Predictive index, early endoscopy cut hospitalization for upper GI bleeding.

Clinicians at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles have designed a clinical guideline that uses a scoring index to stratify patient risks, resulting in early discharge from the hospital for the 70% of patients found to be low risk. A more ambitious plan at Kaiser Permanente treats GI bleeding on an outpatient basis, saving an average of $990 per patient. Here are the details, plus the scoring grid.