The Hospitalist

Cover Story: Rural Hospitals Choose ED-HM Combination

Cross-trained family  and internal medicine physicians can practice emergency medicine, solve manpower issues

Article: The Billing & Coding Bandwagon

Hospitalists ideally positioned to lead documentation, coding improvement efforts

Article: All You Need Is Love

Communication, flexibility, understanding key to making dual-HM marriages work

Article: ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: Hospitals Forced to Adapt Amid Shifting Slate of Quality Measures

HM groups will need to quickly adapt and reprioritize as measures are added or subtracted from the VBP program

Audio File: ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: Experts explain how hospitalists can thrive in a new era of payment reform

Listen to hospitalist Patrick Torcson and VHA Inc. CMO Trent Haywood discuss how HM can thrive in the value-based purchasing program

Article: ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: Listen to billing and coding consultants discuss the importance of provider buy-in

Richard Pinson and Jeri Leong explain why hospitalists should buy into better documentation and coding

Article: ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: PEERist Program Provides Rural Nebraska Hospital 24/7 HM Coverage

Physician assistants lessen round-the-clock burden, add value to HM program

Article: NPPs to the Rescue

Physician assistants, nurse practitioners can increase efficiency, but success depends on economic need, careful implementation

Audio File: ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: Listen to a dual-hospitalist couple talk about their shared and diverse interests

Hospitalists Jasen and Liz Gundersen discuss how their shared and diverse interests factor into their marraige

SHM Point of View: HM Is the Answer

Provider attitude, ineffective systems delay patient safety improvement

Article: NEW DEPARTMENT: Innovations

White Coat vs. Laundered Scrubs: JHM study shows no difference in contamination; some physicians cling to tradition

Letters: Tablet technology benefits HM efficiency, patient satisfaction

My view of the hospital bed is no longer at the foot, standing up, with weighted pockets. It’s seated, in a chair, at the bedside.

Society Pages: Pediatric Palooza

PHM 2011: Come for the community, stay for the BBQ

Society Pages: Hospitalists Recognized by ABIM in Focused Practice

Dozens now recognized by the American Board of Internal Medicine in the Recognition of Focused Practice in Hospital Medicine (FPHM) program

Society Pages: POLICY CORNER: An inside look at the most pressing policy issues

CMS Requires Face-to-Face Physician Encounter for Home Health Services

Society Pages: SHM Honors Master Hospitalists

MHM designation 'brings identity and awareness to the work [hospitalists] do"

Key Clinical Question: What Is the Best Approach to Medical Therapy for Patients with Ischemic Stroke?

Aspirin is the only antiplatelet agent shown to be effective in early treatment and secondary prevention.

In the Literature: Pediatric HM Literature

High vancomycin troughs might cause nephrotoxicity

In the Literature: In the Literature: HM-Related Research You Need to Know

Physician reviews of 16 HM-related studies, including rivaroxaban for VTE, cost-effectiveness of dabigatran in Afib, outcomes at acute-stroke centers, and effect of BNP testing on hospital LOS

Billing & Coding: Due Diligence: Denials

Claim rejection often due to mismatched or missing information

Public Policy: Accurate Measures?

Despite challenges, CMS focuses quality efforts on processes, outcomes

Residents’ Corner: Multiple Choices

HM offers clinical, academic, and administrative career options

HM Debate: CON: Should Hospitals Get Reimbursements Based on Quality Performance?

CON: Patient care would suffer as hospitals and physicians focus on core measures

HM Debate: PRO: Should Hospitals Get Reimbursements Based on Quality Performance?

PRO: HM shares financial responsibility, should embrace chance to lead QI charge

From the Editor’s Desk: Paid For Being Special

The next phase of hospital medicine

Practice Management: The To-Don’t List, Part 2

HM groups should eliminate “extra” shifts, standard shift duration

Ask Dr. Hospitalist: CMS Requires “In-Person Encounter” to Initiate Home Health Services

The health reform law changes paperwork requirements; providers can no longer use discharge plans or transfer forms as evidence of “certification” of need for home health services