Virtual Mentor. December 2008, Volume 10, Number 12: 779-845. Full Issue PDF

December 2008 Contents

Hospitalists and Patient Care

Ethics Poll

A "hospitalist" is a physician whose primary focus is overseeing general care of hospitalized patients. More than 50 percent of patients in some regions of the country are now cared for by hospitalists rather than by their outpatient primary care physicians during hospitalization. Did you know about this movement in hospital-based medical practice?
Yes.
No.

Advocates say that hospitalists improve patient safety and efficiency because they have a focused practice area, are familiar with hospital systems, and understand the needs of all patients on the unit at any given time. Critics say that hospitalists do not have long-term relationships with vulnerable, hospitalized patients and that, because they must prioritize the needs of all patients at any given time, they do not advocate for individual patients the way primary care physicians do. In light of these comments, do you think that, on balance, this trend toward use of hospitalists is
A step in the right direction, given scarce medical resources and patients' need for focused care.
Neither better nor worse than having primary care physicians oversee the care of their hospitalized patients.
A step in the wrong direction; hospitalized patients want someone they know and trust to advocate for their care needs.

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From the Editor

The Hospital Care Revolution
Virtual Mentor editors
Full Text | PDF
Virtual Mentor. 2008; 10:781-783.

Educating for Professionalism

Clinical Cases

Shared Decision Making: Physicians’ Duties to Patients and Other Physicians
Commentary by Dawn Brezina
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Virtual Mentor. 2008; 10:784-787.

Planning End-of-Life Conversations: Hospitalist and Primary Care Physician Roles
Commentary by Mary Ehlenbach
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Virtual Mentor. 2008; 10:788-791.

Laborist Staffing Requires Careful Attention
Commentary by Louise P. King and George D. Wendel Jr.
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Virtual Mentor. 2008; 10:792-796.

Medical Education

Accounting to the Public through Focused-Practice Certification
Jeffrey G. Wiese
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Virtual Mentor. 2008; 10:797-800.

Journal Discussion

The Hospital Medicine Movement
Chloe White
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Virtual Mentor. 2008; 10:801-804.

Clinical Pearl

Indications for Use of TIPS in Treating Portal Hypertension
Elizabeth C. Verna
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Virtual Mentor. 2008; 10:805-809.

Law, Policy, and Society

Health Law

Delimiting Hospitalist Liability
Erin A. Egan
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Virtual Mentor. 2008; 10:810-812.

Policy Forum

Hospitalist Medicine: Voluntary or Mandatory?
Marc B. Royo, Laura L. Kimberly, and Alexandria Skoufalos
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Virtual Mentor. 2008; 10:813-816.

Medicine and Society

The Ethics of Efficiency in Hospital Medicine: Developing a New Paradigm for the Patient-Physician Relationship
Elmer Abbo
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Virtual Mentor. 2008; 10:817-822.

History, Art, and Narrative

History of Medicine

A Transition in Obstetrics
C. Edward Wells
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Virtual Mentor. 2008; 10:823-828.

Evolution of Hospital Medicine as a Site-of-Care Specialty
Joseph Ming Wah Li
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Virtual Mentor. 2008; 10:829-832.

Op-Ed and Correspondence

Op-Ed

Securing Patient Satisfaction
Robert M. Centor
Full Text | PDF
Virtual Mentor. 2008; 10:833-835.

Resources

Suggested Readings and Resources
PDF
Virtual Mentor. 2008; 10:836-842.

About the Contributors
Full Text | PDF
Virtual Mentor. 2008; 10:843-845.