September 2009
Guiding clinicians through GI diagnoses
ACP Internist wraps up highlights of Digestive Disease Week, including dyspepsia, weight loss and incontinence, as well as the latest about the risks of proton-pump inhibitors and antithrombotics.
Expert hints at how GI practices can keep coding current
Medicare's Recovery Audit Contractors are, in fact, auditing physicians more than ever. The “incident toâ€ï¿½ provision and teaching physician guidelines cause the greatest confusion and require special attention to ensure they are used correctly.
Reliable medical answers are only a click away
Going online during a patient encounter delivers answers immediately, letting physicians provide better care and improve their knowledge base. A new generation of tools makes evidence-based information quickly available to busy clinicians.
Look for subtle differences when evaluating acute diarrhea
For the few cases of diarrhea severe enough to warrant medical attention, consider infections, toxicity, food allergies and medicine reactions, says a speaker from Internal Medicine 2009.
MS confounds, calls for better coordination
Internists are closely involved in care for multiple sclerosis, from recognizing symptoms to preventing complications. As the first line of defense, primary care physicians can find reassurance in guidance from a recent consensus paper on differential diagnosis.
Warnings for varenicline, bupropion; pacemaker recalled
A summary of approvals, recalls, warnings and alerts digested by ACP Internist from the Food and Drug Administration's alerts.
Unmasking the patient's hidden agenda
Something about a response of â€ï¿½so-so' triggers Ian Gilson, FACP, to delve further into how a patient is feeling—and a potentially suicidal hidden agenda.
Creating a blueprint for genomic medical training
Genomics education should be integrated into existing paradigms for teaching about health and disease, because the intersection of the patient-centered medical home and genomics requires primary care physicians and specialists with advanced genetics training as necessary links to effective care delivery.
Internists play important role in diagnosing, treating MS
A round-up of this issue's articles on multiple sclerosis; conference coverage from Digestive Disease Week; our latest columns.
Letters to the Editor
Physicians will bear the costs of the update to ICD-10; population studies need to apply their predictive value to individual patients; health care reform can cover everyone only when it curbs escalating costs.
What's new in ACP Hospitalist
What's new in ACP Hospitalist and other College publications, including nutritional support in the hospital and the release of free ACP Summer Session recordings.
Economic pressures turn art of medicine into rote practice
While much of a clinician's stature among peers depends on encyclopedic understanding of the scientific literature, his or her effectiveness depends largely on well-honed skills of communication and relationship building. Never have such skills been more critical or more challenging than they are today.
Health care reform at the precipice: What happens next?
A snapshot of health care reform as Congress takes a mid-summer break. Multiple bills need to be reconciled, while members of Congress face increasing pressure from advertising and lobbying.
Clarifying CPT codes for observation, admission, discharge
An expert from ACP's Regulatory and Insurer Affairs section clarifies what codes to use when admitting and discharging patients across the span of several days, and how to handle observation status depending upon how much time is spent.
Consider offering in-office labs
Office-based labs increase efficiency, contribute to faster diagnoses and treatment and improve satisfaction. Increased regulation and reduced reimbursement should be balanced against new technology and a greatly expanded range of tests available.
ACP EVP recognized on Modern Healthcare ‘Most Powerful’ list
ACP Executive Vice President and CEO John Tooker, FACP, MBA, has been named one of Modern Healthcare's “100 Most Powerful People in Healthcare.â€ï¿½ As the health care debate has gained momentum, Dr. Tooker has increased commitments to national forums, including congressional hearings and legislator panels, to ensure that the views of internists are heard.
2009 Recruit-a-Resident Program underway
The 2009 Recruit-a-Resident program offers educational rewards to those residency programs that recruit at least 90% of their residents to be Associate members in good standing of the College.
Complimentary literature available for young physician members
ACP members are eligible to receive a free copy of the Pocket Guide to Selected Preventive Services for Adults and the Young Physician Practice Management Survival Handbook developed by the 2008-2009 Council of Young Physicians.
Obituaries
Included in this month's listings are Thomas W. Burns, MACP, and Harry Edstrom, FACP.
MKSAP quiz: epigastric pain and daily heartburn
A 55-year-old white man has a several-year history of epigastric pain and daily heartburn without dysphagia or weight loss.