October 2012


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Hospital medicine matures

Post-acute care is emerging as a dedicated field of practice on a path similar to hospital medicine's a decade or so ago.

Reviewing medications in elderly inpatients

Multiple medication use is common among the elderly, and carries inherent risks.

Mobilization after stroke: Is sooner better?

Mobilization is generally considered appropriate therapy, but there is no firm guidance on how early it should begin.

Miracles, prayer amid medical practice

It's more important than ever to recognize and understand cultures and spiritual beliefs, including and beyond the end of life.

Appreciating a good signout

University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville, Va., improved the signout of patients from one resident to another.

You are a role model

When academic hospitalists observe their peers behaving unprofessionally, chances are residents and students are seeing the same thing.

What's your malpractice risk?

A research letter uncovers how often physicians face malpractice claims, and which are more likely to do so.

Counseling and coordination of care

In certain situations, counseling and coordination of care can help determine which code to assign.

Inpatient versus observation status: the Medicare dilemma

The review process is flawed, and physicians should take action, three experts say.

Meta-cognition and its impact on physician self-diagnosis

A physician tried to self-diagnose his symptoms of a feeling of suffocation and a change in gait. Experts review the cognitive biases that made the doctor overlook the right diagnosis.

Illness as a teacher

Over the weeks of his hospital stay, I had the opportunity to know Mr. P not only as a patient but as a friend, a dreamer, a fighter and a witty, compassionate individual.

Science and art, patient and problem

I used to think of medicine as a dichotomy: the hard sciences making up the backbone, with the social art of treating patients being the fun part. Then an emergency furthered my appreciation of this relationship.

Bursting bubbles

Yesterday I burst someone's bubble. Not on purpose. But I did.

Letter from the Editor

As continuity of care becomes even more of a focus in medicine, hospitalists are again on the forefront of change in how care is delivered.

Letters to the Editor

Readers weigh in on recent issues.

Latin for hospitalists

Here are the top 10 useful Latin phrases for hospitalists for 2012.

MKSAP quiz on stroke

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

MS drug associated with seizures, cardiac tests recalled

Details on recalls, warnings, label changes and approvals.

Recent Research

Statins and stroke, azithromycin and mortality, and more.

In the News

Rehospitalization after MI, hospitalists and outcomes, and more.