ACP InternistSM - October 2009
Featured Articles
Practice Management
Hospitals again look to integrate doctors
A new incarnation of hospital integration has sprung up, leaving some internists who were burned the first time around leery about jumping into the fray. But others are eager to set aside the increasingly onerous responsibilities of practice ownership.
Coordinating Care
Collaboration key to post-stroke follow-up
Post-stroke care often fragments after patients leave the hospital. Patients being treated by specialists should keep the primary care physician at the center of their follow-up regimen.
Patient Communication
Sorting out the worst offenders among herbal supplements
Most internists have a tough enough time keeping up with developments in pharmaceuticals that they don’t have the energy to get up to speed on the ever-expanding range of herbs and supplements their patients might be taking. But they ought to be well informed, for their patients’ and their own benefit.
Patient Coordination
Shared visits improve access, productivity and satisfaction
Shared office visits provide groups of patients with more time with their doctors, not less, and come under the rubric of smart care. Learn how leading institutions have adopted them.
National Trends
Hospital admissions and costs for potentially preventable conditions
Hospital costs for potentially preventable hospitalizations were about one of every 10 dollars of total hospital expenditures in 2006. The Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality presented national data on rates and total costs of potentially preventable hospitalizations.
Regents debate
Regents hear two sides of applying medical home concept
The Board of Regents recently brought in two experts to talk about how the patient-centered medical home actually works in practice in a first-ever Regents meeting debate.
FDA Update
FDA Update: Propofol, ventilators, infusion sets, acetaminophen
A summary of approvals, recalls, warnings and alerts digested by ACP Internist from the Food and Drug Administration’s alerts.
Perspectives
Practical genomics
Asthma genetics paving the way for new approaches to care
Asthma is the most common chronic disease in children in the United States today, with prevalence and severity of the disease escalating over the past 20 years. It’s a disease in which genetic and environmental factors combine in ways that are still poorly understood. Genomics, molecular biology and immunology are changing the way physicians think about the condition.
President’s Message
Excessive consults stem from lack of time for primary care
The pressure to see patients every 15 minutes does not leave much time to work complex diagnoses or manage chronic diseases. And haphazard referrals drive up the cost of care for everyone. Health care reform needs to incentivize quality of care rather than amounts of care.
Editor’s Note
What’s old is new again: Hospitals move to buy internists’ practices
A round-up of this issue’s articles on hospital integration, coordinating stroke care and the dangers of herbal supplements.
ACP Highlights
What’s new in ACP Hospitalist
What’s new in ACP Hospitalist and other College publications, including the cover feature on spontaneous awakening trials, coverage of medication discrepancies during the transfer between facilities, and a Success Story about how one hospitalist Web site streamlines signouts. Plus, test yourself with questions on sedation and ventilation excerpted from MKSAP 14.
Washington Perspective
Finding common ground when some gain and others lose
Proposals that redistribute money pose a special challenge to physician membership organizations. Physicians expect their societies to represent their interests, but what happens when one subset of members stands to benefit at another’s expense? ACP chooses a path that’s best for patients.
Practice Management
Practice Rx
Adapt to ICD-9 changes most relevant to internal medicine
An expert from ACP’s Regulatory and Insurer Affairs section clarifies the changes to ICD-9 coding that ACP expects will most affect internal medicine practices. Changes took effect OCt. 1, and obsolete ICD-9 codes could result in denied or rejected claims.
CPII Tips
Record retention made easy
Nothing raises more questions when closing a practice than what to do with the medical records. Practical tips explain how to handle these important documents.
College News
Social Media
Join us online for more news and events
ACP and its news publications, ACP Internist and ACP Hospitalist, have adopted social media platforms to deliver news and event coverage beyond their print editions.
ACP Internist Weekly
From the March 9, 2010 edition
- A1c predicts cardiovascular disease, death in nondiabetics
- Guidelines suggest more informed consent for prostate cancer screening
Cartoon Caption Contest
ACP Internist wants readers to create captions for this cartoon and help choose the winner. Pen the winning caption and win a $50 gift certificate good toward any ACP product, program or service.
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ACP Career Connection
Looking for a new internal medicine or subspecialty position?
ACP Career Connection can help you find your next job in internal medicine. Search internist and subspecialist positions nationwide that suit your criteria and preferences. Jobs are posted about two weeks before print publication of Annals of Internal Medicine, ACP Internist, and ACP Hospitalist. Exclusive “Online Direct” opportunities are updated weekly. Check us out online.
New ACP Online Clinical Information Page
Sneak a peek at ACPs new and improved Clinical Information page! Test drive the beta version of our redesigned Clinical Information landing page, give us your feedback, and help us make it as easy to use as possible.
Your Opinion Counts
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Your voice in these surveys is very important to ACP and enables us to continue to produce the high-quality publications that you expect. Find out more.