December 2011


Illustration by Barry Moshinski with Thinkstock images

Good catch!

Near miss programs help hospitals spot trends and areas for improvement.

The capacity to determine capacity

One in four medical inpatients can't make a decision. And not just about whether to have the chocolate or vanilla pudding for dessert.

Hospitalists outside the hospital

Concerns about readmission rates and care transitions are leading some hospitalists to treat patients in the outpatient setting.

Evaluating and managing hospital E/M services

Key components of E/M must be documented for every encounter.

Put a number on it: Rating patient acuity

The University of Chicago Medical Center found a reliable way to transmit vital information about patient status.

The challenge of predicting readmissions

It would be convenient if, along with their white coats, hospitalists were issued crystal balls.

Letter from the Editor

Some of this issue's topics include working with ##ldquo;good catch##rdquo; programs, assessing patients' decision-making capacity, and improving readmission rates.

A jolly old locums

A locums assignment in a northern region leads to an unusual patient.

Expanding laboratory services in the Land of a Thousand Hills

The author describes a trip to western Rwanda to introduce fluorescence microscopy to one hospital's laboratory.

The thin callus of experience

Debra wanted to know why I was at work on a holiday. I told her I had come in for her.

Test yourself: MKSAP quiz on hematology

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

PASHA in Argentina

The authors summarize the latest meeting of the Pan American Society of Hospitalists.

Recent Research

Outpatient vs. inpatient PE treatment, handheld echocardiography and length of stay, and more.

In the News

Malpractice claim numbers, hospitalization rates for sepsis and septicemia, and more.