November 2010


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Top Docs

Meet our 2010 Top Hospitalists.

Agreeing on an ending

Hospitalists struggle with end-of-life-care disputes.

Is it peripheral neuropathy?

Learn the right way to diagnose this painful condition.

Patient safety vs. physician frustration: Finding a balance for medication alerts

Warnings in a computerized provider order entry system help alert prescribers to risky drugs for the elderly.

Hospitalists cost-effective even with per diem payments

Olive View-UCLA Medical Center improved census coverage and reduced payment denials.

Letter from the Editor

We hope some of the Top Hospitalists profiled in this issue will be new to you, as part of our mission is to shine a light on excellent, unsung work in the hospitalist community.

Letters to the Editor

Readers respond to articles on coding for encephalopathy and on assisted suicide.

Day of the undead: The zombie intern

I didn't think my fellow first-years were really worried about my consuming them, but you never know about the strange prejudices of the living.

Family medicine

Before I even started medical school, friends and family were soliciting medical advice. How should medical students handle such requests?.

Owning your medical mistakes

At what point is it just your fault?.

Acute renal failure

Documentation and coding of acute renal failure can be problematic, as many different criteria may be used to define the condition.

Test yourself: Renal insufficiency

These cases and commentary, which address renal insufficiency, are excerpted from ACP's Medical Knowledge Self-Assessment Program (MKSAP15).

In the news

Rehospitalizations and sickle-cell patients, prescription drug poisoning, and more.