Hospital Medicine

Although hospital patients are generally satisfied with the care that they receive as in-patients, there is a need for improvement in other areas, like pain management and discharge instructions, according to a new study conducted by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH)...

Nicole Artz, MD, a hospitalist and Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Chicago Hospital, discusses implications of hyperglycemia in hospitalized patients.

Acute severe hypertension (ASH) accounts for up to 25% of all patients seen in "busy urban emergency departments."

The British biotech company Acambis has recently become the only company to have taken a vaccine against C. difficile into clinical development.

"Good" bacteria (commensals) that normally live in the intestines may actually help the body defend against infection.

Some of the biggest patient–physician communication breakdowns occur when a patient visits an ER.

An interview with Felix Aguirre, MD, VP of Medical Affairs at IPC: The Hospitalist Company, on hospital medicine.

To use or not to use, that is the dilemma being faced by a lot of hospitalist programs when it comes to employing "physician extenders" in hospital medicine.

Last year, I promised myself not to accept waiting in line for the iPhone "classic" and was fortunate enough to sneak into an Apple store late one night to purchase one without any hassles.

Matthew Holt is a ubiquitous presence in the online world of Health 2.0. He is the proprietor of The Health Care Blog, essential reading that promises to tell you everything you always wanted to know about the health care system.

Last year, I promised myself not to accept waiting in line for the iPhone "classic" and was fortunate enough to sneak into an Apple store late one night to purchase one without any hassles.

Dean Heller, MD, President of VideoMD—an online library of physician-created, patient education videos—explains the benefits to both patients and physicians of www.videomd.com.

With the ranks of hospitalists already over 20,000 strong and growing every day, hospital medicine is the fastest-growing medical specialty in the history of American healthcare

The big question for academic hospital medicine is: with the cadre of hospitalists ballooning to 20,200 in 2007 and projected by the Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM) to hit 30,000 by 2010, are there enough teachers to go around?

The National Association for Healthcare Quality (NAHQ), the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), the Leapfrog Group, the Joint Commission, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) are just a few of the many national and local payers and regulatory agencies that have developed indicators to monitor quality of care.

As clinicians, we are increasingly accustomed to using EMRs in the hospital, as well as practice management and billing systems in the office.

Health Data Management issued a report this month stating that an increasing number of hospitals have resorted to paying physicians to participate in health IT meetings.

There is a significant impact on hospitalist practice, as more and more in-patients are being treated by hospitalists- not only internal medicine in-patients, but also patients belonging to medical sub-specialties including cardiology and nephrology.

Have you heard about a new invention: the invisible cover? Wrap it around any object, and that object disappears.

The Olympics' prestige always results in many people, and if Chicago got its wish, they would need more than 500,000 spectators requiring medical personnel.

Hospitalists have made great contributions to in-patient management. What is not mentioned as one of their achievements is improving relations with hospital administration.

The most exciting and far-reaching innovation of the last half century is the Internet. It has impacted all aspects of our life.

U.S. News & World Report just came out with its list of “America’s Best Hospitals – 2008,” with hospitals ranked based on factors within 16 specialties, from cancer to urology. Do they mean anything?

The AAPS said that many physicians have decided not to use EHRs because they fear the data will be used to control what they do and how they do it.

The Society of Hospital Medicine has done an amicable job in organizing a leadership academy, which meets twice every year. Hospitalists are willing to pay hefty sums to learn the tools of this trade, which are not covered in any medicine curriculum.

Two major challenges facing hospitalists are the disruption in the longitudinal continuity of care and transitioning care to incoming hospitalist shift.

There continues to be conflicts between ER physicians and hospitalists. On the one hand, hospitalists continue to complain about ER physicians dumping patients.

Interview with Steve Arendt, MD, of McKesson, Inc., on hospital EHRs, patient safety, PHRs, and computerized physician order entry (CPOE).

A study from Darthmouth, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, found that there are wide racial and gender differences in terms of complications from chronic diseases.

Obstetrics hospitalist programs are popping up everywhere these days, and having an OB hospitalist on call can help ensure that patients are receive the proper care.