Background: As health care expenditures in the United States take an ever‐expanding piece of the U.S. economy, the contribution of “little‐ticket” items such as common lab tests is being explored. Magnesium (Mg) and phosphorus (Phos) are 2 of the 4 most commonly ordered tests at the University of Colorado Hospital. In academic year 2007 approximately […]

Background: The number of hospitalist physicians in the United States has grown rapidly over the past decade. Given their constant, on‐site presence, hospitalists are well suited to perform many inpatient procedures. Yet little is known about the range of bedside procedures performed by hospitalists. We conducted this study to (1) characterize the type and frequency […]

Background: Involving physicians in value‐based purchasing or pay for performance programs is gaining momentum as a solution to aligning quality and costs for health care reform. In July 2007, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) launched the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) as a physician‐level pay for reporting program to reward “the high‐quality […]

Background: Utilization of blood products has been studied among anesthesiologists, surgeons, and intensivists, but little is known about blood utilization among hospitalists. The purpose of this study was to examine the transfusion thresholds and factors that affect blood utilization among hospitalist physicians. Methods: A questionnaire with 8 case scenarios was given to a hospitalist group […]

Background: Hospitalists improve efficiency, but their effect on quality of care is not well characterized. We analyzed data from a sample of California hospitals to assess the relationship between prevalence of hospitalists and the frequency of missed quality measures at hospital discharge. Methods: Between 2006 and 2007 we identified which of the 326 nonfederal general […]

Background: The number of hospitalists is growing rapidly, even though managed care, one of the field's major initial stimuli, is abating in California. Little research has examined the current factors responsible for the continued growth of hospitalists. Methods: In 2006‐2007 we surveyed hospital leaders at all nonfederal acute‐care hospitals in California (n = 326) about whether and […]

Background: Many hospital admissions can be attributed to the comorbid conditions obese patients struggle with. Research shows that hospitalization can serve as a trigger to successfully implement lifestyle modifications. We conducted this study to assess patients' perceptions of their weight and whether obese patients would be receptive to a weight loss intervention in the inpatient […]

Background: Cardiorenal syndrome (CRS) occurs in 25% of patients hospitalized for heart failure and is associated with increased length of stay, readmission, and death; currently, there are no treatments with proven efficacy. We report our initial experience with slow continuous venovenous ultrafiltra‐tion (UF) using the Aquadex system 100 in hospitalized heart failure patients with CRS. […]

Background: Hospitalists are increasingly being asked to comply with performance measures related to quality of care, efficiency, and patient satisfaction. Overall, little is known about existing incentives to reward hospitalist performance outside of professional billings. The purpose of this study was to determine the degree to which hospitalist groups are using performance incentives and to […]

Background: Hospital participation in pay‐for‐performance (P4P) programs with payers provides an opportunity for aligning incentives between hospitals and hospitalists. These programs may prompt hospitals to reward hospitalists for compliance with performance measures specified in payer‐to‐hospital P4P contracts. The purpose of this survey is to assess the current knowledge of hospitalist group leaders regarding hospital participation […]