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October 2009
Featured Articles
Cover story
Hold on to your hospitalists
Experts offer advice on improving retention
Compensation helps retention, but intangibles are important too. Learn how to foster a team environment that turns new hires into long-term employees.
Your practice
Code status discussions sometimes difficult, but necessary
Learn how to broach the subject
Understanding individual preferences about code status is critical to delivering the care patients want. Still, code discussions between doctors and patients don’t always happen when they should, or at all. A 2008 study in the Journal of Hospital Medicine found that only 10% of patients in six university-based hospitals had documented code discussions within 24 hours of admission.
Your career
Not a time for modesty
Hospitalists share strategies for proving value
With the economy shaky and hospital budgets tight, hospitalists are being asked more and more to prove their worth. Value may be the word that hospital administrators and consultants use to describe what hospitalists are being expected to demonstrate, but what it boils down to is this: Are hospitalists earning their keep?
Q&A: Dennis M. Manning, FACP, and A. Scott Keller, FACP
I-MOVE gets elderly patients on the move
A new tool developed by hospitalists helps assess mobility
The I-MOVE sounds like a state-of-the-art electronic gadget, but it’s actually the simplest of medical tools. Developed by clinicians at Mercy Hospital of Pittsburgh and the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, the Independent Mobility Validation Examination, or I-MOVE, is a 12-point scale that could help hospitalists assess their patients’ mobility.
Profile
Man meets dog
Hospitalist Henry J. Feldman champions pet therapy
In the hospital for a series of tests, Mary C. looks forward to a visitor, Casey. When he arrives, Mary’s face lights up in anticipation of his warm greeting. But first he has to go through the required alcohol gel routine—one paw at a time.
Perspectives
Letter from the editor
Once you’ve recruited a few great hospitalists to your program, you might be tempted to think you’ve solved your staffing woes. But recruitment is only half the battle. You also need to worry about that other “R” word: retention.
Newman’s notions
Locum terror
Here I was pulling into the staff parking lot of a funky old private sanitarium in the middle of stinking nowhere. I rang the bell and the creaky door swung open. A very pale and dusty nurse pointed to the staff lounge, but said nothing, though I seemed to detect the ghost of a smile.
Your Practice
Technology traps
How trustworthy is automated noninvasive blood pressure monitoring?
Most vital signs are now obtained using automated techniques. We put a lot of stock in these numbers. Just how accurate are they?
Coding Corner
CMS updates payments, quality measures for 2010
October 1 is an important time to evaluate coding changes because it’s when CMS’ annual update to the inpatient prospective payment system (MS-DRGs) takes effect.
Your Career
Surviving seven on/seven off
Love it or loathe it, the seven days on/seven days off schedule is gaining traction among hospitalist programs. Experts discuss its pluses and pitfalls and share some strategies for success.
Pulse On™ Topeka, Kan.
Pulse On™ Tucson, Ariz.
Clinical Medicine
Residents’ page
Managing acute opioid withdrawal in hospitalized patients
The case of a 48-year-old man who presented to the hospital seeking treatment for acute heroin withdrawal is discussed.
Test yourself
Opioid therapy
The following cases and commentary, which address opioid therapy, are excerpted from ACP’s Medical Knowledge Self-Assessment Program (MKSAP14).
FDA update
Safety data reviewed; one-dose emergency contraception pill approved
Review of safety data, recalls, label changes.
National trends
Hospital admissions and costs for potentially preventable conditions in adults, 2006
Hospital costs for potentially preventable hospitalizations were about one of every 10 dollars of total hospital expenditures in 2006.
Research news
Journal watch
Recent studies of note.
In the news
Varied times to debrillation after in-hospital cardiac arrest, and more.
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Hospitalist Archives
Quick Links
ACP Hospitalist Weekly
From the February 1, 2012 edition
- Hospitalist practice models have little effect on job satisfaction, burnout, survey finds
- Hospital stays involving C. diff leveled off between 2008 and 2009
Cartoon Caption Contest
ACP HospitalistWeekly wants readers to create captions for this cartoon and help choose the winner. Pen the winning caption and win a $50 gift certificate good toward any ACP product, program or service.
ACP Career Connection
Looking for a new hospitalist position?
ACP Career Connection can help you find your next job in hospital medicine. Search hospitalist positions nationwide that suit your criteria and preferences. Jobs are posted about two weeks before print publication of Annals of Internal Medicine, ACP Internist, and ACP Hospitalist. Exclusive “Online Direct” opportunities are updated weekly. Check us out online.
ABIM Maintenance of Certification for Hospitalists
Hospital-based internists have the option of maintaining their certification in either Internal Medicine or Internal Medicine with a Focused Practice in Hospital Medicine. Learn more about resources from ACP and the Society for Hospital Medicine to complete both MOC programs.
Internal Medicine 2012
Earn Hospitalist CME credits at Internal Medicine 2012. The hospital medicine track and several pre-courses offer a collection of CME courses designed for hospitalists. Register early and reserve your spot today.
Prepare with the Experts: Live Recert Prep Courses from ACP
Upcoming dates and locations include:
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ACP Launches Depression Care Guide
This evidence-based, free online resource provides concise, practical information and strategies to enable health professionals to reduce the treatment gaps that exist for depression care.
Access the Guide now.