In the News
Direct hospital employment of physicians rising, with no apparent impact on care quality
The retrospective cohort study included all U.S. nonfederal acute care hospitals, comparing those that employed physicians, those that had looser affiliated relationships, and those that were unaffiliated, having no association with physicians beyond the traditional medical staff model.
Giving physicians outcome data reduced costs, improved quality at 1 hospital
Pilot improvement projects targeted cost and quality for hip and knee replacement, hospitalist lab utilization, and sepsis.
Hospital use of smartphone social network system may reduce total ischemic time in transferred STEMI patients, study finds
Clinicians at 5 hospitals installed the smartphone app, which allowed emergency physicians at non-PCI hospitals to send patient information (name, sex, pain onset, and estimated departure time) and a photo of the EKG taken by a smartphone camera.
CDC reports fourth case of U.S. patient with E. coli harboring colistin resistance gene
The latest isolate of Escherichia coli harboring mcr-1, the gene that confers resistance to polymyxins, was collected in June from a 2-year-old girl in Connecticut.
New appropriate use resources for hospitals now available
ACP has collaborated with the American Hospital Association (AHA) on a compendium that offers toolkits on blood management, antimicrobial stewardship, ambulatory care-sensitive conditions, elective percutaneous coronary intervention, and alignment of ICU use with patient priorities.
Put words in our mouth
ACP Hospitalist Weekly wants readers to create captions for our new cartoon and help choose the winner. Pen the winning caption and win a $50 gift certificate good toward any ACP product, program, or service.