Background: General internists and other generalist physicians have traditionally cared for their patients both in the clinic and in the hospital. Over the past decade, hospitalists have been highlighted as undermining the role of generalist physicians in hospital care, but broader trends in generalist physician inpatient and outpatient activity have not been examined. The objective […]

Background: The transition between inpatient and outpatient settings is known to be a period of high risk for adverse events such as medication and laboratory‐monitoring errors. Readmission rates, up to 20% after 30 days among Medicare beneficiaries, may signal failures in posthospital care. In particular, discharged patients lacking primary care provider (PCP) follow‐up may have […]

Background: Previous studies suggest academic physicians with adequate mentorship conduct more research, write more papers, and are more likely to mentor others. Given the youth of their field, hospitalists may not appreciate or experience the benefits of mentorship yet have expectations for scholarly pursuit. Methods: To better understand hospitalist experiences with mentors, we performed a […]

Background: We previously found that the prevalence of both methicillin‐resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and community‐associated me‐thicillin‐resistant 5. aureus (CA‐MRSA) among health care workers (HCWs) at an urban academic center in Camden, New Jersey, in 2004‐2005 was low (4.6% MRSA, 0.8% CAMRSA). Since then, there have been dramatic increases in CA‐MRSA infections in most urban areas. […]

Background: Medicare has selected 10 hospital‐acquired conditions for which it will not reimburse hospitals unless the condition is documented as being “present on admission.” This “no‐pay‐for‐errors” rule may have a profound effect on the clinical practice of physicians. The purpose of this study was to determine whether resident physicians are aware of this new rule […]

Background: A significant barrier to communication between providers on hospital units is the fluidity and geographic dispersion of team members. Geographically localizing physicians to specific units may improve collaboration with other unit‐based team members and create a shared understanding of patients' plan of care. Methods: We conducted interviews of a cross‐sectional sample of patients' nurses […]

Background: The relationship between a patient and his or her health care providers is fundamental in providing effective care. Studies in ambulatory settings have shown that agreement between patients and their physicians is associated with improved medication adherence and better outcomes. Althhough deficits in patients' understanding of the plan of care in the ambulatory setting […]

Background: Hispanics are the fastest‐growing segment of the U.S. population. An observation that Hispanics have lower all‐cause cardiovascular morbidity and mortality despite increased risk factor rates has been termed the “Hispanic paradox.” The Framingham Heart Study produced a coronary heart disease (CHD) prediction equation for assessing risk in a predominantly white population; consequently concerns arose […]

Background: Patient handoffs at physician shift changes are limited in their ability to convey the insight that the primary team has gained by longitudinal personal care of the patient. The Patient Acuity Rating (PAR) is a previously validated 7‐point Likert score quantifying physician judgment regarding how likely a patient is to suffer a cardiac arrest […]

Background: Medications delivered through respiratory inhalers are the mainstay of treatment for patients with obstructive lung disorders (OLDs) such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Unfortunately, respiratory inhalers are often used incorrectly, reducing their effectiveness in patients with OLDs. Guidelines for OLDs therefore recommend evaluating and teaching appropriate use of respiratory inhalers at […]