April 2012


Design by Lorraine Lostracco and Mike Ripca with images from Wikimedia Commons and Thinkstock

Here, there, but not everywhere

What do a bat with a white nose, rust-colored wheat and your pneumonia patient who winters in Arizona have in common? The answer might be fungus.

Easing the pain of acute gout

Despite its prevalence, gout is often not identified or treated properly, experts say.

Requesting records—from the patient

Pilot projects are using new software systems to allow physicians in different facilities to improve, or even begin, communication with each other.

Sepsis and fluid management

Early, aggressive fluid use can mitigate effects of tissue hypoperfusion.

Competitors collaborate on cardiac care

Schneck Medical Center in Seymour, Ind., worked with another nearby facility to help get door-to-balloon times for cardiac catheterization below 90 minutes.

Projecting the future of inpatient dementia

A recent analysis concluded that by 2050, the annual number of dementia-associated hospitalizations of patients older than 85 could surpass seven million.

Observation status: making the right call

Understanding when to admit a patient to observation status or to inpatient status can be confusing and challenging##mdash;and so can knowing when it's appropriate to bill for one or the other.

Letter from the Editor

Some of this issue's topics include the role of localized fungi in pneumonia, identification and treatment of acute gout, and fluid management in sepsis.

The big and small of it

It's remarkably different to practice in a small rural hospital than in its urban big brother.

Podagra

Is it possible our patient was admitted just for gout?.

In like Flint

The Austin Flint murmur was named for a physician who disliked eponyms.

MKSAP quiz on gout

These cases and commentary, which address gout, are excerpted from ACP's Medical Knowledge Self-Assessment Program (MKSAP15).

Recent Research

Hyperglycemia guideline, in-hospital death rates, and more.

In the News

IV alteplase in stroke patients; hospitalist practice models and job satisfaction.