December 2009


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A bundle of joy or trouble?

Bundled payments could prove the value of hospitalists or destroy their income, dramatically improve patient care or hurt outcomes, or be a return to capitation or a new way forward.

Revisiting Inpatient Hyperglycemia

New Recommendations, Evolving Data, and Practical Implications for Implementation.

So you want to be an academic hospitalist

For hospitalists contemplating a career in academic medicine, it may not always be easy to arrive at the right mix of clinical practice, teaching and research. Learn what to look for.

Results pending at discharge often stay in limbo

Handoffs from inpatient to outpatient care are a known problem area in hospital medicine, and one of the biggest opportunities for improvement could involve results of tests pending at discharge.

Uncertain diagnosis leads doctor to dig further

Our columnists address the emotional consequences of diagnoses.

Hospitalist brings leadership to locum group

Robert W. Harrington Jr. offers insight into the workforce shortage.

Letter from the Editor

With health care reform in the news, bundled payments have been getting a lot of attention. Under this plan, payers would pay a lump sum per hospital admission that hospitals and physicians would share, in contrast to the current system based on separate billing for relative value units. Bundled payments offer possible advantages, but there are possible pitfalls, too.

Letter to the Editor

A reader reports on hospital medicine in Bangalore, India.

The write stuff

Have you ever been given a prescription from your physician that was completely illegible?.

Pulse oximeter a valuable tool, but has limitations

With pulse oximetry, a strong, regular pulse is important to obtaining a good signal and accurate reading. Unfortunately, many critically ill patients do not have good pulses anywhere.

Walking the tightrope of medical necessity

Our columnist discusses key elements of deciding the appropriate level of care for a given patient (inpatient versus outpatient or outpatient with observation).

Test yourself: Rheumatology

The following cases and commentary, which address rheumatology, are excerpted from ACP's Medical Knowledge Self-Assessment Program (MKSAP14).

Journal watch: recent studies of note

Recent studies about warfarin use in elderly AF patients, ticagrelor vs. clopidogrel in ACS patients, and other topics.

In the News

Mortality disparities after in-hospital cardiac arrest, and more.