Page 29 - Hospitalists - Risks When You're the Doctor in the House (Part One)

SVMIC Hospitalists - Risks When You’re the Doctor in the House

• Communications errors

• Documentation errors

• System/tracking errors

Many of these allegations fall within the broader heading of

diagnostic errors. You may be asking, If the primary problem
is diagnostic error, how can a two-hour professional liability

course improve medical judgment? The truth is, it can’t – at
least, not directly. It can, however, direct you to a resource that

might be helpful.

Research shows that evidence-based practice guidelines are
key tools to help hospitalists practice high-quality medicine and

demonstrate the value of their inpatient care model. There
15
are, though, barriers to guideline adherence, and widespread

practice pattern variation remains a huge national problem. And,
guidelines typically apply across populations – as one expert

stated, “Guidelines come disease-specific… patients don’t.”
16

In an effort to reduce some of these barriers and help

hospitalists quickly understand the latest research and apply
it to practice, the official peer-reviewed journal of the Society

of Hospital Medicine, The Journal of Hospital Medicine,
launched a new series in 2019 entitled, “Clinical Guideline

Highlights for the Hospitalist”. The purpose of the guidelines
17
is to distill the key elements of national guidelines with a

focus on recommendations that are most relevant to the
practicing hospitalist. The guidelines can be found at: www.

journalofhospitalmedicine.com.

15 The Hospitalist, Step-by-Step Medicine, January 2010, Christopher Guadagnino, PhD.
16 Id.
17 Journal of Hospital Medicine, March 15, 2019.

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