October 2011


Illustration by Mike Ripca with Thinkstock images

Tapped out

The drugs in limited or non-existent supply can vary across the country, but the number of medications affected has steady increased, in some cases undermining patient care.

Improving handoffs from the ED

Just because disagreement between hospitalists and emergency physicians is natural, it's not necessarily unavoidable.

Obesity complicates diagnosis

The rising prevalence of obesity has created health dangers for patients and new challenges in diagnostic testing for hospitalists.

Medical missions in Iraq help train next generation of doctors

A training program allows recent Iraqi medical school graduates to shadow and assist U.S. physicians in Baghdad.

Nurses turn evidence into action

A care management department at Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, helps incorporate new evidence and guidelines into daily practice.

Fall prevention falls short on evidence base

A review of existing fall prevention methods found little conclusive medical evidence to support them.

Thinking about our thinking as physicians

Drs. Groopman and Hartzband reflect on their Mindful Medicine column and look toward the future.

Letter from the Editor

Some of this issue's topics include drug shortages, ED handoffs and coding for prolonged evaluation and management.

Letter to the Editor

A reader debates “The Hospital of the Future.”.

The wisdom of teens

Our editorial advisor learns a thing or two about diagnosis from an unusual source: his teenage son.

From China to the U.S.—and back

A student recounts the obstacles he faced when preparing to study in the U.S.

No sleep till Brooklyn

A veteran hospitalist reflects on work hour limits for residents.

Cancer's cure is all about the trees

Should we classify cancers by their tissue of origin, or their mutation of origin?.

Prolonged service proficiency

The coding and billing of prolonged services depend on the face-to-face time spent with the patient over and above the average.

Test yourself: Emergency department care

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

New blood thinner, HIV combo drug approved

Details on approval of ticagrelor and more.

Recent Research

Smoking cessation before surgery, dalteparin versus unfractionated heparin, and more.

In the News

Treating hypertension in the elderly, predicting ICD complication risk, and more.