Background: Involvement of a cardiologist in the care of hospitalized patients with a primary diagnosis of heart failure (HF) has been shown to improve outcomes and may affect their readmission rates. However, less is known about the patients admitted for a different reason who carry a secondary diagnosis of HF and the effect of cardiology [...]

Background: Inpatient subspecialty consultation is one of the most common physician practices in the care of hospitalized patients. As per a CMS report, approximately 33,000 inpatient consultation occurred per day in 2008 costing Medicare approximately $1.9 billion. Common reasons for requesting a consultation include assistance with treatment, diagnosis, and request for a procedure. Consult quality [...]