Hospital Medicine

According to a recent Harris Poll, the number of people who use the Internet to look for information on health topics is continuing to increase.

Students commencing medical school at Stanford this year will all get an Apple iPad. The school is trialing a program to see whether the devices are practical to integrate into the academic curriculum.

As part of an effort to improve cultural competence and communication in hospitals, the Joint Commission has released a monograph providing recommendations to address these issues.

On July 2, 2010, CMS released the proposed changes to the Medicare Outpatient Hospital Prospective Payment System for 2011.

Interim final rules clarify the scope of internal claims and appeals procedures and external review processes under PPACA.

Should physicians use social media to monitor patients' discussions about health and lifestyle for information that might affect treatment outcomes?

Rising healthcare costs have produced calls for reduced physician payments, caps on vendors' profits, and changes to how we pay for medical school.

Communicating with patients via secure e-mail can improve outcomes in hypertension and diabetes.

The use of prehospital ECGs by trained paramedics can reduce door-to-balloon time and improve patients' chances of recovery from heart attack.

A study of the PrimeADVANCED neurostimulator will determine whether spinal cord stimulation can play a key role in the treatment of heart failure.

Healthcare reform will fail without reduced costs, realigned incentives, integrated care, and a focus on primary care and preventive medicine.

An evaluation of interns during their first year of residency found the percentage of those who met criteria for depression rose from 3.9% on entering internship to a mean of 25.7% during the first term.

Mayo Clinic not only wants to spur "effective application of social media tools" throughout its organization, but also to challenge the healthcare industry as a whole to sue social media tools to "improve health globally."

On July 14, 2010, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), issued a proposed rule containing modifications to the privacy standards, security standards, and enforcement regulations under HIPAA.

Nanotechnologies may soon be used to deliver targeted doses of medicine, treat wounds, and deliver pain-free flu shots and other vaccinations.

A recent analysis of recruiting trends for hospital systems and medical groups indicates that hiring of physicians is expected to grow this year.

The updated version of New Innovations, a tool designed to track procedures and hours worked, allows users to add new features and improve their apps.

A report from Press Ganey finds that patient satisfaction with hospital emergency departments has remained high despite a recent spike in traffic.

A computer model shows that preoperative MRSA screening of cardiac surgery patients provides economic value to third-party payers and hospitals.

Guidelines from the American Academy of Neurology recommend using diffusion MRI over noncontrast CT for the diagnosis of acute ischemic stroke within 12 hours of onset.

94 percent of physicians interviewed using smartphones to communicate, manage personal and business workflows, and access medical information

A new study shows that multidisciplinary rounding scored higher marks for teamwork and communication than hospitalist-only rounding.

A new study aims to determine whether patients can benefit from having electronic access to their medical chart, including physician notes.

I don't consider myself a "green" fanatic, but I do recycle. So when I see someone wasting paper it drives me crazy; there go more trees.

Communication is the key to ensuring continuity of care between hospitalists and referring providers

For the hospitalist unit at St. Mary's, success is achieved through constant communication across the continuum of care.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced plans to develop a national inventory of research to help guide decision making and improve health outcomes.

Last Wednesday, the White House announced new regulations that will require all health insurance plans to provide certain preventive services at no cost to patients.

Ambulances can use wireless electrocardiograms and mobile technology to send EKG readings ahead to the hospital, which can decrease heart attack mortality rate.