News
Making Sense of Hospitalists and Quality Reporting Programs
January 28, 2016
The diversity of hospitalist practice—from the variety of settings (such as inpatient acute, observation, post-discharge clinics, and post-acute-care facilities) to the differences in relationships with their facilities—is a strength of the specialty.
News
Health IT Chief, Hospital Medicine ‘Godfather’ Headline SHM Annual Meeting Keynotes
January 23, 2016
Health information technology (IT) will take center stage early and often at this year’s annual meeting of the Society of Hospital Medicine.
Karen DeSalvo, MD, MPH, MSc, acting assistant secretary for health in the U.S.
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News
2016: Celebrating 20 Years of Hospital Medicine and Looking Toward a Bright Future
January 19, 2016
For hospitalists who were practicing medicine in 1996, it may seem like just a few years ago; however, that was when the term “hospitalist” was first used by Bob Wachter, MD, MHM, and Lee Goldman, MD, in a New England Journal of Medicine article.
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News
Hospital Medicine 2016 Expands, Offers ‘Something for Everyone’
January 14, 2016
If you can’t find anything that interests you at HM16, check your caffeine level.
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News
Why Hospitalists Should Embrace Population Health
January 1, 2016
Population health focuses on the specific health needs of an individual within a defined population.
“In order to truly measure a patient’s health outcomes and identify best practices, providers must evaluate a group of people with similar health needs,” explains Joseph Damore, vice president of
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News
Move to Allow Patients to Request ‘Refund’ Appealing and Risky
December 30, 2015
We’ve all seen hundreds of commercials from companies advertising products and services with a money-back guarantee. The Men’s Warehouse, for example, has been promising men across the globe for over a decade, “You’re going to like the way you look.
News
Private Insurers to Reap Bulk of Spending on Hospitalized Patient Care
December 29, 2015
Spending on care of hospitalized patients is expected to pass $1 trillion in 2015, a new high. Thomas Selden, PhD, of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality recently asked where that money is likely to go. The answer: private insurers.
Dr.
News
Changes to Healthcare that Hospitalists Should Expect in 2016
December 24, 2015
On the heels of last year’s repeal of the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula, 2016 promises to be a year of significant changes for the healthcare system.
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News
Some Readmission Risk Factors Not Captured by Medicare
- Adrienne W. Mann, MD;
- Allison Nitsch, MD;
- Matthew Hoegh, MD Sridharan Raghavan, MD, PhD;
- Mel L. Anderson, MD;
- Michael K. Schlepp, MD
December 14, 2015
Clinical question: Are there patient characteristics not currently measured by the Medicare readmission program that account for differences in hospital readmission rates?
Background: The Medicare Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP) financially penalizes hospitals with higher than
News
Unassigned, Undocumented Patients Take a Toll on Healthcare and Hospitalists
December 3, 2015
When a patient must remain in the acute care hospital setting—despite being well enough to transition to a lower level of care, costs continue to mount as the patient receives care at the most expensive level.
“But policymakers must understand that reducing support for essential hospitals might s