December 2007


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Wanted: Small-town hospitalists

Hospitalists can bring some relief to short-staffed rural areas by taking over inpatient care. But as more rural communities consider implementing hospitalist programs, they find themselves faced with the same recruitment challenge that helped create the problem: a rural venue.

Physician shares the joys of rural medicine through mentoring

Only 18 miles separate the small city of Huntington, W.Va. (pop. 49,000), from the rural town of Wayne, W.Va. (pop. 1,105). But there is a much wider gulf in the character of the two communities, said Daniel Whitmore, ACP Member, who divides his time between both.

In the News

OIG approves medical center's payment plan for ED coverage.

Beyond the bundle: Innovative ways to prevent VAP in the intensive care unit

Legislators, payers and quality-of-care advocates across the nation are considering requiring hospitals to report ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) rates as a way to benchmark quality of care and penalize poor performers.

Dallas hospital substantially reduces time from ED arrival to admission

Open dialogue among departments helped reform systemic flaws.

Ventilator-associated pneumonia rates: The wrong quality measure

Legislators, payers and quality-of-care advocates across the nation are considering requiring hospitals to report ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) rates as a way to benchmark quality of care and penalize poor performers.

A new Rx for crowded hospitals: Math

Operations management expert brings queuing theory to health care.

Obscure gastrointestinal bleeding: How to find, and treat, the source

It accounts for 5% of all cases of gastrointestinal hemorrhage. It requires an average of 7.3 diagnostic tests, five hospitalizations and 46 units of blood per patient to evaluate.

The new field of NOTES

Experts debate the pros and cons of natural orifice surgery.

Journal watch

Recent studies about medical trainee errors, chlorhexidine intervention, and other topics.

Test yourself: Gastrointestinal bleeding

A 52-year-old man is brought to the emergency department after vomiting several cups of maroon-colored blood... and other cases.