Save lives by treating substance use
Addiction experts offered strategies for starting medications for substance use disorders, specifically opioids and alcohol.
Be guarded about guardianship
A physician and a lawyer explain why it's important to search for alternatives to a court-appointed guardian for a patient.
AI-generated discharge summaries similar in quality to physician-written versions
Reviewers comparing discharge summaries for 100 patients that were generated by physicians or artificial intelligence (AI) did find more errors in the latter group, at a mean of 2.91 per summary versus 1.82.
Genomic surveillance system identified outbreaks, saved lives in a hospital trial
Over two years, weekly whole genome sequencing allowed a hospital's infection control team to identify 172 outbreaks, ranging in size from two to 16 patients, and prevent an estimated 62 infections and 4.8 deaths.
Severe burnout affects 1 in 10 internal medicine physicians, survey finds
There was no difference in burnout prevalence based on facility type or between primary care physicians versus hospitalists. However, physicians in the Western part of the U.S. were significantly more likely to report burnout than those in other regions of the country.
Inequities in opioid prescribing for pain common among hospitalized patients
Patients from racial/ethnic minority groups received significantly fewer opioids for pain control than White patients, particularly if they had substance use disorders, a U.S. retrospective cohort study found.
Take a quiz about the April 30 issue!
Every week, ACP Hospitalist posts a question about the previous week's issue. See how well you remember what you've read compared to other readers.
Understanding charity care
Regulators and researchers are taking a look at hospitals' charity care. Physicians might want to, too.
New FDA commissioner sworn in
The FDA approved fitusiran, a new treatment for hemophilia, and tenecteplase to treat ischemic stroke, among other recent actions.
Initiation of naltrexone at discharge reduced heavy alcohol use at three months
Either oral or extended-release naltrexone at hospital discharge led to significant reductions in alcohol use at three months among patients with alcohol use disorder, with no statistically significant difference in effectiveness between the two formulations, according to results of a single-center trial.
Falls common after ICU stays, especially in first three months after discharge
A study of patients who had an ICU stay of four days or longer and no history of falls found that 61% fell at least once in the first year after discharge, with most falling at least twice and approximately one in four requiring medical attention.
Hospital-onset resistant infection rate rose during pandemic, stayed elevated
Rates of community-onset antimicrobial-resistant infections were elevated at the peak of the pandemic but then returned to levels seen in 2018 to 2019, while hospital-onset infections, especially with some of the carbapenem-resistant bacteria, stayed significantly above baseline.
Intervention reduced restraint use in older inpatients with cognitive impairment
Use of physical and chemical restraints decreased from 4.3% to 0.7% and from 7.6% to 2.3%, respectively, after implementation of an intervention that stressed systematic screening and assessment of mentation and individualized plans for delirium or dementia management.
Conference Coverage | April 23, 2025 | FREE
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When AI plays doctor
Physicians discussed the peril and potential of artificial intelligence taking on medical tasks during Internal Medicine Meeting 2025.
The spark of contrast in the kidney
Expert thinking about contrast and kidney injury has shifted again, focusing on a few specific patient factors.
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