grass B, Hagmann C
Swiss Med Wkly. 2020;150:w20308

The high proportion of urgent transfers emphasises the need for an efficient neonatal transport system and dedicated neonatal transport teams staffed by members with training in neonatal transport and expertise in handling neonatal emergencies.

Management of hepatitis C in opioid agonist therapy patients of the Swiss canton Aargau within and outside the cohort study

Original article
Schürch S, Fux CA, Dehler S, Conen A, Knuchel J, Friedl A, Eigenmann F, Roser P, Ackle P, Bregenzer A
Swiss Med Wkly. 2020;150:w20317

Bayesian networks to identify potential high-risk multimorbidity and intervention clusters in inpatients: an explorative data mining study

Original article
Roth JA, Sakoparnig T, Gerber M, Hug BL
Swiss Med Wkly. 2020;150:w20299

Bayesian network analysis may be used as a tool to mine large healthcare databases in order to explore intervention targets for quality improvement programmes. However, the resulting associations should be substantiated in consecutive investigations using specific causal models.

Sufficient physicians, but a misguided repartition leads to a shortage of primary care doctors and an excess of various specialists

Viewpoint
Bernheim L, Balavoine F
Swiss Med Wkly. 2020;150:w20213

The well-being of Swiss general internal medicine residents

Original article
Zumbrunn B, Stalder O, Limacher A, Ballmer PE, Bassetti S, Battegay E, Beer JH, Brändle M, Genné D, Hayoz D, Henzen C, Huber LC, Petignat PA, Reny JL, Vollenweider P, Aujesky D
Swiss Med Wkly. 2020;150:w20255

Approximately 20% of Swiss general internal medicine residents appear to have a reduced well-being and many show signs of distress or have career choice regret. Having few hours of rewarding work and a high number of working hours were the most important modifiable predictors of reduced well-being. Healthcare organisations have an ethical responsibility to implement interventions to improve physician well-being.

Reasons for admission in asylum-seeking and non-asylum-seeking patients in a paediatric tertiary care centre

Original article
Gmünder M, Brandenberger J, Buser S, Pohl C, Ritz N
Swiss Med Wkly. 2020;150:w20252

In the last decade an increasing number of asylum-seeking children arrived in Europe and local healthcare systems have been challenged to adapt to their health needs. The aim of this study was to compare the spectrum of disease and management of asylum-seeking and non-asylum-seeking children requiring hospital admission.

Digital health and the COVID-19 epidemic: an assessment framework for apps from an epidemiological and legal perspective

Original article
Vokinger KN, Nittas V, Witt CM, Fabrikant SI, von Wyl V
Swiss Med Wkly. 2020;150:w20282

Building on an existing trustworthiness checklist for digital health applications, the authors searched the literature and developed a framework to guide the assessment of smartphone and web-based applications that aim to contribute to controlling the current epidemic or mitigating its effects.

COVID-19 and telehealth: a window of opportunity and its challenges

Viewpoint
Nittas V, von Wyl V
Swiss Med Wkly. 2020;150:w20284

Disrupted healthcare systems and the need for physical distancing seem to open a window of opportunity for a broader exposure to telehealth solutions, many of which might have the potential to improve care long after the pandemic passes.