Hospital Medicine

Intent is to curb perceived and actual conflicts of interest.

Findings from an American Heart Association study indicate that patients who are at a higher risk or mortality from heart failure are also at a higher risk of not receiving evidence-based treatments for the condition.

Researchers at an Australian hospital found that more closely monitoring patients for signs of instability led to reduced mortality, according to findings published in the journal Resuscitation.

The ability of this new 5-Lipoxygenase inhibitor, VIA-2291, to reduce leukotriene production may be a new tool for reducing repeat cardiovascular events following ACS.

Next on the list of ways to detect handwashing compliance?

Researchers at the University of Florida have developed a smart pill that sends notification when it has been swallowed. The pill contains an embedded microchip and has a printed, digestible antenna on the outside made of nontoxic, conductive silver lines.

Preventing complications from diabetes requires more than just good blood sugar control; it also requires patients to control their cholesterol and blood pressure.

A study of readmissions to California hospitals in 2005-2006 found that one-half of the charges billed to Medicare and Medicaid were related to readmissions with a one-year period.

The discovery could lead to new treatment options for this infection of the lungs, brain, and sinuses.

A series of recent studies examine the different roles that hospitalists can play when caring for the physical and mental health of their patients.

Research suggests that chlorhexidine may be best for acutely ill patients.

Ken Simone, DO, FHM, founder and president of Hospitalist and Practice Solutions, discusses the keys to building a hospitalist program, trends in hospital medicine, and factors that contribute to the challenges associated with recruitment and retention.

Sound research, planning, organization, and support are still the keys to success.

With Barbara Walters' announcement that she is scheduled to undergo surgery to replace a faulty aortic valve (most likely caused by stenosis of the aortic valve, according to Sara Sirna, MD, of the Temple Heart Center), your patients may be asking you questions about stenosis, aortic valve replacement surgery, mitral valve regurgitation, and a other related topics.

Dr. Pullen examines the importance of statistics in medicine, how the meaning of them can often be hard to interpret, and the need, perhaps, for more statistics courses in medical school.

Signaling of the hormone leptin, which is involved in body weight regulation, increases survival during sepsis, according to new research from the University of Cincinnati.

Drugs, such as were available to mid 19th-century regular physicians, where usually mineral in origin. Primarily because of their speed of onset and severity of action, they were initially favored over botanical derivatives for they quickly authenticated the power of a physician's intervention.

IT news in healthcare this week has been a mixed bag. The industry is buzzing around Sebelius' announcement of 15 communities chosen to participate in a $200 million IT program.

As concussions have become a more frequent health concern that young athletes are faced with, the knowledge and medical protocol for treating these injuries has evolved.

It looks like NHIN Direct will provide a move toward a secure, Internet-based program to allow exchange of data in a more secure and useful way. Now the question is, "How fast and well can it be executed?" Being available yesterday would not be too soon.

Dr. Pullen outlines a number of suggestions physicians can use for maintaining personal interaction with patients while using an EMR in the room.

Black children with chronic kidney disease suffer from more severe anemia than white children, even when they receive the same medical treatment.

Although the adage that there is no privacy on the Internet is truer than ever, there are several steps that physicians can take to protect their private lives and information while still remaining active online.

Good news doctors! Although the current Congress is content to fritter away your future income with so-called healthcare reform, a plucky Republican candidate for Senate in Nevada has offered a sensible (and tasty) alternative to the usual fee for service: poultry!

According to the results of a study conducted by Massachusetts General Hospital, patients with acne who complete a follow-up visit via a secure website may achieve similar clinical outcomes as patients who receive in-person visits.

The new clinical practice guidelines on the management of hyperthyroidism that are soon to be released jointly by the ATA and the AACE are a work in progress.

Patients who achieve target LDL-cholesterol levels on statin therapy may still be at risk for cardiovascular disease.

A good argument can be made that we could save more lives and prevent more morbidity by aggressively diagnosing, treating and controlling hypertension than with any other condition given the knowledge and tools at our disposal at this time, but, according to Dr. Pullen, we are doing "a miserably poor job of controlling hypertension in America."

Unless you've yet to come out of your winter hibernation, you've likely heard about the subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) suffered-just days after an emergency appendectomy-by Poison front man and "The Celebrity Apprentice" contestant Bret Michaels. But few media sources have gone past reporting the incident to explain how it could affect Michaels long-term (should he survive) and how it might have been prevented; Matt Mealiffe, MD, over at DNA and You, is an exception.

Brandon Roy of the Portland Trail Blazers in the NBA played tonight in game 4 of the Blazers playoff series with the Phoenix Suns. To those of you who are not sports fans, you may say, "So what?" The amazing thing is that Roy had arthroscopic surgery for a torn meniscus eight days ago.