Hospital Medicine

The federal government's Partnership for Patients Hospital Engagement Networks (HENs), which work to improve patient care through implementation and dissemination of best practices in clinical quality, have released checklists for 10 areas of patient care.

A study conducted by the Bronx Collaborative group of hospitals and health insurers found that personal contact with patients before and after hospital discharge resulted in significantly lower readmission rates.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recommended that health care facilities take steps to ensure appropriate safeguards are in place to reduce the risk of failure due to cyber attack.

Studies show that treatment with multispecies probiotics stabilizes the gut microflora and relieves symptoms such as abdominal distension and pain in patients with IBS.

Recent research from the University of Michigan Health Systems published in JAMA Internal Medicine found that hospitals with the highest rates of cardiac arrests are more likely to have the poorest survival rates for those cases.

University of Florida researchers analyzed anonymous network utilization records for workstations in the emergency department (ED) at one academic medical center for 15 days, and after comparing the data to ED work index data from hospital information systems, they found that health care workers spent a substantial amount of staff time on Facebook.

The largest study to date on reducing rates of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections in ICU patients found that bloodstream infections in these patients can be reduced by more than 40 percent through universal decolonization practices.

HIV-infected patients face increased risk of myocardial infarction, as well as higher risk for ART-associated dyslipidemia and insulin resistance.

A panel of experts discuss information from late-breaking abstracts presented at IAS 2013, including information on the two patients who remain HIV-free following stem cell transplant.

Panel discussion of study results presented at IAS 2013 focusing on strategies for using antiretroviral therapy (ART) in patients with HIV who are ART-naïve or who have failed previous therapies.

A new report says a broader base of funders committed to sustained support of HIV prevention research is need to ensure continued progress in the fight to end the AIDS epidemic.

Consolidated guidelines from the World Health Organization recommend starting treatment when a patient's CD4 count falls below 500, and also recommend a new first-line ART regimen.

Though it's common medical knowledge that an ulcer eating a hole through a patient's stomach requires immediate surgical treatment as a result of its life-threatening nature, new findings from a team of Danish researchers urge physicians to beat the clock in performing emergency surgery on perforated peptic ulcers (PPU).

By adopting a comprehensive set of case management policies for the care of diabetic and hyperglycemic patients, Johns Hopkins Hospital improved in-hospital mortality rate, reduced length of stay, and reduced hyperglycemia.

Citing a need for new therapies to remedy serious diseases acquired in hospitals, the US Food and Drug Administration has expanded approval of Vibativ (telavancin) to treat bacterial pneumonia when alternative drugs aren't appropriate.

The US Food and Drug Administration has awarded "breakthrough therapy" status to a synthetic copy of a naturally occurring human hormone for the treatment of acute heart failure (AHF), drug developer Novartis announced today.

Study results suggest that tight glycemic control is associated with decreased length of stay and improved mortality.

Informative video lecture on the basics of hyponatremia and management.

Patients with decompensated heart failure and hyponatremia treated with standard management experienced worse outcomes than non-hyponatremic patients. Treatment with tolvaptan was associated with more favorable outcomes.

Study finds hyponatremia is an independent predictor of increased mortality, length of hospital stay, and postoperative complications in patients who undergo cardiac surgery.

Researchers recommended long-term surveillance of patients with hyponatremia on discharge.

The UK's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has issued draft guidance advising physicians to use a fecal calprotectin test to help distinguish between IBS and more serious bowel disorders.

The agency rejected a request from the painkiller's manufacturer to outlaw generic versions lacking tamper-resistant features just weeks after deciding the opposite way for generic versions of OxyContin.

Prolonged treatment with combination antibiotics and proton pump inhibitors resulted in an eradication rate of greater than 90% in treated patients.

With what we now know about opioid misuse and abuse, we need to take the necessary steps to ensure that only abuse-resistant/deterrent medications are used for our patients taking ER/LA opioid medications.

Robert Wachter, MD, assured attendees at Hospital Medicine 2013 that trends point to the ongoing health of the profession of hospital medicine, even in the face of increasing pressures to provide more and more care in the outpatient setting.

The complex world of Medicare reimbursement is about to get even more complicated as CMS moves from a fee-for-service reimbursement plan to value-based payments.

Achieving safe, effective pain control for inpatients can challenge even experienced clinicians. Components of successful pain control include avoiding pain crises while still steering clear of respiratory depression, being confident with equianalgesic calculations, and transitioning to the outpatient setting.

Presenters at Digestive Disease Week 2013, held May 18-21, 2013, in Orlando, Fla., differed on the risks of surgical complications from the use of biologic agents.

Sorting through and demystifying the toolkit of antidepressants, anxiolytics, and other psychiatric medications available to hospital physicians.